Category Archives: Furniture

146th Open at Royal Birkdale

Record breaking crowds benefited from the temporary infrastructure at The Open 2017, delivered by four divisions of Arena UK & Europe: Arena Structures, Spaceworks, Well Dressed Tables and Arena RIM Scaffolding between July 19th and 23rd, 2017.

 

The attendance at The 146th Open surpassed the 230,000 mark set at Royal Liverpool in 2006, making it the largest-ever Championship held in England and reflected a 17% increase since The Open last visited Royal Birkdale in 2008. Record advance ticket sales made it the fastest-selling Championship in history and the fans were thrilled by a final day that resulted in Jordan Spieth lifting the coveted Claret Jug.

It wasn’t only the volume of people that tested the 26,000 sqm of on-course facilities provided by Arena Structures, the weather that added teeth to the links course from the players’ perspective ranged from gorgeous sunshine to torrential downpours with thunder and lightning and winds off the sea.

Huge demand for The Open’s official hospitality offering led to all six packages selling out, from our triple deck Patron’s Club which hosted the main brand partners to the Champions Club, running alongside bespoke HSBC and Mastercard structures and the impressive retail outlet housed in Arena’s flagship I-Novation temporary building.

 

At the other end of the installation Arena’s creative fit out teams transformed the temporary structures interiors into a variety of environments to suit the multiple requirements depending on usage and the brand occupying the space. Spaceworks and Well Dressed Tables,  supplied expansive ranges of event furniture.

We look forward to the 147th Open taking place at Carnoustie (15th-22nd July 2018).

Wimbledon Championships 2017

Arena UK & Europe returned to Wimbledon supplying the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) with a wide range of temporary event for a thrilling fortnight of Championship tennis, July 3rd to 16th, 2017.

The event infrastructure specialist called upon the expertise of its in-house specialist divisions to supply a range of equipment including tiered seating, hospitality structures, interior design and event furnishings throughout the prestigious grounds. Spectators this year witnessed surprising early exits from Nadal, Murray and Djokovic before a triumphant Federer lifted the Championship trophy for a record 8th time.

Arena Structures provided all 21 temporary hospitality chalets throughout the grounds, 450sqm of player’s premium gymnasium space, commentary boxes, an official’s changing and rest area, autograph tents and merchandise kiosks. New for 2017 were sponsor enhancements alongside the Bank of England entrance ways and constructed a new 525sqm Qualifying Tent and Player’s Gym.

The Arena Seating team was once again entrusted to install 1,065 clearview™ seats, offering fans optimum views of the outside tennis action on Court 12. An additional 2,063 tip-up seats were installed throughout the sporting venue, including a tiered grandstand at the top of the famous Henman Hill. The team also installed a viewing platform and additional staircase up into Centre Court.

Arena UK & Europe’s sister event furnishings divisions Spaceworks and Well Dressed Tables supplied 33,311 items to the hospitality areas throughout the venue, including 29,837 items of cutlery and crockery in addition to 3,474 items of contemporary furniture.

Cheltenham Festival 2017

Arena Group once again supplied event infrastructure to the world-famous Cheltenham Festival, which attracted around 250,000 visitors, March 14-17, 2017.

 

The Jockey Club’s world-renowned race meeting saw five Arena UK and Europe companies work in tandem to deliver over 20,000 sqm of VIP level facilities overlooking the racecourse, including the World’s longest temporary triple deck structure.

Arena Group UK & Europe CEO Grahame Muir states:

“In the first year of our new three year multi-venue Jockey Club contract, we were keener than ever to deliver an even higher level of finish than last year. I am incredibly proud of what our teams delivered and it was pleasing to see all divisions having a part of play.

“Significant investment was made into even more of our cantilevered balconies, providing unencumbered views and increasing valuable hospitality floor space. Additionally a new staircase design was introduced.”

Arena RIM Scaffolding were first on site, with project coordinator Darren Simpson bringing their event engineering expertise to install the all important sub-structures, which involved more than 400 tonnes of scaffolding material, and create level, solid foundations across the undulating course for the Structures team to build on.

Arena Structures Ben Sly project managed the 13 week installation of 20,000sqm of temporary event environments. Over 190 linear metres of triple decked private suites and exclusive restaurants are provided for Jockeyclub clients and guests.

The structures incorporated kitchen, bathroom and rear access facilities on all levels, along with Tote betting booths, phone charge points and cash machines.

Arena’s bespoke Moet & Chandon Champagne covered bar and mezzanine was a constantly popular facility throughout the Festival.

Spaceworks provided 5,000 dining chairs and 500 banqueting tables, set up throughout Arena’s facility. In addition, Well Dressed Tables provided 10,000 covers including crockery, cutlery and glassware across all hospitality areas on the site.

Arena Seating provided its award winning Clearview seating product along with terracing within the Guinness stand, providing fantastic views across the finishing line.

 

 

 

Cheltenham Festival 2016

The Cheltenham Festival has grown to attract 250,000 visitors to the four day highlight of the jump racing calendar, with £4.1 million prize money contested across 28 races culminating in the Gold Cup. Arena Group supported Cheltenham Racecourse, a Jockey Club Racecourse, with the expansion of facilities to accommodate the increase in hospitality tickets.

 

The 125m long triple decker was the largest ever installed alongside the home-straight, including the 55m Arcus Long Run facility with cantilever balcony. This venue hosted hosting a range of bespoke private suites along with Silks and Chez Rous restaurants, for clients and guests of The Jockey Club, Needham and Needham’s, Keith Prowse, Front Runners. The structure incorporated full kitchen, bathroom and rear access facilities on all levels, along with Tote betting booths, phone charge points and cash machines.

The new two storey Guinness Pavilion combined a public bar with a VIP hospitality area overlooking the famous Guinness village, which incorporated a 756 capacity tiered clearview™ seating grandstand in the upper level to give great views over the finish line. Also facing the course on the ground level was an exclusive VIP hospitality sponsors’ suite for Betway, complete with Arena Deck viewing platform and tiered standings.

 

Spaceworks, Arena Group’s furniture hire specialists, provided a wide range of furniture across 22 areas of the Cheltenham Festival site, including The Jockey Club Chalet, Final Fence Restaurant and the Chez Roux Boxes. The array of furniture supplied from the company’s extensive inventory, included Bravo dining tables, white Olympus chairs and Chesterfield sofas.

 

 

 

Arena Group Takes Centre Stage at The Brit Awards

Arena Group provided extensive temporary structures, tableware and furniture for this year’s star-studded BRIT Awards in association with MasterCard, which took place at London’s O2 on the 24th February.

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The 2016 ceremony marked the 36th edition of The BRIT Awards, one of the music industry’s most prestigious events, and witnessed performances from Adele, Coldplay, James Bay and Jess Glynne. Arena Structures was called upon to supply a variety of temporary structures including the dining structure which is then transformed into the after party area , catering area and production offices. Arena Structures installed two 5m x 15m tents and one 3m x 15m tent to create a horseshoe shaped kitchen and catering area, which was positioned outside of the O2 dome.

Two 10m x 20m tents were also supplied by Arena Structures to create the main production office and the BRITS TV office, which included an Ogle Hog live video editing suite. The VIP and sponsors dining/afterparty area was created using a 40m x 35m TFS, which was constructed inside the O2 dome, to create a venue within a venue.

Arena Group’s Spaceworks and Well Dressed Tables division supplied a total of 2,600 covers of crockery, cutlery, glassware and furniture within the main arena and the VIP marquee.

Dan Bluff Arena Structures project manager, commented: “We work with the O2 on a number of different events, including the ATP World Tour, which means we’re familiar with the space available and the working practices within the venue. This allowed us to successfully construct a number of temporary structures within the venue, including a temporary VIP

party area, which enabled organisers to host pre and post celebrations on-site. We’re delighted to be able to build on our longstanding relationship with The BRITS and to once again be involved with this brilliant event.”

Spaceworks and Well Dressed Tables managing director, Christopher Piggott, commented: “The BRITS is always such a spectacular show to be part of and we’re proud to have once again been involved. We supplied a range of our tableware and furniture to ensure the main arena and VIP marquee were dressed seamlessly to reflect the glamour and the elegance of this event.”

Brand new in!

Take the first peak at our brand new Tolix Chairs. Just in and they’re out on a major sporting event already!

Tolix Silver Chair 3Tolix Silver Chair 2

The Tolix Range comes in a choice of colours and styles, we bring you our newest range of bistro furniture. From high top tables and stools to bistro tables and comfy chairs, this range crafted from sheets of pressed steel is fun, quirky and lightweight but perfectly formed. Full range launching soon!

Fine dining at the iconic Olympic Velodrome

Spaceworks and Well Dressed Tables supported caterers The Recipe, at the first major event in the Velodrome since the London Olympic Games, March 2014.

 The finalé of Britain’s top track cycling competition ‘The Revolution Series’ opened the Lee Valley VeloPark, as 15,000 cycling fans enjoyed a thrilling weekend of races, featuring a number of Team GB medal winners from London 2012.

Event organisers Face Partnership entrusted Ed Watts, event manager at the The Recipe, to create a premium hospitality experience for sponsors and their guests. Led by project manager Jason Preston, the Spaceworks and Well Dressed Tables team supplied an extensive range of furniture and high quality cutlery, crockery and glassware for the kitchen, meeting rooms, VIP spectator areas and centre of the track.

The centre of the track was creatively adapted into a versatile event space, hosting a media centre during the race, before being transformed into a post-race dinner party for sponsors and their guests. A premium experience was required for the unique dining location and this was created with black padded seats, stylish Lubiana plates, contemporary Messina cutlery and elegant Cuvee glassware.

Project manager Jason Preston said: “A dedicated team was deployed to the site for the duration of the event across the weekend, to ensure smooth installation, reconfiguration of the event spaces, replacement of fresh catering equipment for dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings and de-rig.

“It’s not every day we create fine dining experiences inside world class sporting venues like this, but it was a spectacular setting for the event. Access to the venue was extremely restricted because the road leading into the venue wasn’t finished. We positioned the delivery vehicles on the outdoor cycling track and our team carried the equipment over 200metres into the building. In line with our environmental policy we utilised drip trays under our delivery vehicles in order to protect the surface of the track”.

*All images courtesy of Luke Webber.