Stages 2010

North of the Silk Road

Superlative Convention and Event Centre in Tashkent

With a floor space of about 40,000 sqm and the overall budget of a medium-sized airport, the International Forums Palace Uzbekistan was probably one of the most remarkable building projects of 2009. Planning and construction of the complex was completed in just six months. The SALZBRENNER STAGETEC AVM systems house was responsible for all the AV and media systems — a unique challenge in this most modern events complex in Central Asia

In Greco-Roman classical antiquity, the historian Herodotus first described the course of the Great Silk Road. The Road’s main route interconnected the Mediterranean region with eastern Asia and significantly influenced trade between the Eastern and Western hemispheres for many centuries and also encouraged cultural exchange. Not too far from this economic and cultural artery lies Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. This is the location where the International Forums Palace Uzbekistan, was built last year. A mixture of buildings resembling a palace for state occasions and conferences, a high-tech convention centre and an 1,850-seat theatre, such a combination is probably unique in the world. For the extraordinary architecture, the lavish interior and the top quality technical installations, the Uzbek government relied mostly on German businesses. In order to ensure punctual completion in a very tight time frame, a modern version of the former Silk Road arose again. All required materials from plasterboard to a Christie projector were shipped via an »air bridge« between Germany to Uzbekistan — sometimes several hundred tons a day during the critical construction phase. But this logistical tour de force was by no means the only unusual characteristic of this extraordinary construction project.

Marble and Crystals

Since the autumn of 2009, the Central-Asian metropolis has had a new landmark: The Forum Palace located at the Amir Timur Square. Constructed of snow-white Thassos marble covering an area of 80×100 metres and with a dome that is almost 50 metres high, it can hardly be overlooked. When furnishing the interior, the architects were able to draw on abundant resources. Only the most exquisite materials were used. The property developers extended this ambitious approach to the technical equipment. The results are spectacular and unique in every way. There is luxury and exclusivity as far as the eye can see; huge faces of highly polished marble, lavishly plastered relief walls, a palladium-leaf finish in the central hall, and around 1.8 million Swarovski crystals, many of which are used in the construction of the huge spherical and elliptical chandeliers. The largest chandelier is a unique example with an overall length of 23 metres adorning the entrance hall. The large hall with the dome has an overall height of 48 metres. It houses a stage measuring 25 metres in width and up to 20 metres in depth, a complex lighting system comprising, amongst other things, multicoloured LED ribbons and portals made of highly polished ebony. In addition to the large hall, the complex houses a conference room, a banqueting hall, a restaurant and extensive accommodation for Islom Karimov, Uzbekistan’s president since1990.

Cabling in Record Time

In June 2009, theapro, a Munich-based design company specializing in theatre technologies, made an initial enquiry to the SALZBRENNER STAGETEC Audio Video Mediensysteme GmbH systems house as well as Stage Tec Entwicklungsgesellschaft and the intercom experts from DELEC. It dealt with the planning and realization of the entire audio and video system for the Forum Palace in Tashkent. At this time, the construction work was already in full swing. It soon became apparent that this would be a large-scale project like no other, mainly because of the fixed completion date. A spectacular opening ceremony had already been arranged for the 1st of September. By March 2009, only a giant steel structure with just a few intermediate floors but no facades or walls had been erected at Amir Timur Square. Anyone with any knowledge of normal planning and construction times for projects of this magnitude will be able to judge just how implausible such a time frame was.
Just two weeks after the initial enquiry, SALZBRENNER STAGETEC AVM was contracted and the first staff members arrived on site a few days later. Markus Schirmer became the project manager responsible for the Tashkent project. He remembers: »Our greatest challenge was getting qualified personnel to the construction site in the shortest possible time and providing them with the necessary material immediately. In particular, only a very short time was available to complete the cabling works of this extensive project. Later, the progress of the construction works would make cabling very difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, we had run the first cables in the building only three weeks after the project had started.« Many other components were subject to substantial procurement problems due to the normal delivery lead times from the respective suppliers. For example, acquiring 300 ceiling speakers of a specific type within a very short time in order to install them at Tashkent only a few days later is definitely not a simple task.
A big advantage to the contractors was the fact that the entire materials transport from Germany to the construction site was organised superbly by the property developers. Thus the companies did not have to worry about all that logistic hassle.

Trailblazing Technology

When planning and selecting the devices to be installed at Tashkent, some very specific requirements had to be met. In essence, the client wanted to specify future-proof systems at the highest technological level. At the same time, operational simplicity had to be ensured because the qualification level of the future operators was as yet unknown at the planning stage. Then there was the additional requirement that the individual system components must remain operable and in good working order for many years, since maintenance and repair personnel would not be available on site. Moreover, since the precise future uses of the system had not been specified, highly flexible solutions had to be implemented in every sub-system — a difficult contradiction to solve.
Likewise, logistics and scheduling for delivery and installation of highly sensitive technical components were far from uncomplicated and required constant communication with the other trades. For example, putting a high-performance video projector into operation a day early can have fatal consequences due to the vast amount of dust it can be exposed to on this kind of construction site. Additionally, the heat load generated by these devices had to be precisely calculated and dissipated using appropriate air-conditioning — temperatures of up to 47°C in the shade were measured at Tashkent last summer.
The materials needed inside the building were not moved by machine but carried principally by people. When necessary, human chains were formed to erect or take down scaffolding in the shortest possible time. On occasion more than a thousand Germans were working on site alongside anything up to 4,000 Uzbek workers. Work proceeded in shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in order to meet the extremely tight deadline.

Dual Celebrations

The dates of the first two major events, both taking place at the large hall in the presence of the Uzbek president, had been set irrevocably before the order was even placed. Not only independence day but also the city of Tashkent’s 2,200th anniversary were to be celebrated on the 1st of September. And the ceremonies for the Republic of Uzbekistan Constitution Day were scheduled for the 5th of December.
Since it soon became obvious that installation of the extensive media system would not be completed by the first date, SALZBRENNER opted for a two pronged strategy. While the on-site team continued the installation work for as long as possible, a second team of six employees led by Rainer Hettwer (SALZBRENNER AVM) and all the rental equipment required were flown in to ensure that the rehearsals and the actual event would run smoothly. Since the majority of hardwired cables were not yet available, a large part of the system was cabled on the fly for this first event. Of course, the provision and temporary installation of rental equipment increased the logistical requirement. For example, some components had to be rented from third-party vendors specifically for these events. In the course of the preparations and rehearsals for September 1st, a number of technical additions and upgrades that had not been considered during the initial planning stage turned out to be essential for the final installation. On the 1st of September, the building gave at least the visual impression of being finished; however, as soon as the first event was over, it immediately transformed back into a huge construction site. In order to continue the work still outstanding, a manpower deployment, almost inconceivable by our standards, worked on in literally every room in parallel.
Thus, the event which took place on the 5th of December 2009 could rely to a large extent on installed systems. For example, the STAGETEC CRESCENDO digital audio-mixing console, as well as the NEXUS audio network, was available. However, for organizational reasons, an additional crew was flown in from Germany arriving two weeks earlier. The most important tasks for this event crew included assigning and checking the cable runs required for the event. Although the cables had already been run, they had not yet been tested. Again, the schedule was extremely tight with rehearsals of the frequently changing programme intended to take around 10 days. Nevertheless, the audio and video systems required to support the rehearsals technically were up and running in good time.

A Local Solution

 Regardless of the numerous obstructions on the way to the timely completion of this giant project, Markus Schirmer looks back on a very successful task: »In my opinion, Tashkent is a good example of the fact that at the end of the day, appropriate solutions for the little issues can always be found if all trades on site are working hand in hand — as they did in this case. Communication between the various companies was smooth, and problems were solved faster on the construction site than they could have been decided over here.«

1. Foto, Außenansicht:  Udo Baldauf, Rudolf-Leonhard-Straße 40, 01097 Dresden, www.fotobaldauf.de