The façade of London’s Royal Opera House, one of the world’s foremost cultural institutions, recently served as the canvas for a spectacular visual display of projection mapping and animation depicting the 300 year history of the venue, in celebration of the opening of the annual Deloitte Ignite Festival. Internationally-renowned visual artists, 59 Productions, the company behind the display specified eight of Tempest’s Typhoon enclosures to provide effective protection for the projectors and ensure the show could go on, whatever the weather.
The 59 Productions presentation was broadcast onto this world famous building every 30 minutes on the evenings of 4th, 5th and 6th September 2015. For such a prestigious installation in a high-profile public space, a superior quality performance, free of stoppages and interruptions was a priority. Tempest’s Typhoon enclosures offered the perfect solution to safeguard the projectors used from the effects of unpredictable weather, airborne contaminants and wildlife.
“We specified Tempest enclosures for obvious reasons,” says James Roxburgh, Production Manager at 59 Productions. “We needed a solution that would give us the flexibility to really push the boundaries creatively with what we wanted to achieve. Using projectors outdoors can sometimes mean potential issues with weather damage and other issues, but with the controlled environment provided by Tempest’s Typhoon enclosures we had nothing to worry about.”
59 Productions used eight Panasonic DZ21K projectors to create the dramatic display. The Typhoon enclosures were key in making sure that the performance of the projectors was never compromised by London’s unpredictable weather conditions, protecting them from rain, wind and dust. Tempest’s innovative Goldilocks™ system also regulates the internal temperature and humidity, ensuring no condensation forms, which can be fatal to projectors. GoldilocksTM regulates temperature and humidity automatically, so the artists did not have to worry about a sudden change in weather conditions affecting the performance of the projectors.
Projector rigging and positioning proved key factors in 59 Productions achieving a stunning display on the façade of the Royal Opera House. A key component in the design philosophy of the Tempest Typhoon was ease and flexibility of installation, offering 59 Productions almost limitless options for fast and easy positioning of the projectors. The Typhoon features a pair of grab handles attached to the bottom rigging for simple handling on site, and can be easily stacked using the stacking kits, a simple mechanism that allows multiple enclosures to be rigged together quickly and easily, saving valuable time on a temporary installation, such as the Royal Opera House. The enclosure can also be used in a portrait or landscape orientation, tilted at various angles using the drop arms, and includes secure tabletop or ceiling mounts for the projectors themselves, for ultimate flexibility.