Another major sporting event, another successful outcome!

With almost 30 million people tuning into the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham earlier this month, it’s fair to say there would have been plenty of witnesses had something drastic gone wrong.

While sporting outcomes were evidently out of our hands, one thing we could help control was the temperature of the central video podium inside the Alexandra Stadium.

A mass of electronic equipment was housed in the bowels of this somewhat unique application, with the event’s organisers slightly concerned about the possibility of a hardware failure unless something was done. Excessive heat was being given off, and with ventilation limited to air movers inside, a heavier duty solution was required.

The window of opportunity for us to address the problem was small due to ceremony rehearsals taking place from 10am the following morning.

Within an hour of us receiving a telephone enquiry, our regional expert was on site conducting a survey and making suggestions on how best to proceed. The problematic ‘cage’ area highlighted by the customer was separated by a man-made canal and lock, making the project logistically challenging.

After liaising with the customer for approximately two hours, we proposed installing two PAC 60 air conditioning units and their heat exchangers in a fashion that prevented them from being visible by the TV cameras on set.

Against all the odds, our equipment was in place and operational ahead of the rehearsal and remained in position until after the conclusion of the closing ceremony. There’s no doubt that our swift response eliminated the potential for any electrical breakdown to occur on site, and this fact was evidently realised by the customer, who cited the impact our kit had in a ‘thank you’ message sent while the hire was still ongoing.