Issues facing broadcasters of outdoor sporting events

Keeping Cool under Pressure
One of the major issues facing Broadcasters using temporary structures for major sporting events is keeping the studios cool and quiet enough for presenters to work comfortably and effectively under the host of lights. Keeping cool often involved the use of air conditioning which historically would be turned off when filming. However this need not be the case.
Issues facing broadcasters of outdoor sporting events
Broadcasters for these major sporting events operate from temporary structures which are erected and dismantled in a short time, often with limited space, and with the practicalities of broadcasting in mind rather than the working environment. They are not generally built with insulation and with the extra heat generated by lights, cameras and control equipment, all operating without sensible cooling, inhabitants suffer and sometimes do not perform to their maximum ability. The excess heat will also provide issues for support staff, particularly makeup trying to keep presenters and interviewees comfortable and looking their best.
Air conditioning in temporary structures has historically presented a number of issues to the structure builders and project teams. These include the noise levels, energy use, speed of installation and the space required for effective systems to be installed, whether roof, wall or floor mounted. Often the air conditioning used had large diameter flexible ducting used to get rid of the heat. These systems can be noisy and generally had to be turned off whilst sound sensitive operations were carried out.
The Silentair approach to providing a solution
The company was approached by a temporary building manufacturer to come up with a new AC solution designed for temporary structures our brief was to provide air conditioning without compromising the very low noise levels of our Serenity systems which operate at NR20 and below. This was so that the air conditioning could be used all the time, even during sound sensitive operations.
The first challenge was to develop a system that could be quickly installed (under an hour) is compact and could deliver cool air to all the room space not just spot cooling. Our Serenity system had been designed for installation in awkward and limited spaces in permanent structures, which enabled us to modify the design specifically for broadcasters using temporary structures or on location.
The new systems are compact just 310mm in height, powerful, energy efficient, very quiet and with the flexibility to deliver cool or warm air throughout the studio.
However it is not enough to have a compact system with all the above benefits, speed of install is often critical when temporary structures are being constructed. The teams putting up the temporary structures are under extreme pressure to erect, kit out and commission studios in a short space of time with restrictions on time on site. Our new Serenity systems can be fully installed in just 34 minutes.
Silentair have successfully installed over 100 air conditioning systems at the Olympics for most of the major broadcasters and its success is due to the innovative and effective approach taken by the company. We often only had a few days from initial order to installation and commissioning.
Our approach is to make the job of selecting the right air conditioning solution as easy as possible. In an ideal world early engagement between the team delivering the temporary structure, broadcasters and the providers of air conditioning solutions would be preferable. However in the real world a high degree of flexibility is required as the situation changes rapidly once construction begins on site. Our high level of experience ensured that any changes could be managed without too much difficulty for the clients or Silentair.
Were we successful in achieving our aims? Watching the Olympic coverage so far we are pleased to see the studios we have delivered solutions to have presenters and interviewees looking cool, calm and collected despite the pressure of being seen by millions of people worldwide!