As a show set on a Federation starship, Star Trek: Voyager's sets didn't need to be nearly as impressive or large as Deep Space Nine's. The Intrepid-class USS Voyager boasted a lot of the same familiar locations as Star Trek: The Next Generation's Galaxy-class USS Enterprise-D. In fact, many of Star Trek: Voyager's sets were built where TNG's once stood, on Paramount's Stage 8, like the USS Voyager's mess hall, which had once been Star Trek: The Next Generation's Ten Forward set. But DS9's sets were also cooler than Voyager's for a less obvious reason.
Star Trek Actor Armin Shimerman Explains Why DS9 Had The Coolest Sets--Literally
Deep Space Nine's Stages Were Kept "Icy Cold" For The Alien Actors
On The Delta Flyers podcast covering DS9 season 2's "Profit and Loss", Quark actor Armin Shimerman explains that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine literally had cooler Star Trek sets than Star Trek: Voyager. While discussing DS9's heavy Cardassian military costumes, which were based on wetsuits, Star Trek: Voyager's Ensign Harry Kim actor Garret Wang remarks that the "hot stage lighting of the 1990s" must have made conditions on set much worse. Shimerman disagreed, and with good reason. Read Shimerman's explanation below, and listen to The Delta Flyers starting at the 50:28 mark.
Armin Shimerman: "Those Cardassian costumes were the worst costumes ... The moment you start to sweat, it just stays in there and gets hotter and hotter."
Garrett Wang: "And with the hot stage lighting of the 1990s, my goodness."
Armin Shimerman: "Our stage was purposely kept very cold, because we had so many aliens."
Garrett Wang: "I would have loved working on your show."
Armin Shimerman: "I felt sorry for the Starfleet people in their skimpy jumpsuits. But for the rest of us, who were in a lot of material, it wasn't unpleasant at all. They kept it icy cold for us."
It makes sense that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine would have much colder sets than Star Trek: Voyager did. Lower temperatures helped DS9's many actors in full alien makeup, like Quark and the aforementioned Cardassians, Lurian barfly Morn (Mark Allan Shepherd), and background actors outfitted as everything from Klingons to Jem'Hadar. Quark's Bar, the Promenade, and Ops all had multiple levels and lots of space to spread out bright stage lighting, so everyone could be as "icy cold" as the surface of Andoria. Even Deep Space Nine's crew quarters were darker than Star Trek: Voyager's, with fewer harsh lights.
Starfleet's "Skimpy Jumpsuits" Got A Makeover In DS9 Season 5
DS9 And Voyager's Starfleet Uniforms Were Made Of Wool
Fortunately, Shimerman needn't have worried about his Starfleet co-stars, because Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's uniforms got a toasty makeover in DS9 season 5. The gray-shouldered Starfleet uniforms from Star Trek: First Contact spread throughout Starfleet's ranks, and were used in the last half of DS9, during the Dominion War arc. The quilted details and thicker turtleneck of these uniforms looked much warmer than the previous iteration. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6, episode 19, "In the Pale Moonlight", shows Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) wearing the many layers of the Captain's uniform variant, including a matching vest.
But Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's first Starfleet uniforms, which were also used throughout Star Trek: Voyager's seven seasons, were also a lot warmer than they looked. On The Delta Flyers, Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill confirm that the version of the Starfleet uniform worn on Star Trek: Voyager was very warm, because it was made of wool. Chances are Wang and McNeill were quite comfortable on the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine set, when Ensign Harry Kim and Lieutenant Tom Paris paid a visit to Quark's Bar in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Voyager.
