Feature: igus HD e-spool supports award-winning Concert Hall

The Tung Auditorium in the heart of the University of Liverpool’s campus has undergone an incredible transformation, with the help of igus®, to enhance both the acoustic technology and architectural design, resulting in the venue winning at the MONDO-DR Awards in the concert hall category.

Situated within the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre, The Tung Auditorium is a state-of-the-art concert hall designed to be a hive of musical activity. The well-executed final design required the efforts of many talented teams, such as Ellis Williams Architects, Arup Consultants (Venues), and the Adlib team, who specified igus HD e-spool® as a cable management system solution.

The vision was clear: to create a space that nurtures creativity and functions effortlessly for the audience and performers. This was certainly achieved as The Tung Auditorium was nominated in the concert hall category for the 2024 MONDO-DR Awards, taking the winning spot to celebrate the best installation projects around the world.

Picture: igus

As Tung’s Artistic Director Richard Hartwell explains, the venue needed to be flexible to meet the brief of facilitating pianists, string quartets, singers, and up to 70-piece orchestras whilst also being used as a lecture hall as part of its daily operation. The auditorium required strict organisation in its design in order to provide an adaptable space for its range of visitors and the proposed igus solution successfully achieved the desired cable management.

The igus HD E-spool is a cable management system, designed to suit limited spaces and provide flexibility of use in any direction. The cables are encased in an energy chain, and the use of an igus twisterband means that no break in the cable is needed, and there are no slip rings or other systems. Adjustments and extensions of the filling are also possible at any time afterwards, so the product can be adapted to suit customer needs exactly. Additionally, while lack of space was not a factor in this particular project, the e-spool is designed to work around tight spaces, so there are almost no limits to the locations in which it can operate.

The igus design in practice

The igus HD e-spool sits alongside the motorised winches, in the roof void above the auditorium, deployed to address the challenges of dynamic cable management. At the heart of the e-spool is the innovative twisterband that manages moving cables without twisting them. In the words of Adlib, this gives the venue a ‘reliable and efficient way to manage its large amounts of data, audio and multi-core cabling’. Created with the intention of being cost-effective and space-saving, the e-spool consistently exceeds expectations and extends the service life of the cables it manages to reduce unnecessary downtime. In a space as fast-paced as a university auditorium, the show must go on, and the igus e-spool has a proven track record of supporting multi-purpose venues where flexibility is required.

While igus is perhaps more well-known for products in industries such as manufacturing and construction, the e-spool is a great example of the diverse range of products offered to a variety of industries. The Tung Auditorium is also an excellent example of a project that resulted in an exemplary final design, rewarded with the winning title in this year’s MONDO-DR award in its category.