Technical Design Solutions for Theatre

The Steel-Framed Texas Triscuit

Tim Francis

For me, one of the most intriguing things about the Yale triscuit-studwall system is its size. Here at Trinity University, we generally support platforms on 4′ centers regardless of their size, so the concept of lightweight, thin-profile 4×4 stock platform units made a great deal of sense. I enthusiastically set out to make some triscuits for my theater, but finding lumber difficult to locate in my area, I decided to use thin-wall tube steel for the frames. That choice prompted the development of the triscuit described here.

FIGURE 1: THE TEXAS TRISCUIT

The Texas triscuit has a welded frame consisting ...