We designed and built the Devonport Market Hall Dome (MHD). Our work on this project included the physical dome design, the projection design, the audio design and the media server design and specification. We managed all of the suppliers and subcontractors and worked directly with the Real Ideas Organisation (RIO), and in collaboration with the architects and the main building contractors, on this multi-million pound and multi-year project. This is an ongoing collaboration, and as a result, we have a long-term commitment to supporting the fulldome community in Plymouth.

Despite the worldwide challenges of the past 12 months, we delivered the Market Hall Dome to RIO on time and on budget. The refurbishment of the historic Devonport Market Hall took place over several years, prior to us arriving on site. We used this time to regularly review our proposed system design in order to make sure it remained the best possible solution for their budget.

As new technologies became available, we were able to significantly improve the hardware specifications of the projectors and the media servers. Because of this, the MHD ended up with an even better solution than the one in the original scope, all at no additional cost to the client..

The MHD is very special dome, featuring a screen that extends 210-degrees vertically and reaches all the way down to the flat floor. We developed a unique design solution for this unique dome. To cover the entire screen surface, it uses just two projectors paired with two custom fisheye lenses. We worked closely with the both lens manufacturer and the projector manufacturer to develop and validate this cutting-edge design.

The MHD was built to appeal to a very broad audience, and to play host to collaborations between fulldome practitioners from around the world. To facilitate this, we designed the dome space and its supporting technology to be the most open, flexible and extensible possible.