The Aggie’s new FOH
The front of house area at any venue is a home to many. It’s a space where the staff or touring personnel create their magic. It’s the boundary between people working versus the people outside, enjoying the show.
The Aggie in Fort Collins, CO recently received a massive upgrade to their venue, and one that serves the production staff to feel better equipped on their day to day operations when catering shows the the people.
What was previously a plastic folding table and plywood on top of audio racks, is now an 18’ wide steel desk with rack bays integrated into the legs and a drop down center piece if more space is needed. We worked with their production staff on what their needs were:
-Long lasting table space that can hold up expensive gear and withstand the movement of touring boards.
-LED work-light to illuminate the back of the racks below and the tops of the table above.
-A privacy fence on top of the railing around the area. One that keeps drinks off the rail, audience hands away from cables, and a firm division from the party crowd and those working.
-A removable center plug for visiting engineers that work with their boards on top of their racks, and for placement of a projector.
-Two rack bays on each side to hold audio racks and drawers, each side focused on either lighting or sound and giving personal flexibility to each department.
-Cable passthroughs to keep looms clean and the top of the desk open.
Fortunately, we were able to integrate all that into the design!
Under the desk work-light and the rack bays starting to fill up with drawers. The leg design is open for ease of access.
Overlooking the desk from the LX side. LED Neon was used in the work-light.
Looking in from the audio end, the top of the fence is seen. This will keep people from leaving drinks on the rail!
The Aggie staff moving in!
The cable pass throughs are brush track, the three sections each have 36" of track for cable management.
From the outside of the FOH area where you can see the fence is in hinged sections to allow for access to the back of racks.
From the outside of the FOH area where you can see the fence is in hinged sections to allow for access to the back of racks.
The LED work-light has it's own box for control. The two switches power the top and bottom of the desk individually, while the RGB knobs range from 0-255 for color mixing and intensity.
One of the fence sections folded down. These are locked into place from the inside.
The Process
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We worked with the venue staff to ensure all their needs were met through our draftings. Videos were made to show how the piece functioned.
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Materials that were used: steel, plywood, and formica for a slick finish.
The frame was welded while the tops were CNCed to ensure the brush track would fit with a clean edge.
The LED integration involved LED neon on a 24v system, controlled by RGB encoders. This little control box is able to be powered 24/7.
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The desk was installed on two dark days, right before a week of shows!
Drafting Away!
A render showcasing the drop down center.
After a few site visits, we recreated the venue railing to better draft the product.