J&C Joel was proud to be appointed by SSE Glasgow to provide their Drapery Solutions to the SSE Hydro Arena, Glasgow.
The SSE Hydro Arena officially opened in September 2013. The arena holds a capacity of 12,000 people and features a range of different events such as Award Ceremonies, Tours, Sporting events and many more.
For this project, J&C Joel was asked to manufacture drapes which would cover a huge LED advertising board in order to block the light from it entering the arena, as and when required. Masking this light was a key requirement of the arena, especially when acts such as ‘Acrobatics’ performed, where this light could be distracting and possibly hazardous to the performers.
After careful consideration, J&C Joel selected black Premier Wool Serge (WS090) as the ideal fabric for the project due to its excellent masking and blackout properties, which ensured the light from the LED boards would not seep through and distract the performers.
In addition to this, Premier Wool Serge (WS090) has excellent acoustic properties which reduced the reverberation in the arena, leaving only the desired acoustics of the venue. Therefore, J&C Joel manufactured two drapes from their black IFR Wool Serge, each measuring an outstanding 110.0m wide by 1.1m drop.
The drapes were then attached using Golf Bag Hooks to 220m of Triple E custom rolled Erail track with bespoke brackets, which J&C Joel installed around the perimeter of the arena’s first tear. This was expertly designed to have anti-vandal fixings and ensure it did not obstruct the audience’s view of performances.
This type of track was ideal for the arena as it allowed the drapes to be pulled open and closed via two custom motorised Triple E Friction Drive Master Carriers, also provided by J&C Joel, meaning the LED board could be masked or exposed depending on the requirements of a performance or event.
