Sound Shell — Progress Blog
Wow, Look at it now!
image: bill caldicott
image: bill caldicott
image: bill caldicott
image: bill caldicott
We only have ten nights to go until our Festival!
Don't miss out. Book online and join in the celebrations.
Remember to come to the spectacular free opening concert a Song About Fish on Dickinsons Oval, Bermagui from 4pm on Good Friday, 6th April.
Last Friday March 23 2012 we were thrilled to have a drink with the builders to celebrate their final week at the site.
image: bill caldicott
image: sheena boughen
The photo on the left includes the building team from Rankin Builders and Russell Stewart front right with the white cap, who looks after the site for us and is in charge of preparing it for you with our Site Manager and board director Don Moffatt.
Photo on the right is Paul Jones in the middle at the front who is the foreman, Warren behind and B1 (Bill Southwood) and B2 (Bill Caldicott) who are our project liasion team. They are have been at the site almost every day to ensure that the first stage of Nature's Concert Hall has been developed according to our plans.
The whole site and the building are just divine.
Thank you Philip Cox and team and Rankin Builders.
New Images from Bill Caldicott
images: bill caldicott
The first is a good omen - a rainbow over the Sheena's house!
Then, we see the cover over the walkway and surrounding landscaping. Simply beautiful!
image: bill caldicott
Genevieve Lacey plays the first ever notes
in the new Four Winds Sound Shell - Heide Smith
Four Winds Artistic Director - Genevieve Lacey,
Chair - Sheena Boughen,
Deputy Chair - Carol Cockburn &
General Manager - Natalya Tacheci
- Heide Smith
So much has happened in the last two weeks!
The first musical sounds in our Sound Shell were played by our Artistic Director, Genevieve Lacey.
— photos by Heide Smith
Firstly, on March 8 2012 Genevieve Lacey, our Artistic Director, played the inaugural musical notes in the Sound Shell. We were blown away. With no sound enhancement, the most beautiful richness came from her recorder, and we all gasped with joy.
It was a cold and incredibly wet morning, and Bill Brown from the ABC was there to record the experience. It will up on the ABC Online site soon. Stay posted!
John Carter with Sheena
talking about the weather
Heide Smith was there to record it for us with her beautiful eye which has created the most stunning shots of Genevieve in the Sound Shell. Thanks to Bill and Heide for braving the elements. It was interesting to experience the sound with the gentleness of the rain on the canopy. Sublime.
And then on Saturday, Gen played again for us and some other guests. It was sunny and a beautiful late afternoon at the site, so we were able to have a different experience with the sound. Pure and perfect - and made us aware that the new Sound Shell has acoustic properties that will bring new opportunities for unplugged experiences!
Otherwise, the walkway from the stage past the greenroom and new amenities block is being done this week and the final landscaping. The moat has been painted black to waterproof it and the terraces are lush and green.
We are nearly ready for you all!
It's sunny now so all ok!
Carol Cockburn our Deputy Chair,
Don Dornan and visitors Jane and Phil
Genevieve Lacey changes shoes
to deal with the weather!
BIll Brown filming and Warren the builder
helping with the sound shield
This week the speaker poles could not be put up as the rain stopped the crane coming on site.
The moat was tested with the downpour and even the frogs were overwhelmed with the amount of water.
More activity for Four Winds as people book tickets and musicians rehearse in their studios around the country ready for the big occasion!
Hannah Abraham took some great photos of the canopy going up last week (see below) …
the canopy is lifted by crane and stretched over the Four Winds stage
… along with some good people shots.
Co founder Mrs Neilma Gantner with Donor and local Karen Rudd
An excited General Manager with very excited Chair
A few recent photos taken by Hannah Abraham at the Four Winds Sound Shell site.
View at the back over our dam
Lindy Hume comes to see the new Sound Shell. She is blown away and very excited about the possibilities for our region.
Lindy Hume with Bill Caldicott - taking the centre stage!
Our heroes … Bill Southwood and Bill Caldicott who are the Four Winds liasion with the builders.
Fondly known as B2 and B1 - from left to right!
Timelapse sequence of building site UPDATED!
Well, there has been a lot going on since we last posted here.
Fabritecture left us with a beautiful canopy...so tight and perfectly placed that they have created a musical instrument. In fact when Brad climbed up and hit it...a drum like sound was heard! It's been so interesting to watch it unfold and become part of the place.
the splendour of the new canopy from above
This week the concreters have been doing the path that links the green room to the stage. This will be a covered walkway with lighting and provide a smooth and weather proof path. What a treat.
The electricians have been putting in the conduit for the sound control box up the top of the amphitheatre, and have dug the trench with such care and attention so the terraces are barely disturbed.
Then the landscapers came in and did the turfing around the stage and where the footings were dug. This has brought the site together and really highlighted the beautiful edges on the stage and moat and the detail on the edges of the canopy.
the moat is beautifully defined
Standing underneath the canopy and looking up to the audience is a treat and we are feeling very proud of it all.
guy wire anchor
LIndy Hume came to the site recently and was speechless. She is totally thrilled and says she can't wait to imagine what we can do there once we have a calendar of events set up.
Philip Cox has done an interview with the SMH this week and we hope that is in the paper soon.
We've also had a lot of local attention on this project including the front page of the Bega District News! Thank you to all the local media for their interest.
We are talking a lot about how the place will sing at Easter and how Genevieve's beautiful program will make the place come alive.
underneath the canopy
view out from the stage
Paul Jones has been liasing with all the contractors to ensure that their work is completed very soon, and when Genevieve comes up early March she'll be putting the music in.
The Sound Shell is really a canopy, and was not designed to be an acoustic Sound Shell. So in other words it will require some sound equipment for all performances.
This was the input from our user group and taken on board. We will have total protection from wind and rain on the stage now and the best we can from the sun. Actually the whole site is pitched in the wrong direction to really get the full sun protection you'd need. But there was no grant that would move it and we love it where it is!
canopy fabric
Its very exciting and what a resource for our region.
Phillip Cox interview online
Southeast ABC's Jen Hunt has interviewed architect Phillip Cox about the materials, rewards and challenges of designing the new Sound Shell. Available now as a podcast and/or downloadable mp3 from our Media section.
What a week we had at the site!
The week started with rain, but under the expert hands of riggers Derek and Brad, they were able to work around the showers.
It's made of fibreglass and coated with teflon. And when it was put up, four days of stretching it have followed. It's not like PVC that can just be put up, stretched and you get on with the show! This material has to be stretched slowly, and almost breathes in between.
It's absolutely beautiful, and seems to fit the landscape just perfectly. Philip Cox has totally respected the landscape and while the Sound Shell is taller and broader than before, the design seems to create an intimacy that is stunning. We are thrilled with the way it fits, and our gratitude to Philip and his team, especially John Ferendinos is from the bottom of our hearts.
Fabritecture are the company who have made and the canopy and put it up at the site. Justin came down last week to check out how things were going during the Sound Shell construction. He'll be back to ensure it's perfect.
Timelapse sequence of building site UPDATED!
Allelujah - it's up and it's not raining!
Thursday, February 9 2012
This week, from February 6 2012 the work of getting the canopy up has commenced
… and it will be fully in place by Friday drinks!
The canopy, a woven fibreglass material with a teflon coating (so it doesn't get dirty!) has arrived! The riggers Derek and Brad have come in from Brisbane and joined up with a local Warren to start the process of getting all the steel cables threaded through. Then the crane came in on Thursday to start pulling it into place. By Thursday night, the team will have worked on the tensioning process that ensures that it never has to be touched again and will give us a magnificent new and permanent Sound Shell.
Thursday, February 9 2012 (CONT.)Dr Mike Kelly visited the site Thursday February 2nd
He is a strong supporter of Four Winds and we look forward to seeing him at Easter for the official opening at our Easter Festival. Don't miss out and book your tickets online now!
Don Hassan & Paul from Rankin builders, Sheena Boughen, Bill Caldicott & Rob Tacheci from the Four Winds team (in mirth on right).
By Saturday Feb 4 2012 the concretors had created our new stage and moat! Absolutely beautiful work and Royce, Nathan, Rob and ?? worked hard to get it done between showers of rain.
The stage looks stunning and has the most beautiful rounded edge at the front. True craftsmanship. And the moat is matched with a stunning curve around the front. The water will go about a half metre under the stage so it will look like the stage is floating.
Thank you guys for such a beautiful result!
Timelapse sequence of building site now online!
Regional Development Australia
Check out the new government website http://myregion.gov.au, representing Regional Development Australia Local Government, Art & Sport. The Sound Shell gets a mention here: http://myregion.gov.au/content/bermagui-concert-hall-one-step-closer. You can see who else benefited from the first round of funding here: www.regional.gov.au/regional/programs/rdaf_round_one.aspx
THE CANOPY IS ARRIVING FEBRUARY 7 ON A TRUCK AND WILL BE PUT UP BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK!
It's Official! The Sound Shell construction is underway. Here we are meeting on site for the Sod Turning in late November, 2011. How exciting it was to perform the task. After so many years, hard work, incredible support from the community, Governments and musicians we are creating a permanent world class Sound Shell here in Bermagui. We were truly all so excited at our sod turning ceremony it was like a bunch children digging hysterically in the sand pit!
gathering for the ceremonial turning of the sod
Mr Lou Davis Elder from Yuin Community;
Ms Anne Greenaway, CEO Merrimans Land Council;
Ms Lorraine Naylor Elder Yuin community;
Ms Sheena Boughen Chair Four Winds;
IN front: Mrs Neilma Gantner Co-founder and board member
Four Winds
Don Hassan and Neil Rankin from Rankin Builders
setting up the site
Then in came the professionals to really make it happen!
The heavy machinery arrived, cleared and levelled the site then dug the trenches for the footings and moat.
The future Green Room doubled as a site office.
resting working dog
the male of the species sets its lure ...
... the female approaches cautiously...
a connection is made — images captured by Bill "Attenborough" Caldicott
all hands on task for the pour — in amongst the amazing formwork
The team of concreters framed up the footings and began to pour. They did it well. It was a complicated task and it took them several hours.
the new Four Winds stage and moat in its infancy
Look at the Sound Shell stage! It has taken shape with the finishing of the concreting. We can now see the moat and stage being finished off. Next is the canopy... stay tuned for regular updates!
