Cover It Up has supplied six sets of different generic scenic drapes to Westfield London that were specified by technical manager Simon Jones for use on different events throughout the year. For some of these - as was the case for the Switch On - the existing drapes are augmented with bespoke additionals.
Cover It Up's team was led by Elliot Stennett. Their task on this occasion was to create a VIP area and drape off the stage and wings.
They used white molton as a base layer with white trevira and voile over the top - taken from one of the standard Westfield packages - and draped about 50m along one side of the atrium to make the VIP balcony space.
Drapes from one of the Westfield's white sets was used to wing off the back of the stage - which was in the centre of the space - extending 11m either side of it.
At the back of the stage, they also needed a lightweight solution to mask the whole area from the public, so Cover It Up supplied a double 16mwide by 9.5 drop of black trevira, attached to the back of the truss immediately behind the stage.
On the stage side of this was a large drape printed with Rihanna's face. Stage legs were created extending about 4m either side of the Rihanna backdrop using the while voile and trevira set.
A week after the Switch On, Cover It Up were back at Westfields to help with the launch of the winter ice rink.
Says Elliot Stennett: "Westfield London is always a great environment in which to work - the architecture is amazing, and the technical installation has been designed properly to facilitate the installation of production kit for events. There are specific challenges which are always good for keeping us on our toes and Simon's crew is always excellent."
(Jim Evans)
