IntegrationINTEGRATION Is… The Start of a Great Performance Theatre Equipment | Systems | Integration Integration is essential to inspiration. We make ideas reality. SCENE ONE (A construction site for the performing arts venue. The project is underway but, at this point, it is little more than a hole in the ground. SECOA enters.) SECOA “ We know this business from the ground up.” The real drama begins long before opening night. Every scene—from concept to punch list—can be full of surprises, pitfalls and risk. Performing arts facilities are considered second only to hospitals in the extraordinary and often underestimated demands placed on the buildings’ systems and structures. Heavy scenery moved in an eye-blink or a stage layout transformed under darkness appears as if by magic to an audience. Behind the scenes, however, a production team crafts the illusion using highly specialized and meticulously coordinated systems. Unique knowledge is required to successfully design, construct and integrate these hidden elements into the facility architecture. Enter SECOA. We’re experts in creating performing arts spaces. A national integrator of theatre equipment and systems with more than 87 years of experience, SECOA both manufactures components and provides services ranging from budgeting to engineering 1 and installation. We make the systems that make the magic. In addition to requiring unique building parameters, proper integration of theatre equipment presents another challenge. These equipment systems are installed during the final time-constrained phases of construction, when budgets, deadlines and physics can conspire to rein in the original vision for the project. Unintended and unwanted compromises can result. While SECOA can step into the process at any time, our value is greatest at the outset. In the early phases of planning and design, we can spot and maneuver through the plot twists—minimizing project risk and keeping the inspiration intact. We’ve seen it all. We’ve done it all. We know our lines. So let’s raise the curtain. The clock is ticking. Tick, Tock OPENING NIGHT IS OPENING NIGHT. THERE ARE NO SECOND CHANCES. THE SCHEDULE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE BUILD. AND IT NEEDS TO BE ACCURATE, REALISTIC AND ADAPTABLE. BECAUSE THE SHOW MUST GO ON. Integration is versatile. We play many roles. The Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, Dallas, TX Unlike a typical theatre, where support spaces wrap around the stage house, the Wyly is designed so that the support spaces are either above or below the auditorium to enable maximum interaction and flexibility. The advanced mechanized “superfly” system moves both scenery and seating so that artistic directors can rapidly change the configuration from proscenium to thrust, flat floor, and more. This project required SECOA to engineer on a massive scale. Our contributions included a 130,000-lb. flying seating tower, 60,000-lb. hoists with tracking systems, automated rigging, and audience lift systems with motorized turntables. As a full-service integrator, SECOA brings together budgeting, project management, engineering, manufacturing, sourcing and installation management capabilities. This combination allows us to deliver custom solutions for any budget. That’s why owners and construction teams across the country choose us time and time again. Our equipment lines include rigging, orchestra shells, pits and lifts, drapery, lighting and seating—all engineered and installed to work together seamlessly. As integrators, rather than dealers or suppliers, our expertise goes beyond the parts and pieces. We understand the entire performing arts space and how the myriad of specialized components and systems, including those of other trades, are interconnected. SECOA differs from equipment-only providers with centralized capabilities 3 that remove risk from both the project schedule and budget. • Our estimates, built by costing and design experts who envision the entire project, are more reliable. • Our schedules, fortified by in-house manufacturing and industry-leading IT investments, are more flexible. • Our quality control program includes an independent field audit department that assures we execute all field activities to the highest standard. • Our broader market reach allows us to mobilize resources more efficiently. • Our shared experience covers a larger scope of work, enabling us to funnel creative problem-solving through one clear and direct communication channel. An integrated approach means two things. On the front end, risk is reduced. On the back end, budgets and schedules are preserved. Rise and Fall BEHIND THE SCENES, EVERY PRODUCTION DEFIES GRAVITY. SETS, LIGHTS AND DRAPERY MUST BE RAISED, LOWERED AND SUSPENDED IN MIDAIR. RIGGING MAKES THE WORKINGS FLy— SWIFTLY, QUIETLY, AND SAFELY. Integration is reliable. We are your supporting cast. SECOA’s partners include a nationwide network of time-tested subcontractors and key suppliers. Our industry- leading field audit team insures that performance in the field proceeds in the best way possible and that our partners have the tools and information they need. We use the trust that we have developed by nurturing these relationships over decades to build reliability into a business that depends on it. A performing arts space is a complicated place, a mayhem of moving scenery and dangling pipes. It looks precarious, but when properly designed and constructed, the chaos is really a choreography of highly calibrated systems. Building this kind of specialized space naturally requires a special kind of partnership. SECOA, the industry’s only national integrator, skillfully works with market-leading architects, theatre consultants and contractors as well as newcomers, each benefitting from different types and levels of support. Our backgrounds in actual theatre operations enable us to understand owners’ and users’ expectations—bringing a perspective to our partnerships that helps balance demands with reality. We are proud of our project teams, which include the following people: • estimators experienced in both design and technical production, enabling them to 5 construct sophisticated and accurate budgets as well as early eye-opening RFIs; • project managers—typically former technical directors and installers—who incorporate applied theatre knowledge to their problem-solving, coordination and communication responsibilities; • designers, drafters and engineers, with a combined experience of over 185 years, who enjoy an industry-wide reputation for producing the most complete and accurate submittals as well as creative solutions to our industry’s challenges; • manufacturing personnel who maintain schedules with maximum flexibility while ensuring the highest quality output and remaining in constant interaction with our PMs and engineers. With our cast in the wings, our partners, such as you, stay onstage, directing the scene and ending precisely on cue. Secoa’s engineering ability and ingenuity was key in making the “ Wyly Theatre a success. Their ability to think outside the box along with incorporating their broad theatre equipment knowledge base was paramount to the completion of such a difficult project—unlike any other in the world. Matt McMullan, Assistant Superintendent “ McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. Integration is all-encompassing. We are with you scene by scene. SECOA PARTNERS WITH YOU EVEN BEFORE WE WIN THE BID The timelime below illustrates the four basic phases of a construction project followed by a deadline special to performing arts facilities: Showtime. Included under each phase are sequential milestones for general construction as well as highlights of SECOA’s integration program. I. General Design & Planning II. Bidding III. Award IV. General Construction V. Showtime 3 Feasibility Studies p SECOA invitation p Correspondence 3 Pre-Construction to trades requiring to bid Specialized pre-construction integration with p 3 Pre-Planning meeting to educate trades on theatre systems p Generation of RFI theatre systems and integration 3 Planning material to project schedule and budget p Collaborative evaluation of p Review of trades submittals bid pipeline opportunities (Includes HVAC, electrical, p Scope review plumbing and structural steel.) p Educational sessions for key decision-makers on 3 Excavation and Foundation theatre systems, integration Owner Selection requirements and scope 3 p Curtains/drapes and shell 6 3Design Development finishes selections (18-week lead to Special Install.) p Concept and design or design support services 3 Framing depending on project scale and customization (Key p SECOA submittals approval considerations include load criteria, steel placement, p Specialized coordination equipment selection, size meeting (Verify steel onsite, and space requirements.) conduct obstructions audit, review MEP installation plan, p Spec writing services and/ verify SECOA install schedule.) or budgets 3 Exterior Penetrations 3 Construction Document p General equipment field Services check (8-week lead to General Install.) p SECOA listing in spec 3 Mechanical Rough-Ins p MEP coordination follow-up 3 General Design, Planning (Verify MEP install versus plan and & Construction Timeline SECOA install schedule.) p SECOA’s Project Role: Integrated for excellence 3 Drywall, Trim Carpentry, Painting p General install (8-week lead to Owner Turnover.) 3 Hard Surface Flooring p Orchestra pit systems field check (8-week lead to Special Install.) 3 Cabinets and Countertops, Finish Mechanicals and Appliances, Carpeting p Special