The recently renovated London Arena in
Docklands brings a new dimension
to sport and entertainment
in the capital.

he London Docklands is changing radically. Canary Wharf is now fully occupied with new restaurants, cinemas, nightclubs, and now new kinds of sport and entertainment in the recently renovated London Arena.

SMG, the world's leading facility management company and Anschutz Sports Holdings, the mega US sports company, owners of the L.A. Kings and L.A. Lakers, have joined forces to bring Super League Ice Hockey to the London Arena. In fact, not only ice hockey, but also family ice shows, this will surely flourish in this, refurbished, state-of-the-art arena. Concerts and other entertainment will value the ambience and attributes that make London Arena one of the best venues in Europe. SMG and it's partner Anschutz are committed to bringing diverse programming to the facility - they want to build upon the excitement and offer a multitude of sporting and entertainment events. 

The Docklands venue now boasts an incredible range of new features, all of which have helped to provide an unbeatable level of service to clients and customers alike. Some of the new features and facilities include:

• Permanent Olympic-size ice-floor

• 48 luxury hospitality boxes with superb views over the arena 

• Two brand new team dressing rooms

• Completely refurbished foyer and box office

• New luxury seating for up to 12,500

• State-of-the-art SACO SmartVision video scoreboard - the only one of its kind outside the U.S. 

• Complete upgrade of the catering facilities and public concourse

One of the primary reasons for Anschutz involvement in the development was to introduce professional ice hockey back to London. One of the most significant and exciting developments for the Arena is by far the introduction of the London Super League Ice Hockey team - The London Knights. The introduction of the team put an added pressure on everyone involved in the project - Anschutz were determined to see the team launched at the start of the 1998/99 season.

SMG and Anschutz appointed some of the world's leading construction companies to ensure that the deadline was met. Everyone involved will agree - the greatest challenge was not the redevelopment itself but the incredibly tight time-scales in which they had to work.

Given the sixteen week timescale and number of projects which had to be handled simultaneously and this proved to be one of the most challenging aspects. To orchestrate the overall transformation, Poole Stokes Wood (PSW Projects) were appointed as the project managers together with HOK who were appointed as the architects for the project. Both companies were involved with London Arena when it first opened in 1989 and this proved highly advantageous for all parties involved. The fact that both companies appreciated the potential, and the limitations, of the structure enabled a number of corners to be cut.

Furthermore, both partners, SMG and Anschutz, were able to draw on a great deal of experience and knowledge of the industry and this was a further significant advantage of the project.

SMG's knowledge of arena development and operation comes from its significant facility portfolio, which includes some 65 arenas, stadia and convention centres worldwide. It has extensive experience with constructing, renovating and/or expanding these types of facilities. Anschutz's involvement with the construction of the new Staples Arena also provided extremely valuable experience on which to draw upon.

Given the scale of each of the individual tasks it is impossible to single out any one as the most significant, however, we shall look at the main new features:

The major talking point when you now enter London Arena is without a doubt the new Olympic size ice floor. In order to appoint a supplier, SMG consulted internally with all their venues that had ice floors. Very few venues in the world have had an ice floor installed after initial construction and it was fundamental to the whole project that all the essential issues had to be identified and resolved before appointing a contractor. Consequently Canadian based Cimco were appointed to install the ice pad - being a highly specialist company, Cimco have been heavily involved with the NHL and their experience within the industry proved invaluable. 

Before constructing the pad, the contractors had to excavate some 1500 cubic metres of concrete flooring and install 13 miles of the pipework needed to freeze and defrost the ice.

One of the main issues relating to the ice floor was the multi-purpose nature of events of London Arena. The contractors had to be fully aware that for much of the ice hockey season the floor would be covered and the venue used for other events such as concerts, exhibitions, and conferences. This was overcome with the means of a system known as " polar floor", which was supplied by the US company Stage Right through their UK representatives Audience Systems. When laid on the ice the polar floor provides a flat floor surface and retains the correct temperature for the ice and the Arena itself.

Although not immediately obvious, a whole host of other projects had to be managed in order to fulfil the project; not least of these being the heating and ventilation arrangements. As with all large venues heating and ventilation is a major consideration, but even more so with the installation of ice. Mott MacDonald were appointed as the building services engineers and as such were responsible for handling all of the mechanical and electrical works. Over £1 million had to be invested into heating and ventilation alone and Maxwell Stewart were contracted to manage this.

During the installation of the ice floor, Fairport Steelwork was responsible for supplying the 200 tonnes of structural steel that was required for the 48 hospitality suites. The hospitality suites actually proved to be one of the most challenging aspects of the whole project since the objective was to suspend the boxes from the roof. As with HOK Sport and PSW Projects, WA Fairhurst were the original design engineers and given their obvious and most valuable background knowledge, they were therefore contracted as the structural engineers. 

Fairport Steelwork were responsible for providing the suspended floor suites together with the lift shafts and new staircases whilst Midland Shopfitters were employed to oversee the fitting-out of the suites themselves. Given that the suites are suspended from the roof structure, 15 meters high, and that there were no lifts or staircases for the first six and a half weeks, this was a major challenge. Certain elements of the suites were therefore constructed off-site and then installed by means of forklift trucks. Naturally the suites have been furnished to the highest possible standards - it was Midland Shopfitters' experience and contacts within the industry, which enabled them to work successfully with the sub-contractors and to achieve the desired end result. 

Each of the 48 suites host up to twelve people. They are located on both the East and West sides of the building and provide superb views of the whole arena and any events taking place in the main hall. No other venue in the Capital provides such high quality, luxury suites provide and as such the Arena is keen to further develop the corporate hospitality side of the business.

Another unique feature is that of the state-of-the-art octagonal scoreboard, which is in fact the only one of it is kind outside of the United States. Suspended from the roof, in the centre of the Arena, VRS (Venue Revenue Services) have supplied four SACO SmartVisionr video screens together with four LED scoreboards supplied by EDS (Electronic Display Services). In addition, EDS were responsible for designing and constructing the giant gondola that houses the screens. A major consideration in terms of the design of the scoreboard was the floor to ceiling height of the Arena - just 15 metres in total. The scoreboard, which is five metres in depth and has a total area of 24m2, was built within the Arena due to its size. VRS also had to take into consideration the importance of sight lines together with the importance of ensuring that the video and scoreboards are visible from everywhere in the Arena.

Although sightlines were a consideration for VRS, they were a crucial issue for another of the contractors. Naturally, the essential requirements for any audience are good sight lines and comfort. Both SMG and Anschutz were adamant that the new London Arena should provide a completely new experience in arena entertainment and to prove this they were prepared to invest £2 million in seating. Audience Systems won the contract and the Arena can now boast of the largest, most modern telescopic seating system in the UK.

As with the ice floor contractors, it was vital for Audience Systems to take into consideration the variety of events staged at the arena, together with the differing seating requirements. It was vital that the venue retained its 12,500 capacity plus the ability to provide 9,000m2 flat exhibition space. All of the seats are fully upholstered and the modern technology of the seating platforms means that all of the seats are retractable. This state-of-the-art design will enable event organiser's optimum flexibility to vary seating configurations.

As you would imagine, the vast project that was undertaken this summer has proved a great challenge to all of those involved. However, both SMG and new partners Anschutz are extremely excited about the future of the Arena and the significant impact that this summer's development will have on the venue's position in the marketplace.

When the venue re-opened at the end of October the London Knights attracted a sell-out audience.

SMG, one of the world's leading facility management companies, currently manages contracts with over 65 arenas and stadia both in the US and Europe. The company was formed in 1988 and London Arena is the only venue in which they have an ownership stake.

SMG is a closely held joint venture company with two equal principals; The Hyatt Hotel chain, recognised worldwide for first class hotels and resorts and ARAMARK corporation, one of the world's largest catering services companies. Operations currently managed by SMG include:

• 26 Convention Centres 
• 19 Arenas
• 10 Theatres
• 8 Stadia
• 2 Aquarium Food & Beverage Operations

For more information on SMG and the services provided by the company contact Corporate Office in Philadelphia at their website: www.smgworld.com

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