The fact is that events themselves are getting bigger. The Olympics, for example, continues to increase the number of sports contested and this year’s Rugby World Cup was the largest ever staged – official fan zone attendance alone broke the one million mark.

The conference industry, too, is booming – many attract tens of thousands of people and require the kind of infrastructure you might normally associate with a football match. 

As events get more ambitious, the sporting and entertainment industries are constantly evolving to meet consumers’ expectations: larger screens, faster Wi-Fi connections, brighter or more interactive lighting and, more recently, the convenience of electronic ticketing. 

The power needs of events, and therefore energy strategies, have to adapt to meet these challenges. A reliable power source (or several) has become a critical factor in event planning and there has also never been greater emphasis on organisers to meet energy efficiencies in this process. 

Power Pillars

There has been significant investment in energy strategies across the events industry in recent years and typically we see that investment across three "power pillars": reliability, cost & sustainability.

The show must go on. Every event planner works to this mantra and power reliability is usually first on the list of influencing factors. Unplanned disruptions can be catastrophic, especially if the issue is not resolved instantly. Losing broadcast or stadium power even for a minute could cost the event millions – and decimate its reputation. The effects spread across spectators and viewers to the experience of corporate partners, the exposure received by advertisers and, worst of all, the performance of the events’ protagonists themselves – sportsmen and women, artists and actors.

A large amount of our strategic preparation with event organisers is therefore spent on contingency planning, and rightly so. The earlier a power provider is involved in the planning process, the easier it will be to identify issues and create solutions. When we plan an event, we focus on pre-empting possible issues and creating flexibility in the way we deliver power. 

Both mobile and grid-connected energy can be advantageous for the event organiser, with the latter particularly popular when the host expects to stage its event repeatedly over several years. Modern, modular power technology also brings great benefits – from having the flexibility to operate in different environments to reducing waste by managing redundancy more effectively. And while no two events are the same, each one requires a back-up power plan. 

What does this mean in practice? Early stage reliability planning would include ensuring steps can be taken to synchronise and switch over from grid power to mobile power stations as well as verifying connection points for electrical distribution.

Of course, guaranteeing reliable power is only half the battle. Once an event is confident in its energy supply, it needs to deliver efficiencies both to reduce carbon emissions and manage its cost base.

This is where mobile, modular power comes into its own as it tends to be preferred for its relatively low capital cost. By virtue of being temporary, the host does not have long-term financial or environmental commitments in place either. 

The scalability of modular power systems can also help event organisers to flex power levels to suit changing needs. This already happens across many industries – in mining, for example, developers will front-load power resource to construct the mine and its surrounding infrastructure, but then downgrade power resources and focus on fuel efficiencies when operational. 

The events industry faces similar challenges: from the construction of permanent and temporary sites to the creation of supporting infrastructure, preparation for major events is a long-term process. However, once operational, events’ power needs fluctuate dramatically. Modular power is the ideal solution in this instance – for example, we can just as easily install fifty 1 MW generators across many sites as we can fewer, more powerful generators in a smaller area.

But it’s not just how many generators you install, and where. Power technology has made great strides and our technicians at our manufacturing plant in Scotland have made advancements in efficiencies and smart monitoring, too. 

We can monitor power and fuel use of any of our power stations remotely, and can very easily synchronise our generators back to the grid without affecting the supply of power to the events themselves. These advancements can all dramatically reduce energy costs. Of course, individual generators can also be turned on and off as needed, reducing emissions and saving energy.

A final component to delivering a sustainable event is minimising noise emissions. Either the organizer can adopt technology specifically designed to operate quietly; or it can improve the event’s energy efficiency in order to reduce the number and size of generators or coolers in situ.

For instance, we provided temporary power to The 2014 Ryder Cup, where tournament golf requires a discreet audience and an even quieter built environment. We used a new set of innovative “Super Silent” generators that produce very low noise emissions (48-55 dBA at 50 feet). 

However, noise levels also cause a significant challenge for city centre events and sometimes innovative ideas need to be explored in order to minimise disruption to residents. In planning for The 2012 London Olympics, we took this challenge on and placed generators on floating platforms on the River Lea, moving the noise out of the built-up area.

The events industry is growing, evolving and modernising. Power suppliers have to follow suit.

With growth in demand for temporary infrastructure set to continue to grow from one event to the next, innovation will be crucial to keep pace with this demand, according to senior officials at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) speaking at the first conference of the Association of Global Event Suppliers (AGES).

“Temporary infrastructure is crucial for the operation of large events. The demand for such venue infrastructure for media, security, logistics, hospitality and fan zones is increasing from event to event,” said Martin Kallen, director of UEFA operations division and CEO of EURO 2016 SAS – the organisation responsible for all operational aspects of Europe’s biggest football tournament.

There are major business opportunities for suppliers of temporary infrastructure at the upcoming UEFA EURO 2016 in France, Kallen said.

The recently adopted Olympic Agenda 2020 will drive demand for temporary infrastructure, said Xavier Becker, Head of Venues, Infrastructure & Services at the IOC.

“The IOC wants to actively promote the use of existing and temporary infrastructure to contribute to more sustainable and cost effective solutions,” he said.

“Furthermore the IOC wishes to develop the awareness regarding temporary infrastructure and to promote an earlier engagement with the suppliers market.

"I would also encourage the industry to develop innovative solutions, and to think about new reusable large facilities to provide more flexibility for organizers.”

The need for innovation was also stressed by Kallen, who said “Suppliers need to fulfil high selection criteria. Quality, reliability and the capacity to innovate are key.”

The conference, which took place in Derbyshire, UK on 2 and 3 March, was the first gathering of members and associate members of AGES who, along with other industry experts, discussed the challenges and opportunities for temporary infrastructures and demountable venues for large events. 

The event was organized by AGES and hosted by Eve Trakway. 

“We want AGES to become the platform for the industry and establish a framework and forums to become an integrated part of the delivery solution for all key stake holders,” said Daniel Cordey, chairman of AGES.

“AGES will approach governmental bodies and organisers, who face the challenge of finding appropriate solutions, to explain the huge possibilities of the industry and to help develop true legacy plans for their events.”

Since being founded by 18 members in June 2014, AGES has almost doubled in size.

“Looking down the growing list of members it is very encouraging to see the incredible level of event expertise assembled around one table,” said Guy Lodge, an honorary member of AGES who has been involved in three major events in Russia, Scotland and Brazil.

“It drives home the challenges that the industry faces, around budget pressures, varying procurement practices and regulatory compliance”. 

AGES is a not-for-profit-making organisation based in Switzerland formed to become the label for quality and reliability for temporary infrastructure works for major events.

Its members are market leaders in the international event suppliers industry and front runners in the development of new products and services. Together they annually deliver services and works for close to 1.5 Billion EUR. 

AGES seeks to present the capabilities of the industry to governmental bodies, key stakeholders and organisers of large sports events, to develop standards and procedures, to facilitate interaction and to obtain cost-effective infrastructure solutions for future events. 

For more information, please visit www.ages.international or contact Daniel Cordey, Chairman of AGES at info@ages.international or by telephone +41 79 407 06 06

The organising committee of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro has announced nine tenders. 

The work covers a range of specialisms, with application deadlines ranging from November 2014 to February 2015. 

Rio 2016 wishes to hire companies in the following fields and timeframes:

IT Outsourcing. Application deadline: 13th November. 

Barriers and Fences. Application deadline: 27th November.

Temporary Arena with Overlay. Application deadline: 28th November.

Medical Supplies and Products. Application deadline: 4th December.

Commentators Positions & Tribunes. Application deadline: 4th December.

Venue Hospitality. Application deadline: 4th December.

Stands and Seating. Application deadline: 10th December.

Cleaning and Waste Services. Application deadline: 22nd January 2015.

Waste Services. Application deadline: 21 February 2015.

UK companies interested in bidding should contact fabio.alves@fco.gov.uk 

A modular solution from Arena Seating – part of global event supply company Arena Group – has been selected for St George's Park, the English FA’s national football centre. 

Five uncovered demountable grandstands, consisting of four tiers each, will be located along a covered, elevated walkway overlooking the elite training pitch and reconfigured as required by the venue’s event programme. 

Speaking at Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester, Dave Withey, Arena UK & Europe’s sales and marketing director, said: “It will essentially be a permanent installation to begin with, but the modular nature of the system means that the grandstands can quickly and easily be reconfigured and moved elsewhere when needed; such as the indoor Futsal hall or any of the 12 outdoor pitches. 

“St George’s Park hosts a variety of different events, in various locations across the site, so the ability to do this was a vital part of the FA’s brief. They can then be moved back to the elite training pitch, negating the need for any additional storage facilities.” 

 The grandstands will be installed on the 15th October by six crew in a single day. Arena Seating will train St George’s Park on how to reconfigure and extend the grandstand for larger events, using Arena’s rental stock.

“There is no need for permanent construction work, making it extremely cost effective,” said Withey. “This is achieved without compromising on spectator comfort and viewing angles, which is very important for a world class facility like this.” 

St George’s Park, based in Burton-upon-Trent in Staffordshire, is the preparation ground for all of the England national football teams and home to the FA’s coaching and development work. 

Arena Group is exhibiting at Soccerex Global Convention at stand 219. The company will also be exhibiting at HOST CITY: BID TO WIN conference, which takes place in London on 28th October 2014. For more information visit www.bidtowin-hostcity.net

The contract to provide temporary power to the 2014 Ryder Cup has been awarded to Aggreko. 

The leading lessor or power and temperature control solutions will provide 17 MW of power and back-up support on location at Gleneagles. 

Aggreko will also air-condition the media centre, hospitality units, tented village and other temporary infrastructure.

In total, Aggreko will be helping to power and cool around 40 different major temporary structures at the Gleneagles site.

The 2014 Ryder Cup will deploy Aggreko’s especially quiet TwinPack generators, which will minimise sound emissions from power production in and around the golf course.

An half a billion homes in 183 countries worldwide are expected to watch the event. As technical power is crucial for broadcasting, Aggreko will use around 600 distribution boards to connect and feed power supplies around the course. 

"Aggreko has vast experience of providing temporary power and temperature control solutions at golf tournaments,” said Angus Cockburn, interim CEO of Aggreko, which has its headquarters in nearby Glasgow.

“Doing so at The 2014 Ryder Cup, which is on our doorstep and is perhaps higher profile than any previous tournament is a great privilege.”

Other major sports events that Aggreko has provided services for include nine Olympic and Paralympic Games, five FIFA World Cups, four Ryder Cups in Europe and the XX Commonwealth Games.

"Aggreko is yet another global business with firm Scottish roots to join us at The 2014 Ryder Cup,” said Edward Kitson, match director of the 2014 Ryder Cup. “Their expertise and experience at previous sporting events, both at golf tournaments and others with international broadcast power requirements, will be invaluable.”

The 2014 Ryder Cup takes place at The Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland from 26-28 September, 2014.

A company that provided took its temporary seating solutions from London 2012 to the Brazil 2014 World Cup is one of the UK’s top exporters, according to research conducted by Richard Branson’s Fast Track agency for the Sunday Times. 

Arena Group began showcasing its innovative temporary seating systems in HOST CITY magazine in the run-up to London 2012, where it built the Populous-designed beach volleyball arena and provided seating for the weightlifting, boxing, fencing, table tennis and judo events. 

For the Brazil 2014 World Cup, Arena Group supplied two 9,000+ seat demountable grandstands for the Arena do Sao Paulo – the largest temporary structures in Brazil. Through a local partnership, it also installed seats for Salvador's World Cup stadium.

“The ranking is testament to the vision that we’ve had for the company since long before the London 2012 Olympics; to become a trusted, global provider of event overlay services and the highest quality temporary event infrastructure,” said Greg Lawless, CEO of Arena Group. 

“This international growth has been a fundamental part of the group’s strategic plan, and we have made acquisitions which have positioned us to secure contracts for the next generation of major international sporting events.”

Arena Group’s  two year average international sales growth reached 54 per cent, with international sales reaching £10.5m in 2012. The company is also the official overlay and temporary structures provider to Glasgow 2014.

HOST CITY has been profiling London 2012’s quiet revolution in the temporary overlay for many years, through interviews with the organising committee and its key suppliers in this area, including Arena Group and Populous.

“We would like to congratulate Arena Group on making the upper reaches of the International Track 200,”said Ben Avison, editor of HOST CITY magazine.

“It has been gratifying to see these temporary seating solutions being taken up by the organisers of the 2014 World Cup and we look forward to seeing this positive trend continue in future sustainable mega events.” 

Credited with the design of some of the world’s most iconic stadiums, specialist sports architectural firm Populous continues to build upon its impressive record this year. 

Populous has worked on nine Olympic Games to date and most recently played a significant role in the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, including the design of the 40,000 capacity Fisht Olympic Stadium and the Arena das Dunas stadium in Natal for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Later this year, the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games and the Incheon Asian Games will be hosted in spaces designed by Populous.

So it comes as little surprise that Populous were awarded the prestigious AJ100 International Practice of the Year award this year, beating seven other global architecture practices in the process. The expert panel mentioned the firm’s work in Sochi and Brazil as particular highlights.

Senior Principal Ben Vickery says “We are delighted to be recognised in this way for designing stadiums and temporary installations for major events around the world.  Each country and event is different and Populous has a great deal of experience designing venues and events that relate to the culture of the club, location and host country."

Populous divide their activities between the design of individual sports facilities and the masterplanning of mega events. Their expertise ranges from supporting the bid for an event, to site masterplans, overlays using temporary installations and world class stadiums. In Sochi, they took on the challenge of designing a masterplan for the Winter Olympic Games in a city that had never previously hosted any major sporting events. 

Tom Jones, Principal of the architectural practice, says “In Sochi there was no existing sporting infrastructure. This meant the Winter Park master plan required a much more extensive arrangement of new builds, as well as having all the usual functional requirements in terms of ease of access for spectators, athletes and visiting dignitaries.”

New territories

These masterplan projects have become more frequent for Populous in recent years with the trend of sporting mega events being awarded to areas of the world not previously used to hosting them. With international governing bodies becoming more inclined to take their sporting properties to cities in South America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Far East Asia, Populous has had to face a whole new set of challenges and opportunities.

“In some of the territories which lack any sort of significant sporting infrastructure, you need to look at creating the entire infrastructure from the beginning, which is often not needed in cities that are more traditional hosts,” says Jones.

“On the other hand, this does give you the ability to produce a very comprehensive design that includes the transport, venue and residential requirements and assist in a regeneration of a precinct for the long term."

Populous was involved in the design of the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium, which is set to host the opening and closing ceremonies and athletics competitions of the 2014 Asian Games. For the purpose of the Games, the stadium will have a capacity of 61,074, yet this will reduced down to 30,000 post-Games.

“When we look ahead to the legacy we want to ensure that the venues have a long term use and that is where the balance of permanent and temporary design comes into play," says Jones.

“There needs to be consideration of how much is built initially and the flexibility in the master plan to allow for further phases of development after the event.”

With the Incheon stadium, Populous further developed its innovative modular construction methodology, showcased at London 2012, designing just the west stand as permanent and leaving the other three sides as temporary seating built into the landscaping of park.

“Those temporary seating elements can be very easily and quickly removed, but you’re left with a sculpted landscape bowl that people can still go and sit on and watch events. Therefore, it would be quite easy to scale back up again if you had another major event.”

New or existing; temporary or permanent?

As every city is different, Populous studies each host individually to understand its requirements and formulate the best balance between building new facilities and refurbishing existing venues, as well as the balance between permanent and temporary structures.

“Some states want to construct entirely new venues for major events whilst others might want the balance of permanent and temporary installations. Either way the long term viability and ability for ongoing revenue generation is critical and needs to be judged for each event and location,” says Vickery.

“With the right mix of temporary and permanent venues, an event will be more sustainable:  economically, by only constructing venues that will have a long-term life, and environmentally by using less resources for construction. It is the development of new ideas, like these, in venue design that will be the motors of improvements in the design for sports.”

With more major events on the horizon, Populous will be working on them in a variety of capacities. In the case of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, much of the sporting facilities are already built, so Populous’ role has been to design a master plan for the residential and transport requirements.

In the case of next year’s inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, the firm is working on the overlay (temporary installation) design for two of the venues. 

“The European Games is a new event and we have not worked in Baku before, so it is exciting to develop ideas for a new location, building on the experience of designing for the London 2012 Olympics,” says Vickery.

The scale of Rio 2016’s infrastructure projects is immense and partnership with experienced suppliers from London 2012 will be crucial for success – but budgets must be carefully monitored. 

This was the message given by Rio 2016’s head of procurement, Fernando Cotrim, in an exclusive interview with HOST CITY at the South American Sport Events Seminar, organised by UK Trade and Investment during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“If you consider that you have the greatest combination of needs in terms of materials and services in one event, you can imagine the size of challenge,” Cotrim told HOST CITY. “We are looking for around 2,500 suppliers to be in place for 2016.”

Cotrim’s major area of focus is temporary construction. “The hardest part is to get the right suppliers at the right time and to build a temporary and sustainable supply chain, he said.

“That’s the challenge – the temporary part is the most important.”

London 2012 has set the template of a mega event where the majority of infrastructure is temporary. “We are taking a similar approach. Probably around 60 per cent of constructions will be temporary.”

Not only is the concept similar to London 2012; Rio 2016 is targeting the same companies. “We will use similar suppliers. The ideal for us is to bring the same suppliers but they come to Brazil, partner with local companies and help our country to grow in this business.”

Cotrim cited Arena Group, who provided temporary venues for London 2012 and Glasgow 2014, as an example of a company with expertise in this area. Other notable suppliers include ES Global, also present at the UKTI event.

Asked what his biggest concern was, Cotrim replied “Always to be monitoring – to have the best suppliers and to stay on budget. That’s a real concern. What we’ve learned from other Games is that if you don’t manage the budget you can go to infinity.

“So you have to be very cautious about the budget. We are always seeking innovative solutions, but at the same time low cost and sustainable.”

Rio 2016 has been under fire for severe delays to its construction projects, particularly the Deodoro Park cluster of venues. Cotrim says the tide of opinion is changing in the wake of a largely successful FIFA World Cup. 

“What people saw, what the media saw in the World Cup changed this mindset. Deodoro was a concern, but the suppliers are starting to work and so I think this mindset has changed a little bit. The last comment from the IOC is that we have got back on track and we are in a good shape.”

However, the IOC is still keeping a very watchful eye on Rio 2016 projects. IOC Vice President Craig Reedie confirmed to HOST CITY that the IOC’s head of Olympic Games, Gilbert Felli, will be focused 100 per cent on ensuring a successful Games in 2016.

With more than two years to go until the Rio 2016 Olympic Games begin, 38 per cent of the competition venues are ready for the event, the organsing committee has announced amid widespread concern over construction progress. 

Of the 29 permanent venues, 11 are operational, while eight require some renovation work and the other 10 will form part of the sporting legacy that is being constructed in the city. Eight temporary venues will also be used to host competitions.

Construction progress can be seen in the four Rio 2016 competition zones. While work on the Barra Olympic Park advances, with the conclusion of the foundations of Olympic Halls 1, 2 and 3, the Olympic Golf Course site is being irrigated in order to allow grass planting to begin.

At Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, the venue for rowing and canoe sprint, depth studies have been completed, while at Flamengo Park, the design of the integrated route for the athletics, road cycling and paracycling courses has started.

“We are advancing in the construction of competition venues for the Rio 2016 Games, with all of the basic and executive projects concluded or in the conclusion phase, and with foundation works in full flow. Even though they may not be highly visible, the preparative groundwork and foundation construction, that occurs underground, are extremely important for the final structure and often account for 20 per cent of the total volume of construction,” said Alexandre Techima, the Rio 2016 Infrastructure Integration Director.

In Deodoro, the tender process for the Games’ second largest venue cluster is underway, with construction scheduled to start in the second half of the year. Three existing competition venues– the National Shooting Centre, National Equestrian Centre and Modern Pentathlon Aquatics Centre – will be renovated, four new venues will become part of the important sporting legacy the Games will leave to the city, and two temporary venues will also be installed. At the same time, the legendary Maracanã Stadium is ready to stage matches at the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off next month.

Bid deadline for Temporary Arena extended

Rio 2016 has extended the deadline for suppliers interested in applying to participate in the project ‘C547 – Temporary Arena with Overlay’.

The bid is aimed at a company “specialized in temporary structures for supplying a Temporary Arena in turnkey mode, including all adjacent temporary structures."

The new deadline is 24 May 24 2014, 12h Brasilia’s time.

Source: Rio 2016

The Glastonbury Festival has secured a new premises licence that will enable it to continue to hold the event at Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset, until 2024.

The new application received only a few representations, of which all concerns were satisfied by the deadline. In the past, Glastonbury Festival's licences have been subject to scrutiny in a public hearing because of objections from the public or concerns from those with an interest in the safety of the event such as the police, fire or ambulance services.

As one of the world’s largest cultural events without any permanent infrastructure, Glastonbury Festival requires large amounts of temporary event infrastructure and seasonal operational expertise. 

Ensuring safety at the music festival will fall under the watch of Nigel Hunt, building control manager at Mendip District Council and interim head of the proposed Somerset Building Control Partnership.

“This is an enormous festival and no one can afford to be complacent – we will continue to work with the organisers to ensure this remains one of the safest events anywhere, and if we have any doubts about this we will take action,” said Mr Hunt. 

“Thankfully, this year everything went without a hitch and my team did a superb job as ever.”

His structures monitoring team, which already has many years of Glastonbury Festival experience, is responsible for all temporary structures including the Avalon Inn, the Irish Piano Bar and the new BBC studio in The Park, as well as all the stages and platforms.

Building control teams are involved as part of the licensing team at sporting and cultural events. 

“This is my second year working at Glastonbury and I still can’t believe the size and scale of the festival, the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes and the number of miles the building control team have to walk every day on their shifts,” said local authority building control (LABC) director of training Anna Thompson, who attended this year’s festival as part of the structures monitoring team for Mendip District Council.