ABBA Voyage is the highly anticipated return of one of the biggest pop acts of all time.
After nearly 40 years, Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid have created the concert they always wanted with some assistance from ourselves and our EN81-31 BKG Goods Only Lift.
This unique concert has been causing headlines around the world by blurring the lines between the physical and digital; the magic of ABBA is brought to life using the latest in motion capture technology to produce “ABBAtars”.
Behind the magic is a 1000-strong technical team from Industrial Light and Magic plus musicians, a backing group and countless other production technicians. Vital to the production team is our EN81-31 BKG Goods Only Lift, which transports equipment across four floors of the specially constructed scaffold stage.
When space matters – Bespoke car size
Engineered to fit inside a footprint of just 1435mm (width) and 1948mm (depth), with a capacity of 500kg, this narrow Goods Only Lift is situated backstage within The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Arena, London, where the lift will be used daily for three years.
Essential to the client’s needs was that this bespoke lift needed to be manufactured, installed, tested, and commissioned within just 12 weeks from the initial enquiry.
Custom-made to your requirements – Tailored model
Working closely with the Wonder Works team in the initial stages, we discussed and advised on the full range of options available and built a specification that worked for both client and application.
Key elements were:
- Hinged landing door – To keep within the constraints of the lift’s narrow 1435mm wide footprint while maintaining the required car width.
- Drop Bar Car Protection – To maintain a car clear opening of 880mm for the 805mm (wide) equipment cases to transport within the lift.
- 2600mm Car & Landing Doors – To give sufficient clearance for the taller equipment items, which are 600mm higher than our standard car height.
Layout Drawing, Abba Voyage (DK Lift Services Ltd)
Once the lift specification was finalised and agreed upon, we continued to work closely with the stage contractor. Due to the unusual nature of the scaffold stage, we needed to ensure that the scaffold members did not interfere with either the landing doors or machine access door and that sufficient fixing points were provided to tie the lift structure to the stage. The lift structure was also suspended on a raised steel plate to prevent the lift structure from clashing with any of the supporting feet of the scaffold stage.
Advising the client of three local lift installation companies, we were delighted when DK Lift Services were appointed lift contractor for the project. Liaising between our New Lifts Packages team and the client, Dan Kennedy, CEO of DK Lift Services, was immediately on hand to guide the client through our tender and manufacturing processes, as well as to answer any questions the client may have had regarding the project schedule.
Within days of being appointed, Dan met with the client to arrange the sign-off for our drawings, enabling us to meet the required delivery date. Any interruption in the schedule would have potentially delayed not only the big opening night but also jeopardised all the planned concert dates.
Delivered as promised
With the lead-time a critical factor, we and our partner, BKG, pulled out all the stops to deliver the project on time, with the lift arriving in our warehouse the week before Christmas.
On the opening night on the 26th May 2022, ABBA Voyage was attended by celebrities including Kylie Minogue, Keira Knightley, Kate Moss and Carola Häggkvist, and members of the Swedish royal family, Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. After the 90-minute ABBAtar performance, the four members of ABBA showed up on stage to give a curtain call and receive a standing ovation from the audience.
Huge thanks and credit must be given to all the individuals and companies involved, resulting in an on-time opening night and successful performance.
If you have a Goods Lift requirement that you would like to discuss, Contact our New Lifts Team here.
