KUWAIT — The Kuwait Center for Autism opted last year to expand the use of its five-year-old theatre, and in a bid to make the venue more attractive for potential users, they decided to upgrade the existing lighting capabilities with the installation of a new grid.
Solutech, the project integrator, had Dubai-based Unusual Rigging & Engineering design and build the grid, with drapes, borders and legs supplied by ShowTex Middle East.
Measuring 13.2 by 6.2 meters, the grid was designed with a frame of I beams, part ground support and part bolted into the concrete roof beams. Limited access meant that every single item for the grid needed to be loaded in by hand – including 6-meter lengths of steelwork weighing up to 300kg each. And once in the flytower, the load-in had to be carefully planned due to the limited space.
The steelwork, weighing seven tons, was fabricated in Dubai and delivered to Unusual Rigging’s warehouse, where the riggers pre-built the entire grid, including the 17 12-meter flybars.
By pre-building the grid in Dubai, the Unusual Rigging crew, led by Leon Ingram, project manager, could spot corrections that were needed, and also number and organize the components in the most efficient manner possible.
The entire project took six months, with Unusual Rigging on site for a week to complete the installation. Although the theatre was not handed over to the client until June, an opening ceremony took place in January attended by His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Deputy Prime Minister, as well as leading dignitaries from the Middle East, Europe and the U.S.
Jamal Al Shalabi, partner, BDM, and Thamer Salahi, general manager of Solutech, said that they were “delighted” with the work carried out by Unusual and that it had “surpassed all our expectations.”
For more information, please visit www.unusualrigging.com.
