During July 2022 the city of Birmingham hosted the Commonwealth Games where 72 countries and 4,600 sports men and women competed in sporting events across the city. To celebrate the start of the Games, a spectacular performance took place at Alexander Stadium performed in front of a live audience to over 30,000 and televised to a global audience of over a billion on 28th July. The narrative of the Opening Ceremony celebrated the cultural diversity and historic importance of Birmingham, therefore it was essential for the creative team to include the city’s canals in the story. A large body of water was specified in the creative brief to represent a life-like canal system in the centre of the stadium; overall the canals would measure over 350 m2. It was essential that the company chosen to provide the installation had expertise and experience of managing water effects within a live production environment.
LUMINOUS were delighted to work with Birmingham Ceremonies (a joint venture between Gary Beestone Associates and Done and Dusted) to provide the water management hardware and technical construction of the scenic water feature. The technical and practical challenges required an innovative approach; perfect for the LUMINOUS team.
Correct water management is critical to ensure the safety of performers and minimal downtime due to water changes, cleaning and maintenance. In the Commonwealth Games application, the body of water had a maximum capacity of 100,000L and had to accommodate over 40 professional dancers performing partially submerged in the canals. Consideration of water management was important to ensure consistent filtration as well as chemical distribution. LUMINOUS engineered large volume sand filters to screen particulates which are especially important in this outdoor application. The pumps were housed in mobile frames which were easy to move into the circular stage, hidden from sight.
High volume pumping was used to create a consistent flow across the curved tank and modelling was used to minimise areas of static water. We provided chemical treatment, which was monitored daily to prevent algal growth and to maintain ‘pool quality’ standards suitable for performers. This was in line with the Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group (PWTAG) Code of Practice.
"Deploying any system into a world class live event setting is never as simple as making your own plan and sticking to it. It requires complex integration into existing infrastructure and temporary stadium structures, which calls for thorough planning across multiple site disciplines from capital works, to scenic, staging, power and special effects. Anything changes in this chain, which it always does, you must be able to react quickly and efficiently to adapt your system to suit."
Edwin Samkin, Director at LUMINOUS
The outstanding visual spectacle of large scale live productions are achieved by exceptional attention to detail therefore the set had to represent a real-life Birmingham canal. The appearance of the water had to exactly replicate canal water – dark and murky and complete with old bicycle and shopping trolley! The set also included two operational lock gates which had to open within the water platform during the performance. The surface material had to provide a safe and suitable surface for the performers; not too slippery, but not too slip resistant to prevent any restriction of movement. It also had to visually match the colour of a canal. LUMINOUS applied their creative and technical ingenuity to propose a solution not usually applied in live events.
LUMINOUS specified the use of a polyurea coating, normally used in harsh applications such as mining, nuclear processing and in pipelines. The coating is renowned for its ability to provide a waterproof coating for surfaces such as concrete, bitumen and wood. It is extremely tough, resists impact and abrasions as well as large mechanical loads and has the added advantage of curing quickly so it becomes waterproof and walkable almost immediately.
The schedule for the production build had to be accurately managed, as is common in large scale temporary live events, therefore the application of the polyurea coating fitted the brief perfectly as it was quick to install, provided an exceptional waterproof solution and matched the artistic requirements for both set designers and choreographer. The coating was applied by a high pressure spray technique with an exact RAL pigment match. LUMINOUS partnered with a specialist contractor to apply the coating to a surface area of nearly 450 square meters of OSB tanking, overseeing the installation at the Alexander Stadium site.
"LUMINOUS presented a new technique for lining the Opening Ceremony canal, which would be more reliable and more responsive to our requirements. I am pleased to say it worked exactly as designed and when coupled with LUMINOUS excellent water management system provided a service that was beyond expectations."
Luke Mills, Deputy Technical Director For Birmingham Ceremonies
Edwin Samkin said of the water proofing solution, “The coating system was a revelation for the technical production as it offered a huge amount of positive attributes over the typical pond liner solution would have afforded. A key benefit was the durability of the product that meant we could run the mechanical lock gates back and forth directly on the surface coating. Not only this but we could add any pigment to the spray coating to meet the creative brief, along with a variety of surface finishes for both slipperiness and visual textures”.
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