LONDON – Draping specialists Cover It Up was engaged by production company Partytechture to black out 40 large windows at Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre, a Grade 1 Listed Building that was used to stage one element of the 2010 SKOLL World Summit event. The Sheldonian, built from 1664 to 1668 for the University of Oxford, based on a design by Sir Christopher Wren, is occasionally used for music recitals and other events and is available for private rental.
The U-shaped building's main windows circle the top tier, or third level, of the venue's main hall seating sections. These windows needed to be blacked out to allow the event's projection to be optimized.
The windows measure approximately 2.5 meters high by 2 metres wide, but because it is an historic building, they all vary slightly. The blackout cloths – all made from white dimout material – were cut to size and mounted on auto-poles with rubber feet. The drapes were then fitted to the contours of the windows with 2 x 1 inch battening strips to protect the fabric of the room.
The Cover It Up team also clad all the wood used in the hanging operation with material as well, so all surfaces were soft. It took a three-person crew about four hours to complete the task on site.
Cover It Up also undertook a similar blackout operation needing care and attention for the Black Ball – in aid of the "Keep A Child Alive" charity – at St John's Church in Smith Square, London SW1. This involved 20 windows, the largest of which is arched and about 7 meters high and 8 meters wide, and Cover It Up dispatched a team of eight for that event.
For more information, please visit www.cover-it-up.com .
