St. Edward’s University

InterAmerica Stage, Inc. was asked to replace the Mary Moody Northern Theatre’s (MMNT) existing pipe grid with a SkyDeck™ tension wire grid system, allowing safer access to lighting and sound equipment overhead. Traditionally, the woven-wire panels that make up the walking surface of a SkyDeck™ system are rectangular. However, unlike a traditional performance space, the MMNT’s roof is not square. It’s not rectangular, either. It’s a decagon! Right angles don’t exactly fit gracefully into a ten-sided polygon. “Each panel had to be custom built to fit this unique shape,” said Mark Black, inventor of the SkyDeck™ technology and president of InterAmerica Stage, “resulting in all trapezoidal panels.”

To support the new SkyDeck™ while preserving the MMNT’s beautiful Glulam design, a custom structural frame was required. The SkyDeck™ panels sit upon this structural frame. All the panels are tied together at the center of the performance space with a 6’ diameter tension ring. Open spaces were strategically designed into the overall walking surface, allowing the theatre department unprecedented flexibility for lighting and rigging effects.