Arena supported the European Tour organisers with the turnkey provision of pristine seating, structures, and interiors, from design through to installation, creating new fan and player experiences for the BMW PGA Championship, 9th-12th of September 2021.
VIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 12: Billy Horschel of the United States of America plays his third shot on the 18th hole during Day Four of The BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club on September 12, 2021 in Virginia Water, England. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
The BMW PGA Championship welcomed golf fans and the elite of international golfers to Wentworth, returning after an enforced lockdown break in 2020, with four days of scintillating golf culminating in a narrow win for Billy Horschell.
Arena supplied over 9,000m² of temporary structures across the course, overseen by Ben Sly, structure’s General Manager , and Project Director Dan Bluff, along with 3,109 grandstand seats across three locations, overseen by seating’s Managing Director Terry Smith and Project Manager James Coyle.
Kit Gartrell European Tour Championship Director states:
“We introduced innovative new designs across the Wentworth course for this year’s BMW PGA Championship, to improve and refresh the visitor experience for golf fans, the players and our commercial partners. Arena brought a wealth of experience, knowledge and application to help us come out of lockdown to achieve our bold vision and we were delighted with the infrastructure they delivered.”
The vista across the 18th green is an important one for the partners, broadcasters and VIP guests and was re-imagined from previous years. Arena’s hospitality structures and clearview™ grandstand wrap the green, and both were redesigned.
Projects Director Dan Bluff explains:
“The 18th green BMW VIP hospitality structure re-design, lead by the European Tour, meant that we pivoted the previous orientation of the structures and faced three adjoining Horizon structures onto the green. This highlighted the curves of our Curries roof, along with setting the frontage back 5m, so that we could introduce spectator balconies for the first time, giving spectators intimate views of the players in action.
“Our crew were on site for six weeks, ever-diligent to the sensitive surroundings they were building in, attentive to finishing to the high standard befitting the Championship and it’s prestigious commercial partners. We also supplied the roof linings, carpets, lift and internal/external staircases and glass handrails. This really was great team effort from everyone involved.”
Arena’s furniture division, Spaceworks, supplied ranges of contemporary furniture.
With crews returning to site from the enforced Covid lockdown, and working to Covid-safe protocols, this was demanding for our structural and seating crews.
Arena’s seating Project Manager James Coyle managed an average of 10 crew members a day. He says:
“This was a superb effort by everyone, from our in-house CAD Designers, structural engineers and on-site crew to deliver new configurations on the 18th and 14th greens in a truncated planning window.
What We Delivered
- 18th green clearview™ grandstand, with 2,399 seats plus 150 VIP upholstered seats. This year the clients’ wanted a new integrated LED screen, 9m width by 4m high, which required careful engineering, with a cantilever design, to take consideration of increased weight and wind-loading. We also doubled the size of an integral platform showcasing a new BMW car overlooking the green. We created internal access to BMW’s sponsorship team so that guests could watch the golf from within the car.
- The grandstand also incorporated a double commentary box, a hospitality bridge to the structure and a rear player’s bridge straight into officials and players enclosure.
- For the first time we managed the extensive branding on the rear of the 18th grandstand introducing a new banner support incorporated with the scaffolding infrastructure.
- 14th fairway – a new viewing platform with glass handrails – 25m wide x 7m deep. The platform was built on a significant gradient, 5.5m high at one end. That installation was further complicated by the presence of trees, which we built the platform around. Their canopy interfered with our GPS survey system, so all mark up had to be undertaken using more traditional and time-consuming methods.
- 14th green new 455 capacity grandstand design was made up of two separate grandstands (one behind the other). There were 200 VIP seats for sponsors with padded seats and a VIP entrances at the front, with an adjacent rear 255 capacity grandstand, with separate access staircase for the general public.
- 1st Tee – 255 capacity clearview™ grandstand with integral commentary box.
