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Arena Structures at London Boat Show
The recent Schroders London Boat Show, presented in association with the Daily Telegraph, attracted around 200,000 visitors over its 10 day tenure of the Docklands site. It showcased the latest in dream yachts, cutting edge powerboats, dinghies and surfboards and the exhibition included an indoor Watersports Arena housed in the TFS, which hosted canoeing, windsurfing and wakeboarding championships.
Murray Ellis, the National Boat Show’s director of operations for the event, explained: “The Watersports Arena provided a unique venue giving us the opportunity to host the UK Indoor Windsurfing Championships, canoe polo and provided an interactive element where visitors of the show could try activities for themselves.
“We have worked with Arena Structures here in 2004 and at Southampton Boat Show and they have always been very professional. Last year they helped us host the first (UK Indoor Windsurfing) Championships at the Schroders London Boat Show. We have worked with Arena Structures to create a better venue this year, including creating the best dynamic air flow for the wind surfers. The height of the TFS contributes to the atmosphere and it’s a key component of the event. This competition was part of the international Professional Windsurfing Association (PWA) tour and attracted the best exponents of the sport from around the globe to compete.”
Managing the installation of the TFS and the infrastructure to create the unique indoor facility, Arena Structures liaised with ExCeL and National Boat Shows to create a seamless passage from the main permanent exhibition. They even had to get planning permission from the aviation authority due to the close proximity to City Airport of the 17m high structure. They employed a team of 16 men, who worked through the Christmas and New Year break enjoyed by most of the country, to construct the 50m wide by 205m long temporary silver-finished venue.
Arena Structures also supplied their TFS to the 2004 event, but this year they extended their service to the show’s organisers by managing the installation of the 70m by 30m pool, complete with powerful fans, to create wind-speeds of up to 30 knots and seating for 2,500 spectators supplied by sister company Arena Seating. To assist with the construction of the huge tank of water Arena Structures brought in fellow suppliers, Star Event Group, to construct the sub-structure taking the weight of 2.1 million litres of water (enough to fill about 8,000 baths!) and install one of their Orbit stages at the head of the tank for the presenters and to carry the giant video screen and lights.
Arena Structures MD Grahame Muir said: “The TFS has proven itself a great temporary exhibition venue and it has been particularly satisfying working with London’s largest exhibition. This project exemplified the level of project management we could deliver working alongside sister companies within the Arena Group and other respected suppliers within the events industry.”
In picture: the Indoor Watersports Arena at the 2005 Schroders London Boat Sho
21st January 2005
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