Waagner-Biro Stage Systems has won international competitive tenders for two big renovation projects in Australia, to equip both the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall and the State Theatre in Arts Centre Melbourne with new stage technology.
With more than 10.9 million visitors every year, the Sydney Opera House is one of the world’s most visited centres for performing arts and is Australia’s premier tourist attraction. Waagner-Biro Stage Systems delivered the original stage machinery for the facility’s venues ahead of its opening in 1973.
The next project in the Sydney Opera House’s renewal programme is upgrading the world-famous Concert Hall. Waagner-Biro Stage Systems will be responsible for upgrading the lower machinery, all the production rigging and the loudspeaker and lighting hoists of the upper machinery. One of the biggest challenges will be to install modern machine hoists that can carry much higher loads into the architecture of the building.
The planning and preparation phase has begun, with physical works within the venue to begin in February 2020 and expected to take up to two years.
The Arts Centre Melbourne comprises several venues and in 2013 Waagner-Biro Stage Systems delivered a modern CAT control system for the Hamer Hall, the complex’s concert hall. The current project involves the renewal of more than 100 decoration hoists in the theatre’s upper machinery. This includes dismantling the existing technology, installation of the new machines and the complete renovation of the electrical and control systems. There is a deadline of just under seven months for all related renovation work.
Following this, State Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne will have the latest-generation control system, the CAT-v5, which contributed to winning the international tender. The newly developed Gallery Console CAT 500 will also be put into use for the first time for this project.
