Let’s be honest: Which theatre, opera house, playhouse, etc. which has already been in existence for several decades wouldn’t like to modernize its entire stage technology? But this can’t always be achieved according to plan, and they don’t always have several years to do it in. Sometimes a conversion has to be carried out really quickly. Which criteria should be kept in mind? What are the priorities?
Let’s take a hypothetical, but perfectly realistic, example:
Theatre Director Mr. M. is faced with a challenge: He knows that his establishment is outdated and would urgently need renovations to the stage machinery – if only to uphold the technical safety regulations. However, the building is to celebrate its centenary in only one and a half year’s time, and by then everything must have been completed. And up until that time there’s a full repertoire to work through, only interrupted by the summer break. How can it be done?
The stage machinery could be swapped out quickly, but there is a lot to be observed and organised in advance – starting with the commissioning of a planner who has to plan and prepare the system and the tender. Incoming proposals also have to be inspected, and the final decision made by Mr. M. as to which company should carry out the work. It’s only natural that he asks himself: “The entire project runtime from issue of tender to completion would total just 12 months, whereby the installation time would actually be less than 10 months. Is all this even realizable within this short time? “
As leading providers of stage technology, we at Waagner-Biro Stage Systems know: to achieve this challenge, a couple of things are essential.
Outstanding and dynamic project management
For the first time in the history of Waagner-Biro Stage Systems, a short-run project was realized in Norway in 2014 – Grieghallen in Bergen. The renowned Filharmoniske Orkester celebrated its 250-year anniversary on 16th October 2014, and had scheduled a big concert on this day. Before that, however, the entire stage technology with more than 50 drives in the upper machinery and 4 platforms had to be modernized. However, we weren’t given the commission until May 2014. The project runtime was only 6 months.
In order to carry out this exceptionally short project time as effectively as possible, we decided to deploy an on-site project manager. They coordinated directly with the customer during the brief planning and construction phase before organizing the dismantling and assembly work. Our project manager acted not only as an interface to the customer, but also between the in-house departments such as construction, purchasing and logistics. The short communication paths between our company and the customer resulted in a highly constructive and professional collaboration which ultimately made the project a success.
For more technical details, click here:
Link to the project description Grieghalle