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Author Topic: 76 injured in London theatre ceiling collapse Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 12-21-2013 04:18 AM                        It doesn't seem to have been reported much in the US media, but on Thursday evening, the ceiling of a theatre in the West End of London collapsed, injuring 76. From what I can gather, it was essentially bits of plaster that came down, and the actual weight-bearing structure of the roof itself remained intact. A very lucky escape, I reckon, given that there were 96 deaths and hundreds of injuries in a similar incident in Washington DC in 1922, but when the actual roof did cave in. From my days in the theatre/cinema business, I do not remember there being any laws or regulations (in Britain, at any rate) requiring the roof or ceiling of auditoria to be checked for structural integrity on a regular basis. Fire extinguishers, lifts, emergency exits, PAT testing for appliances - these did have to be checked regularly, and the results recorded, but I can't recall anything about the structural integrity of actual buildings. Presumably such a requirement will be introduced now in response to this, and I'd guess that a lot of theatre owners and managers in the UK are now on the phone to any architects they can find to get their roofs checked out. Out of interest, are regular checks on roof integrity mandated by state laws and/or county or city-based regulation in the US?  |  IP: Logged Alan Plester Expert Film Handler Posts: 209 From: great yarmouth england Registered: Apr 2001 posted 12-21-2013 04:50 AM                     Taken from BBC news site regarding the ceiling in a building that has stood since 1901 A spokesman for Westminster City Council, which covers the West End, said it requires venues to have their ceilings checked every three years rather than every 12 months.  |  IP: Logged Steve Moore Expert Film Handler Posts: 211 From: Leeds, West Yorks, UK Registered: Apr 2008 posted 12-21-2013 05:59 AM                     Our city council requires an inspection of ceiling and roof every other year to renew our licence.  |  IP: Logged Alan Plester Expert Film Handler Posts: 209 From: great yarmouth england Registered: Apr 2001 posted 12-21-2013 07:24 AM                     Steve, That's a most interesting point, all the years I was at the Banbury cinema not once, can I remember taking anyone into the roof void, and that building has been in operation since 1940. All other tests, fire ect were rigid.  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 12-21-2013 08:49 AM                     We've had some very wet weather in London; I wonder if the plaster was damaged by water ingress. A few of the injuries are serious, but not life-threatening. Birmingham Town Hall, which is a music venue, not a town hall in the conventional sense was closed for several years after part of the ceiling plaster fell down. I think the auditorium was empty at the time, but I'm not certain about that. It didn't take years to repair the ceiling, but various other refurbishment/improvement works were carried out at the same time.  |  IP: Logged Kenneth Wuepper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1026 From: Saginaw, MI, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 12-21-2013 09:33 AM                     Are we overlooking another major cause for failure of surfaces in a theatre? Loud to deafening BASS from super powerful sub speaker systems that can be felt in the marble walls beyond the lobby. Modern live and recorded bands and action films seem to require more and more bass energy than even standing on the tarmac while 747s are taking off. For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. When placing that much energy into a confined space it will have to be ABSORBED by the structure and contents. How much will decorative plaster absorb before it fails to be a structure? When the film "Earthquake" with the enormous bass sound system was being booked, every theatre was inspected BEFORE the film could be booked into that space. The large 2,200 seat theatre was UNACCEPTABLE due to the molded decorative plaster ceiling construction. The neighborhood 400 seat theatre with suspended acoustical tiled ceiling was acceptable and they played the film. A similar study was required for screening the film "Tora Tora Tora" as it had very large added speaker systems and amplification as part of the exhibition for that film. I worked at these theatres at the time these studies were being conducted and audience and structural safety were prime considerations.  |  IP: Logged Sam D. Chavez Film God Posts: 2153 From: Martinez, CA USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 12-21-2013 10:52 AM                       I did installations of Sensurround and I don't remember any rigorous tests being required. Maybe the suburban cinema requirements were lighter or ignored. There were no SPL spec's, only voltage at the amp output terminals that were supposed to correspond to loudness. I found modern multiplexes worked well except for the sound leakage and exciting the rodents that scattered everywhere, esp. the projection room every time the track kicked in. I did one in a very old building and had dirt and what seemed to be plaster dust raining down. I kept turning down the amps until the dust stopped.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-21-2013 11:57 AM                     I know of several movie palaces that the 32' diaphone pipes brought ornetmental plaster down  |  IP: Logged Edgar Prass Film Handler Posts: 32 From: Tartu, Tartu county, Estonia Registered: Mar 2013 posted 12-22-2013 10:48 AM                     In Tallinn, Estonia just a week after opening of a new multiplex in 2008 a ceiling light-weight construction fell down in big auditorium, no one was luckily in the auditorium when it happened. Collapse was blamed on a poor construction quality and materials used.  |  IP: Logged Sam D. Chavez Film God Posts: 2153 From: Martinez, CA USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 12-22-2013 11:46 AM                       I am somewhat familiar with this collapse. It was first blamed on the Meyer sound system which of course was very capable of loud clear sound. I heard later the issue was partly due to air pressure from a poorly balanced HVAC system.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 12-22-2013 08:32 PM                        I read that there was a very heavy rain (in London) that night. Any chance this is a simple drainage problem & the weight of the water might have caused the collapse?  |  IP: Logged David Buckley Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 525 From: Oxford, N. Canterbury, New Zealand Registered: Aug 2004 posted 12-22-2013 09:43 PM                        The weather making an inadequately maintained theatre worse is the current leading speculation.  |  IP: Logged Steve Matz Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 672 From: Billings, Montana, USA Registered: Sep 2003 posted 12-22-2013 10:37 PM                     Back in the old Nitrate Days, Building inspectors/Fire Marshalls were more concerned about the Projection Booths being Safe than other parts of a Theater. Construction must have been pretty top notch in the Day. I don't remember hearing stories of too many Balconies/Lodges or Ceilings falling down. I think most of your Old Buildings built before the Depression had real quality workmanship in them. Heck we still have a Couple School Houses going here that were constructed in 1909. Today because Time is Money they have a building up in a eye blink.I've seen some building construction signed off by inspectors that I wouldn't trust no how. Makes me believe some extra money is changing Hands despite Public Safety  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 12-23-2013 09:41 AM                        One thing I find interesting about early accounts of this incident, is that some of the major networks reported the balcony had collapsed. It took awhile for a simple weather event to come out as the likely cause. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/10531656/Apollo-Theatre-ceiling-collapse-caused-by-heavy-downp our.html Apollo Theatre ceiling collapse 'caused by heavy downpour' Almost 15 per cent of December's average rainfall came down on London in just one hour before 100 sq ft of plaster suddenly dropped onto the audience on Thursday The dramatic collapse of a historic West End theatre’s ceiling onto a packed auditorium was probably caused by an abnormally heavy downpour swamping the roof, the emergency services believe. Nearly one-seventh of the average monthly rainfall for the whole of December came down on London in the hour before the disaster at the Apollo Theatre, which left 79 people injured, nine of them seriously. The 112-year-old venue has been closed until at least January 4 while investigators piece together how the accident happened and clear away the timber beams and large chunks of ornate plaster that rained down on audience members.  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-23-2013 10:05 AM                        Sometimes things just let go. In 1991 we could have had a major tragedy here in our 1941 building. Sometime during the night an approx 10ft x20ft chunk of the ceiling (thick plaster, lathe, insulation,etc), just let go and crashed down on the first few rows. Had anyone been sitting there, they probably would have been killed. Our landlord's insurance covered the repair and the complete reinforcing of the ceiling. There was no water damage or any signs of decay. The best the inspectors could figure was the nails holding things up just worked loose after 50 years of the timbers heating and contracting.  |  IP: Logged

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