{"id":550,"date":"2021-06-17T10:31:48","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T10:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theatregreenbook.nl\/?page_id=550"},"modified":"2024-11-07T12:18:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T12:18:16","slug":"modular-design","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.theatregreenbook.nl\/en\/sustainableproductions-toolkit\/modular-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Toolkit: Modular Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Theatre Green Book PRODUCTIONS Toolkit – Designing and Making<\/h1>\n

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Modular Design<\/h2>\n

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With thanks to Chris Pepler, Sanne Brodersen, Janet Williamson and Nathan James\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Modular design strategies can be used to promote reuse within theatrical designs: the core approach is to imagine the design as a collection of smaller units or modules which can be combined to produce a desired outcome.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Geometric modularity<\/strong> is the most commonly used approach in theatrical installations, where an item is split into a smaller group of items which can later be combined into a different shape or customized by remaking only one module rather than an entire fabrication.<\/p>\n

Functional modularity<\/strong> by contrast defines and splits an assembly into modules defined by their function. For example, a lifting component could be removed from one item and reused on another.<\/p>\n

Benefits of using a modular design approach are long-term reductions in financial and environmental cost, where the majority of any structure or system can be reused in each iteration. The modular approach may be embraced to gradually increase the organisation\u2019s stock of modular parts over time, creating a stock of scenic assets for rapid and low-cost future deployment.<\/p>\n

Challenges to overcome are interoperability of modules from different suppliers of similar systems. If producing a new modular system, initial design time may be increased to prototype and test a system before committing to larger investments in it. \u00a0Initial manufacture cost is often (although not necessarily) greater than producing for one-off use since there may be redundancy in connections or increased durability requirements where a part has multiple reuses in numerous different configurations. For critical components it is also important to consider the risk of damage to parts and potentially to implement an inspection system to check modular parts before reuse.<\/p>\n

For creative teams, an initial task may be to understand an organisation\u2019s modular unit stock, or potential hire stock, using the availability of these as a starting point for a design and working out how to combine and clad them to minimise requests for bespoke fabrications from new materials. It may be necessary to consider some flexibility within the sizing and placement of design elements. For example, within a show floor, it may be possible to reuse a standard size plywood floor if any applied pattern is divisible within the boundary of a 2.4 m X 1.2 m sheet. Modifying a design concept in this way can both open options for using reclaimed material and reduce damage to the material during use, enabling a future life for the material.<\/p>\n

Promoting circularity of materials and components within your organisation is an important achievement. Developing common standards across the industry may help us to hire or share across a larger community and dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of theatre and events.<\/p>\n

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Modular Design Strategies<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Modular design strategies will vary dependent on whether the modules are split according to function or geometry, and the degree of flexibility desired in the future life of the item. To enable successful reuse there are several factors to consider:<\/span><\/p>\n