At the heart of the Expo 2020 site sits Al Wasl Plaza, the venue for the opening ceremony as well as a busy daily programme of ceremonies, protocol events, live performances, immersive shows and concerts.

Ptarmigan were an integral part of the Woodroffe Bassett team from the outset, with responsibility for the technical design of the show lighting systems and associated infrastructure.

With a brief to transform the space into a venue, we designed a lighting rig that is integrated into the structure with very clear direction not to allow the show systems to detract from the beauty of the architecture.

Al Wasl Plaza is a 67-metre-tall, 130 metre diameter structure with, in addition to the show lighting systems, 252 video projectors and an immersive sound system. The scale and harsh outdoor environment of Al Wasl required us to push the boundaries, with each solution designed, mocked up, redesigned and retested to ensure that when the systems were set up on site, they performed as required and expected.

Our scope included systems design, installation supervision and systems commissioning of all the show lighting systems.