AUSTRALIAN EVENT AWARDS 2023
new event product of the year
WAVE 55
Overview
Perth Festival is a not-for-profit multi-arts festival that brings world class performances, music, film, visual arts and literary events to Perth, Western Australia every year. In March 2023 the festival organisers required a venue to host the Icelandic pop iconoclast, Björk to perform her Cornucopia show with a crowd capacity of 5,000. Stagekings were able to provide the perfect solution to meet the requirements of the artist and the festival organisers with our new 55 metre clear-span temporary structure - The Wave55.
Benefit
Our Wave Roof was the ideal structure for this event. It could cater for a 5,000 seat grandstand in their required location, Langley Park, Perth. It was temporary, could be installed quickly and provided a safety net from any unpredictable weather, and could be located right in the heart of the city. There is no other product in the Australian market like this with such a clear span.
This structure has huge rigging capacity meaning production teams don’t need any additional structure underneath. The Wave 55 has a footprint of 55 metres clear- span width, up to 100 metres in length and 18 metres high. It is a modular format so there is flexibility in how long it can be and has ample capacity in what can be hung from the roof for sound & lighting requirements.
It is made from large aluminum keder profile and blackout heavy duty PVC sheets which is erected with minimal manpower and the use of robots that pull the sheets over the structure. It fits into five forty-foot containers so is easy to transport around the country. It is quick to put up and break down, taking less than two weeks. For the Perth Festival, it only took nine days given the open space we had to work in.
Influence
Our tried-and-tested project management processes were influential in the successful running of this event. The Perth Festival clients entrusted us with our vision to offer an 'all encompassing' solution in the Wave Roof. Our clients had not seen this new product before, so were trusting that we understood their needs and could provide the solution they were after in the tight time frame.
Our reputation allowed us the opportunity to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation with this new product which had never been seen before in Australia and the outcome was breath taking!
Our clients from Perth Festival stated "The Wave55 allowed us to transform a greenfield site into a boutique temporary venue of such a high standard we received an unprecedented level of positive audience feedback and already have plans to return the structure to the site for future festivals".
Challenges and innovation
We had purchased this Wave Roof just in time for the Perth Festival. It was manufactured in Portugal and had to be shipped to Australia. This was a major undertaking to ensure all steps met their deadlines in order for it to arrive into Perth on time. From shipping delays at various docks to Customs requirements, there were no days to spare.
Whilst Stagekings passed this first test, our biggest hurdle was ahead. Not having installed this structure previously, it was a challenge to ensure our daily deadlines were met. We had to consider the ground environment which, in Perth, was sandy and how the structure would be pegged down or weighted.
We also had to consider sound transferring outside of the structure and had to implement measures whilst in the construction phase to stop sound transmitting at ground level. All of these complexities had to be dealt with as we were learning about this new product ourselves. The innovative minds of our crew were able to come up with solutions at a fast pace. Our install team were extraordinary and managed to finish the build ahead of time to the complete satisfaction of our client.
The sheer flexibility and quick installation of a structure like this in the Australian event industry is a game changer. There is such a lack of medium sized venues around Australia, with so much going on in the live music and entertainment space we believe this new event product can meet this need required in the marketplace.