Case Study: Newcastle’s Christmas Market marquees take some beating!
The annual Newcastle City Council Christmas Fair was scheduled to take place between the 7th and 11th December 2011 and as usual Aquila Shelters were responsible for building the covered street markets around the Earl Grey Monument and Eldon Square shopping centre. Building any marquee during winter is always a challenge and in 2010 the problem was thick freshly fallen snow. However, thanks to the council’s street cleaning department and the Aquila marquee snow loading capacity the event passed safely by.
In 2011 strong south-westerly winds of over 60mph gusted their way up the UK creating unpredictable squall conditions in Newcastle’s city centre on the 7th December. Building a street market around the city’s famous landmarks prevents bolting marquees to the ground surface, leaving ballast as the only method of secure anchoring. However, the strength of these squalls meant that movement of the structure was inevitable. Aquila worked tirelessly not leaving the site for the first two days of the event so that by the end of the second day the amount of ballast being used had been increased to 35 tonnes and precautionary alterations had been made to the structures to reduce the amount of resistance. By the time the wind speeds had reduced the market traders and shoppers returned in their droves making the final two days of the Christmas Fair as successful as ever. Aquila’s 100% safety first mentality and commitment to customer service resulted in excellent cooperation between the council and it’s other contractors so that everyone was geared up to ensure site safety.
Case Study: Garden marquees dressed to impress!
As well as anticipating an increase in street parties due to the Olympics and diamond jubilee celebrations in 2012 Aquila has also encountered more requests about marquees for private functions, partly due to the rising costs of ‘going out’.
Aquila’s last such project was a New Years Eve black-tie celebration in a private garden. Encountering a recently completed conservatory (which was not even built at the time of the site survey), split height & sloping levels and a combination of patio and grass ground surface, the customer’s brief was to create a space that could be used in the afternoon as a children’s party tent and in the evening as a formal dinner party setting.
As always, Aquila rose to the occasion providing a tent structure that was tight to the house providing 400 square feet of sophisticated sheltered outdoor space. Roof lining, chandelier, marquee flooring, additional heating and gilded furniture were all used to create the setting whilst the flexibility of the Aquila module meant the different ground levels were elegantly covered.
“Everything was fantastic! Your hard work was very much appreciated.”
And after the celebrations Aquila was on site before dawn as torrential rain and 100mph winds threatened to make the dismantling of the structure very difficult. With a committed safety conscious team on hand the marquee was taken down and removed slowly and safely proving that to run a private event can be cheaper, more personalised and trouble-free than paying today’s high prices of going out.