Temporary structure providers GL events Owen Brown has completed one of the most challenging projects it has ever attempted after building Russia’s Olympic House in the heart of London’s Kensington Gardens.
The company had to use all of its experience and expertise in erecting Russia.Sochi.Park. a 7,700sqm project comprising of two vast temporary structures, which the country is using to showcase Sochi, host city for the Winter Olympics in two years time.
Attractions at the venue, which was erected on behalf of Eventica Communications with a winter wonderland interior concept designed by M-IS Plc, included the biggest ever ice show outside Russia, music and dance performances and even a 4D cinema, where visitors can experience a chairlift ride up the snowy Krasnodar mountains.
Sochi Park, which stands close to the Albert Memorial, is hemmed in by historic plane trees making up the Royal park’s famous avenues, a location which at one point required Owen Brown’s crew to use a 160 ton crane to lift the equipment right over the trees so as not to damage them.
Owen Brown also had to compensate for the undulating parkland by raising part of the structure’s floor on scaffolding, some 1.2m high, in order to deliver a level platform on which the exhibition centre could be erected.
The ice arena, where the shows will be watched by 1,200 people at a time, is tall enough to accommodate tiered seating standing 4m high and also saw Owen Brown install a bridge over the rink for performers.
The 130m-long cinema and exhibition centre, meanwhile, has been fitted with an opaque PVC covering for complete control of lighting levels.
James Anderson, commercial director at Owen Brown, said: “We specialise in creating hospitality structures that allow our clients to let their imaginations run wild and that is certainly the case with Russia.Sochi.Park.
“We like to think that, as well as being a showcase for Sochi and Russia, it’s a showcase for Owen Brown too, because of the range of products used and expertise demonstrated in the building process.
“We are very proud to have created such a fantastic structure on a site that is as challenging as it is iconic.”
The Olympic Games has also seen Owen Brown build a double deck Absolute structure at the Fish Island Riviera, a tribute to the playboys’ playgrounds of Southern France at the Forman’s Fish Island, just a 100m sprint from the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.
Created in conjunction with Mayfair’s Maddox Private Members Club, the Fish Island Riviera features a beach volleyball court – created using 250 tonnes of sand – around 40 palm trees, jetty berths for speedboats, cocktails, entertainment and sumptuous food.
Owen Brown’s structure has been fitted out to provide 18 luxury 100sqm suites, complete with 5m balconies facing the stadium, on the top floor, with the ground floor open to everybody in the club.
Both Olympic projects are the latest in a series of builds during a busy summer for Owen Brown, which has already provided temporary space for a series of high profile events, including Royal Ascot, the Epsom Derby and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
