Case Study

Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

Overview

The Crucible, Studio, and Lyceum Theatres provide a renowned performance venue and centre for the arts in the heart of Sheffield. The award of Grade II listed status for the Crucible in November 2007 means that all three of Sheffield Theatres' performance spaces are now located within buildings of architectural or historical significance.

Both the Lyceum and Studio theatres have diverse programmes of touring and in-house productions including opera, ballet, contemporary dance and West End hits, whilst the Crucible is perhaps most famous as the home of the 888.com World Snooker Championship.

Challenge

As well as using email throughout the business, Sheffield Theatres host their own website including an online box office. Additionally, the international media centre generates traffic at key times. Struggling to cope with all this traffic were just two standard SDSL connections and they were not keeping pace with Sheffield Theatres’ needs.

With both buildings carrying protected status, the impact on the fabric of the theatres was a vital consideration for any solution to Sheffield Theatres’ internet needs. Additionally, the Crucible is about to undergo an extensive refurbishment which will make it one of the ‘greenest’ regional theatres in the UK so any solution needed to fit with the theatres’ aims of limiting the environmental impact of the building work and the environmental sustainability of the refurbished building.

Solution

Sheffield Theatres chose two 2Mb Fixed Wireless internet Access (FWA) connections from On-Communications to meet its needs.

The first high performance FWA service provides all internet and data connectivity for Sheffield Theatres, enabling it to support its own email servers and host its busy web site. On-Communication’s fast and proven service, with “burst” capabilities for times of higher usage, will be particularly important during peak periods around major events. The symmetrical nature of the On-Communications’ solution means that outbound traffic such as website updates and journalists’ reports can be uploaded at the same speed as inbound traffic is downloaded.

Sheffield Theatres is also taking a second connection from On-Communications to support a temporary office complex during the Crucible refurbishment project. The second connection will provide all internet and email connectivity for the temporary office and support networking.

On-Communications’ service is provided wirelessly, which make its environmental impact minimal. The solution is independent of BT Openreach’s underground copper cables and no new cables are required so there is no need to dig up roads or pavements. In fact, the only impact at the site is the simple installation of a discreet unit, about the size of a domestic alarm.

Result

Sheffield Theatres is now enjoying a fast, guaranteed service from On-Communications.

Chris Blackburn, IT Manager, Sheffield Theatres said, “Performance is vital for us. On-Communications FWA solution has proven more reliable and faster than our SDSL connection. It was quick and painless to install and worked perfectly from the beginning.

“The minimal environmental impact of the On-Communications solution is ideal for us, as we seek to achieve a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) rating of Very Good for the Crucible refurbishment project, and more sustainable buildings for the future.”

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