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Central Hall

At the heart of Campus West, Central Hall is the University's largest venue and can be configured in a variety of layouts to suit your event. Although the venue is managed by AV services at York, TechSoc works closely with their team to provide a wide range of technical capabilities and will handle any technical challenges in the venue.

This page is managed by Technical Theatre Society, and is collated through our experience of working in the venue and from discussions with key staff members. However, all information in this document is superseded by that given to you by a member of staff from the University or Students' Union.

Booking the Venue

Central Hall is bookable through the University Room Bookings team, and you will need to email them to request bookings of Central Hall. Their contact information can be found on their website. Once you have confirmation of bookings, please get in touch to discuss how we can help.

You may find it helpful to have a site visit in Central Hall to understand the venue better. If you would like us to attend this, just let us know.

Some equipment has to be booked well in advance of your event, so the earlier you have confirmation of venue the better!

Venue Details​

Venue Capacity​

Central Hall has a maximum audience capacity of 1100, although this varies depending on staging layout and seating options.

Seating is split into blocks, with the block in line with the stage seating 200 and the block at stage level seating 120.

There are 4 dressing rooms, and a large rehearsal room on the second floor, with lift access to all floors. Each dressing room has a capacity of 20, although this would be more comfortable with a maximum of 10 in each room.

Staging Layouts​

The Default layout for the auditorium is with 6 rows of chairs on the floor (Block 6) and a slightly extended stage. Other layouts, such as cabaret style, no stage and extended stage, are possible but may have an additional charge for setup time by the University.

Technical Capabilities​

TechSoc can provide a complete technical and stage management package for events in Central Hall, at a significant reduction in cost from hiring the University’s AV department. Our standard package for the venue is as follows:

Lighting​

  • Comprehensive lighting rig, with colour changing and moving lights
  • Lighting Designer to work with your team and create states and effects
  • 2x Followspots
  • Haze Effects

Sound​

  • 4 wireless handheld radio mics and 4 wireless headset mics
  • Sound effects and music playback
  • Sound Designer if required

Video​

  • Playback of powerpoints/videos on up to three screens
  • Backstage relay camera

Comms​

  • Comms link between Techsoc Technical Director, Backstage crew and Rehearsal room

Additional Equipment​

Other equipment can be included such as a Cue Light system and additional wireless microphones. We will also arrange any changes of staging if you would like them, although we can’t arrange changes of seating layout which should be booked through the Room Bookings Team.