Project report · April 2020

Volkshaus Jena Stage sets from a touch panel, not from the basement

Several times a week, the team at the Volkshaus Jena carried stage sets up from the basement, built them and took them down again. Since the complete refurbishment, the hall has 110 m² of Solodrive One motor platforms and 50 m² of Servo Stage with parquet. The set-ups are saved and recalled on a touch panel.

110 m² Solodrive One motor platforms
50 m² Servo Stage with parquet
Scenes saved, recalled on a touch panel
Acceptance by inspector and structural engineer in house

View Solodrive One Solodrive One brochure (PDF)

Hall in the Volkshaus Jena with BÜTEC motor platforms

The starting point

Heavy use, a constantly changing programme

The Volkshaus Jena is over 100 years old, with carefully preserved Art Nouveau architecture, and today a popular venue for concerts, galas and conferences.

Stage sets from the basement
Several times a week, the stage sets were carried back and forth from the basement and built and taken down with great effort.
Physical strain
The frequent changeovers were hard work for the staff. Reducing the physical strain was an explicit goal.
Three goals of the refurbishment
As part of the complete refurbishment, the stage had to deliver three things: short changeover times, less physical strain, quick design of the stage set.

The solution

160 m² of platform area that saves its own set-ups

The stage is built into the hall. Instead of fetching platforms, the team selects the scene it needs on the touch panel.

110 m² Solodrive One
Motor platforms with a large number of stored scene configurations. They move to the saved heights, as a group or individually.
Touch panel with memory
The pre-programmed setting can be changed at short notice for all or individual platforms. Users save new set-up layouts themselves.
50 m² Servo Stage with parquet
Scissor platforms that sit flush in the floor and are lifted from above with gas springs, without power. The parquet surface matches the hall.
Bridge elements that move along
A special feature of this project: bridge elements carried along by the Solodrive One platforms.
Acceptance in house
Planning, production and installation came from one source, from the production halls in Mettmann. An expert inspector and the structural engineer accepted the system in house. That makes the process simpler.

The result