The 10,000-seater semi-permanent venue, designed and built by Arena Structures to Wembley's specifications was the first of its kind built in the UK. The venue had to comply with stringent permanent building regulations in order to deliver a temporary facility with the feel of a permanent venue, which could act as a music arena.
The TFS was adapted to ensure that all of the facilities required to host concerts were available, with Arena Structures incorporating additional structures alongside the main TFS to house toilets, concessions, bars and other concert facilities. All of these structures were placed on a specially designed platform, constructed using 18 miles of scaffolding.
In order to comply with regulations concerning environmental impact limits of noise pollution levels, a 2nd layer of PVC was added to the roof membrane of the project. This was tested stringently by acoustics specialists Capita Symonds, and compared against the impacts of a single layer of PVC.
Fire doors and stair exits had to be specially designed and manufactured to comply with fire and building regulations, which represented a substantial investment from the company. The Arena Group's long term relationship with one of the UK's leading staging and rigging suppliers meant that the TFS could be adapted to incorporate a staging system and production facilities for the largest concert productions on the touring circuit, including Westlife, Anastasia and Queen.
Arena Seating supplied and installed 10,000 seats in a carefully planned arrangement that satisfied requirements for fire and health and safety, whilst giving the best possible sight-lines and maximum audience capacity, say the company.
The Wembley Arena Pavilion has already drawn the attention of other potential clients to realize the advantages of creating temporary structures in place or in extension of permanent venues. The Wembley Arena Pavilion project signalled the largest long-term temporary structure rental ever undertaken by Arena Structures, and presented a huge management project for a number of the Arena Group's key personnel.
The Arena Group reports it has also secured a number of repeat contracts during 2005 with additional interest from overseas clients as far a field as the Mediterranean and China. The investment in TFS and its associated developments demonstrates its long term commitment to product innovation.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
