The 4-Bay Space Roof was supplied complete with 12m x 6m goal post PA and video wings, ramp, handrails and disabled platform. It also featured Serious's new improved anti-slip steps and a new solid handrail design. The roof offers 14m of headroom - plenty of height for lighting - and a distributed SWL of 11 tonnes per arch, with a centre load of 6 tonnes.
Serious also took care of the decking, using a combination of their standard Black Deck as well as their new Super Deck. The Super Deck ran at a 6m depth across the front of the stage. This is specially designed to give a virtually flat finish, with no discernible gaps between the deck sections, and ideal for dance performances, energetic bands and other artists who like to maximize the full space.
The decking comes in 2.4 x 2.4m to 2.4 x 4.8m sections. It's pre-built into scaffolding platforms which are then craned into position, complete with supporting steelwork - making the build process extremely efficient and fast. The Super Deck is being progressively introduced across all of Serious's larger staging jobs, and will be used for full decking systems in the future.
The Harewood House shows also featured Serious's new 'cowshed' side stage storage areas - specially designed covered areas that integrate with the Space Roof offering watertight protection for dimmer cities, monitor worlds and storage of all types, while the bespoke anti-sag sheeting provides extra security against water build-ups and resulting potential dumps onto valuable kit.
Serious's crew of 18 were led by Aleksis Zarins and completed the build on schedule. The site was flat, accessible and easy to work on, and high winds throughout the build period proved the main challenge.
(Lee Baldock)
