Chris Dales

Chris consults on all elements of theatre design and is a specialist in the design of stage engineering and other technical systems.

I am a stage engineering designer at Charcoalblue. My background is in aeronautical engineering and fluid mechanics. As a theatre consultant I combine my interest in theatre with my formal engineering training. My work includes developing practical solutions, presenting them to our clients and design colleagues with supporting graphics and calculations, and documenting them in drawings and specifications as part of a building contract.

What Does Great Design or Experience Mean to You

A great engineering design fulfils the client’s requirements, is buildable at a cost the client can afford, and is reliable and easy to maintain. A great design often emerges through trial and error, after initial disappointment and even some failure. A great design is something that is returned to again and again because it works. A great design is often someone else’s idea. A great design is only great if other people think it is. In theatre design there are several engineering conventions and machinery types widely used because they represent great design.

A Place That Shaped or Inspires You

Hagia Sophia – an engineering, artistic and spiritual marvel built in 537AD by the Emperor Justinian. To walk around it is to be awed and humbled into silence by the scale, age and majesty of the building, and to feel the singular weight of centuries of human history and devotion present in its worn marble, and the wall frescos and mosaics that adorn it.