German creative design specialist Procon MultiMedia, acting as sub-contractor to Australian company Bytecraft, supplied, designed and installed the lights inside the superb Khalifa Stadium in Doha, which was the venue for most of the sporting competitions, as well as the spectacular opening and closing ceremonies of the Games.
Procon chose 110 Alpha Spot HPE 1200 moving body luminaires by Clay Paky, which together with many other lighting projectors, were used very effectively by lighting designers Andy Doig and Fabrice Kebaour for their shows. Alongside them, 120 specialised technicians, under the guidance of Procon project manager Michael Casper, worked non-stop before, after and throughout the event using a total of 520 tons of material.
The climatic conditions in Qatar certainly did not help the operations: the initial torrid temperatures, followed by a month of unexpected rain and hailstorms, certainly put the organisation and equipment to test.
The lights were installed mainly on three distinct elements of the arena: on scaffolding supporting the roof of the stand, on a truss hooked to the arch that crossed the length of the stadium and on the truss placed at the top of the largest of the LED videowalls, boasting an incredible base length of 150 metres.
(Photography: Ralph Larmann for Procon)
