Case Study

Cranleigh Village Hall

Cranleigh Parish Council in Surrey published a tender opportunity for their refurbishment project. We were thrilled to be awarded the contract, supporting a local venue with their technical installation, which included lighting, sound, hoist, and draping systems.

The Problem

The village hall in Cranleigh is a multi-purpose space used for a variety of events from concerts and performances to toddler groups and exercise classes. The hall needed to maintain this flexibility whilst offering a better solution for performances and a more flexible and futureproofed system for all users. Enhancing the space allowed for both a wider range of events to be hosted in the village hall but also greater revenue opportunities for the Parish council. The hall wasn’t equipped with technical performance facilities and it was evident this was limiting the type and quantity of bookings that were achieved.

Creative Spark's Solution

Although Creative Spark were presented with a design brief from a theatrical consultant, the team worked closely with the council to ensure the system installed were exactly what they needed. The experience and knowledge from the design team meant that some major changes were implemented, from the original brief, saving the council money and offering a much more suitable solution.

Due to the busy schedule of the hall with existing hires, Creative Spark had a window of just one week to complete the first fix installation, alongside other contractors. The rest of the installation took place over the following weeks in blocks of 2 to 4 days. After each installation block, the spaces were left clean and tidy, ready for the paying hirers.

Working with the other appointed contractors to minimise closure times and disruption to the hall users, Creative Spark installed:

Fixed rigging installation for the stage
Motorised lighting bar for the main hall
Selection of lighting fixtures and control desk
line-array PA system to work with new acoustic paneling and minimise echo
Stage Drapery
Complete power, audio and data infrastructure for future-proof flexibility

Creative spark was able to deliver the project in the stated timeframe and on plan, ready for the gala opening!

Benefits for Our Client

Cranleigh Parish Council have a state of the art performance space which is simple to use for day to day hirers, with access to controls on a touch screen for lighting states, volume control and projector control, but allows full connectivity for the performances and events which are a little more technically involved. Creative Spark equipped the hall with professional lighting and sound control desks that can be stored away when not needed, but be setup in minutes for more complex productions. They can host a much wider range of events without the need for additional equipment and hire costs to the user making the space a much greater asset to the community.

Councillor Marc Scully who oversaw the project, provided thr following feedback,

“I have in my role worked with many contractors and trades and I would not hesitate to recommend Creative Spark to anyone who is looking for this type of service, you will not be disappointed, a professional and totally reliable company with the right priorities – to excel and ensure the customer gets what is best given their budget and individual circumstances.”