View the Housing 2021 case study
View the Housing 2021 case study
Venue: Excel, London
Client name: Ocean Media Group
Event name: Homes Conference & Exhibition 2021
About the event
HOMES UK was a two-day conference and exhibition for all those responsible for delivering the UK’s social and affordable housing to come together and share best practice. The event involved one keynote stage, 60+ hours of content and 250 + speakers.
Thousands of housing professionals from housing associations, local authorities, funders, house builders and the built environment gathered at Excel London this November to discuss, share new ideas and learn from each other as we work to ensure we are all building a stronger sector with housing at the heart of the UK recovery.
Brief
Showcase was briefed to design and build visually appealing, yet functional, theatre spaces that engaged the audience, whilst being mindful of the current restrictions on social distancing. Showcase was also conscious of the potential noise bleed issue that could be caused in a compact exhibition space with five theatre spaces. These concerns were taken into account when designing the theatres and their positions in the space planning discussions with the client. They were also asked to provide environmentally friendly solutions for the materials being used to build the theatre spaces and the furniture for the stages.
Solution
As Showcase had worked on previous Ocean Media events at the time of designing the Housing 2021 event in September, they had ‘reuse and recycle’ front of mind. Showcase applied this methodology to the way they built the theatres, low walling and other products, so reducing the amount of waste produced as well as managing budget expectations.
Showcase achieved this by reusing elements of build and low walling products which were manufactured in-house from birch ply products. All the wood on the stages were FSC compliant and where possible had multiple uses across events.
During the design process Showcase involved the client with update calls and meeting reporting on the look and feel as well as suitability aspects. The theatres were managed by our on-site project management team and all technical equipment and technicians were provided by our in-house team. The main stage consisted of an LED wall to display the content, speakers were flown above the stage to provide focused audio to the audience; the other theatres comprised of smaller visual and audio solutions. Exhibition rentals were managed through their online portal and delivered via Showcase’s exhibition services team on-site.
Delivery
Showcase deployed a comprehensive team of 20 technicians alongside a comprehensive project management team. They also created the entire exhibition, which involved four arctic lorries to transport all the necessary equipment. The installation was two days, meanwhile Showcase derigged within four hours.
Project Service Summary
- Installation
- Audio equipment
- Lighting equipment
- Video equipment
- Broadcast cameras & recording
- Vision mixing
- Project management
- Consultancy and planning
- Technical support
- Project management