The event is World Mastercard Spring Fashion Week—but it takes place in frosty March in frostier Toronto. The tenting team from Regal Tent Productions was up to the task, installing four structures to create a 30,000-square-foot venue smack dab in the middle of downtown Toronto, so that Canada's top fashion designers and influencers can oversee more than 40 fashion shows in a five-day period.
Because the location—David Pecaut Square—is a city-owned property, Regal had to jump through a series of regulatory hoops. Not only did the team have to install more than 30,000 square feet of raised flooring because the grounds could not be staked, they also had to work around benches and trees. "There are actually several light posts that we had to build around and leave inside the venue," says Ashleigh McCulloch, Regal's operations and sales coordinator. Nonetheless, the installation—which featured four different structures ranging from 18 meters to 40 meters in width—was a hit, McCulloch says. Along with the mix of glass walls and white vinyl fabric, the installation included the interior VIP mezzanine, which McCulloch calls perhaps the "coolest" feature. "It allowed the guests to see both the front entrance/lounge area as well as the runway from a higher vantage point," she explains. "Using a mezzanine inside a tent is by no means a new feature, but we’ve noticed it’s definitely been gaining in popularity over the last year."
Regal Tent Productions
Photo by Up Photography
Meeting of the Minds from TentLogix
It's serious when more than 12,000 attendees converge over the course of five days for more than 500 sessions conducted by chief information officers and senior information technology executives. But that's the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, held in October, and that's the showcase for TentLogix of Stuart, Fla., to show off its tenting skills
Tentlogix supplied six unique event structures that provided more than 210,000 square feet of temperature-controlled event space. To create a campus-like environment for guests to move freely throughout the three resorts hosting the event, the tent team developed custom structures including a 25-by-55-by-8-meter Arcum Emporium structure and a 15-by-30-meter Mono-Pitch structure. The central pavilion structure measuring 164- by 410-foot and a football field measuring 160-by 360 feet--the largest structure was actually much larger than a football field, including end zones. More than 2,500 tons of cooling capacity was provided to ensure even and consistent temperature control of the massive structures.
All tents included elevated flooring systems with color-matched carpeting throughout and over a mile of glass walls and insulated hard walls were provided to complete the refined look and feel the client was looking for. PMS-color printed fabric panels were provided to give a customized look to the structures.
Museum Quality from EventQuip
Thanks to the dedication of EventQuip of Lansdale, Pa., 1,100 attendees gathered on a May evening under the largest tent ever installed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the 250th anniversary of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
The 26,000-square-foot structure with multi-level flooring and clear vinyl top and sides was installed according to a detailed schedule designed to protect the iconic location and to provide guests with a view of the city at night and the fireworks display that capped off the evening.
The main tent was a 132- by-196-foot European structure on 13-foot legs. Clear vinyl for the roof and sidewalls showcased the museum’s iconic façade as a backdrop, while also allowing for a view of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Philadelphia skyline. Customized three-level flooring at 2-inch, 16-inch and 30-inch heights allowed guests furthest from the stage to still have a good view. The floors were finished with carpet, and a polished hardwood overlay defined the entry foyer. Additionally 11,637 square feet of support tenting for catering, green room, restroom trailers, and walkways was connected to the main tent to ensure weather-protected transitions for staff, and performers.
All told, the tent team installed a total of 37,509 square feet of tenting. Nineteen tractor trailer loads delivered more than 600,000 pounds of tenting and flooring equipment. In order to comply with the museum’s requirements and restrictions, tent installers worked in shifts around the clock for eight days to assemble 10,895 parts to create the venue that the clients had envisioned.
