Microsoft-Designed School in Philadelphia Begins Operation with Macton’s Turntable Divisible Auditorium (TDA) System

Oxford, CT, September 25, 2006 – Macton Corporation announced that its Turntable Divisible Auditorium (TDA) system, which can rotate one or more sections of a school auditorium to create additional educational or performance space when the full auditorium is not in use, has now begun operation in the new School of the Future located in Philadelphia. The school began operation last Thursday and was designed by the Microsoft Corporation and the Prisco Group architecture firm after extensive research was done on the optimum ways in which a school facility should be designed and run.

The 162,000-square-foot high school is being touted as the way of the future in high school education and uses cutting edge technology and systems to help educate its students. For instance, the students at this new school use smart cards to register their attendance, open their digital lockers and track the calories they consume – they also carry laptops, not books, and have wireless Internet access throughout the school. About 170 teens located in the Philadelphia School District were chosen by lottery to make up the freshman class – the school plans to enroll up to 750 students eventually.

A large part of this innovative school is Macton’s TDA system, which makes more efficient use out of the typical auditorium by creating two new learning or performance areas when the full auditorium is not in use. In particular, by a simple push of a button, sections of the auditorium seating can rotate within a couple of minutes to create standalone learning or performance areas – this results in greater flexibility in facility use and a reduction in both initial construction costs and ongoing HVAC costs. Macton has already installed its innovative TDA system in over 65 facilities in the U.S. and abroad and has designed this system for a wide range of different school systems. For more information on the TDA’s installed at School of the Future, you can click here.

For over 55 years, Macton Corporation has been a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of large turntables, lifting systems, and engineered-to-order powered structures for the transportation, architectural, industrial, entertainment, and promotional events markets. Its systems have been installed in over 100 different educational facilities to date.

For more information on TDA’s or Macton contact:

Jack Shepherd
(203) 267-1500
[email protected]