To celebrate the opening of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, a spectacular live performance took place at Alexander Stadium in front of over 30,000 people and was televised to a global audience. The opening ceremony was to celebrate the cultural diversity and historic importance of Birmingham.
A large body of water was specified to represent a life-like canal system in the center of the stadium. Metcalfe Developments Ltd was delighted to be chosen to work with Birmingham Ceremonies alongside Luminous Show Technologies to provide a waterproofing system for the set of the opening ceremony. The set had to be fully watertight the same day it was installed and be watertight for 2 months before the opening ceremony and be capable of being removed in its entirety (without damage to the underlying OSB substrate) as soon as the ceremony was finished in a space of two hours. Without compromise, these essential requirements were achieved.
The water feature had to represent a real-life Birmingham canal; the appearance of the water had to exactly replicate canal water – dark and murky and complete with an old bicycle and shopping trolley! The set also included two operational lock gates which had to open within the water platform during the performance. The surface material had to provide a safe and suitable surface for 40 professional dancers performing partially submerged; not too slippery, but not too slip-resistant to prevent any restriction of movement. It also had to visually match the colour of a canal. Metcalfe Developments applied their creative and technical ingenuity to propose a solution not usually applied in live events; the use of Metflex SupaFlex; a coating, normally used in harsh applications such as chemical containment, nuclear processing, petrochemical storage tanks, bunds, and waterproofing in harsh environments. Metflex SupaFlex is renowned for its ability to provide a waterproof coating for surfaces such as concrete, steel, wood, and more. It is extremely tough, resists impact and abrasions as well as large mechanical loads, and has the added advantage of curing quickly so it becomes waterproof and walkable almost immediately.
The schedule for the production build had to be accurately managed, as is common in large-scale temporary live events, therefore the application of the Metflex coating fitted the brief perfectly as it was quick to install, provided an exceptional waterproof solution and matched the artistic requirements for both set designers and choreographer. The coating was applied with an exact RAL pigment match. Metcalfe Developments operatives applied the coating to a surface area of nearly 450 square meters of OSB tanking at the Alexander Stadium site.
Edwin Samkin, Director of Luminous Show Technologies said of the waterproofing system, “The coating system was a revelation for the technical production as it offered a huge number of positive attributes over the typical pond liner solution would have afforded. A key benefit was the durability of the product which meant we could run the mechanical lock gates back and forth directly on the surface coating. Not only this but we could add any pigment to the coating to meet the creative brief, along with a variety of surface finishes for both slipperiness and visual textures”.
Luke Mills, Deputy Technical Director, Birmingham Ceremonies commented on the project; “Metcalfe Developments presented a new technique for lining the Opening Ceremony canal, which would be more reliable and more responsive to our requirements. I am pleased to say it worked exactly as designed and when coupled with an excellent water management system, providing a service that was beyond expectations.”
Metflex SupaFlex
Metflex SupaFlex is a very fast set, 2-component waterproofing coating. It has been especially designed to protect and coat various surfaces for applications that require a durable coating. The product reacts within seconds and once cured it leaves a flexible, durable and tough surface. It is extremely effective when used as a coating on concrete, steel, timber, asbestos, insulation, steel, masonry and various other surfaces or as a surfacing on Geotextile fabric.
Features
• Geometrically complicated and designed construction components can be more easily coated.
• High Taber abrasion resistance.
• Fast reactivity and cure times from 5 seconds up.
• Fast return to service time > long life-cycle > almost maintenance free.
• Anti corrosive & waterproof.
• Excellent adhesion on most substrates.
• Resistant to most aggressive chemicals, solvents, acids and caustics.
• Seamless and joint-less coating.
• Drinking water approved.
• High elongation at break.
• Very good tensile and structural strength.
• 100% solids, VOC-free, no solvents.
• Little or no odor.
• UV, chlorine and saltwater resistant.
• Thermally stable.
Typical Uses
• Industrial & manufacturing facilities, storage, load and high traffic areas.
• Water and wastewater treatment, containment areas, landfill, manholes, sewer-lining.
• Refineries, pipelines, tank coating, car-wash installations.
• Pools, reservoirs, digester towers, storage tanks, active carbon tanks.
• Ponds, water features, canals.
• Flat Roofs.
• Pitched roofs.
• Corrugated steel.
• Corrugated asbestos.
• Parking decks, garages, ramps.
• Airports, shipbuilding, marine, mining.
• Wind energy plants (on-off-shore), blades, biogas reactors, cooling towers, pylons.
• Bridge, street and tunnel construction.
• Wear and tear parts, platforms, vibrating stoker, edge guard, belt-conveyors.
• Leisure parks, playgrounds, slip-hazard areas.
• Molds, furniture industry.
