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CASE STUDY

From athletics centre to stylish graduation venue – in 4 days

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The Client

Brunel University is a public research university in Uxbridge, West London. Founded in 1966, it’s known for its strong emphasis on practical skills and industry connections, and offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in fields like engineering, technology, business and the arts. It boasts a diverse student body, with students from over 150 countries contributing to its vibrant international community. 

Brunel University is committed to celebrating its students’ achievements, including providing a great graduation experience. To this end, it has collaborated with UKSV for over 14 years to ensure its graduation events run smoothly and cater to the needs of students and their families in creative and innovative ways. 

This long-standing partnership has contributed to ensure well-organised graduation ceremonies that regularly receive enthusiastic feedback by all attendees, helping the university make graduations a day to remember. 

The Challenge - A venue transformation at record times

Brunel University has traditionally hosted its summer graduation ceremonies on campus, as a way of celebrating its students’ achievements in the environment where they excelled. 

However, with approximately 1,500 students and guests expected to attend the ceremonies daily, there is only one location big enough to accommodate the sessions onsite: the university’s Indoor Athletics Centre.

This space needs to be converted into a comfortable, elegant and practical graduation venue with 1500 seats, a stage, and carpet throughout. 

However, the Centre is regularly used by the University’s athletes for training, and includes a running track, gym equipment and pole vaulting assets. These facilities are used daily, so any downtime must be minimised to allow athletes to continue their training. It’s also paramount that all facilities, including the running track, are kept in pristine condition. 

With little time and high stakes for the project’s completion, Brunel relies on UKSV to quickly transform the space while ensuring disruption is minimised. 

Our Approach - Meticulous project management when time is of the essence

Thanks to our event team’s expertise, turning venues into jaw-dropping event locations has become our bread and butter. Our team knows the importance of meticulous planning when time is tight. So, they use an hour-by-hour schedule covering the build phase, event days and weekend de-rig to ensure we can hand the site back to the university in the same conditions in which it was received. 

The build set up also includes a registration desk, furniture and decor. 

The creative theme of the event is always in line with the University of Brunel branding, with blue as the main colour and the university’s logo used throughout to adhere to brand guidelines – both on physical assets and on screen.

Accessibility considerations are essential to ensure everyone can fully enjoy the event. To this end, the set up includes a ramp to access the stage, fully movable chairs, dedicated spaces for wheelchair users, and audio loops for the hearing impaired. 

From a technical point of view, the UKSV team takes care of everything from equipment set up to onsite management and support. 

We provide a live camera relay of each session, with the ceremony being broadcast live and a video recording available on demand. Throughout the whole ceremony, our Production Manager Stu calls the order of the event and remains available, together with ten other members of our technical production team, to provide support and prevent technical hiccups. 

All assets that can potentially be used year after year, such as carpet and screens, are carefully selected in collaboration with our trusted network of suppliers, and stored after each ceremony to be reused. This allows us to minimise both the cost and the environmental footprint of these events. 

After each graduation ceremony, the whole set up is quickly dismantled.

The build phase includes:

  • Bespoke stage
  • Flown screen structure, with an X (Twitter) live wall on the main screen
  • Drape to enclose the space and protect from the glaring sunlight filtering through the curved roof
  • Carpeting of the entire venue, with boards underneath to protect the running track
  • Tiered seating for 1,500 people
  • Audio-visual set up, including a flown truss for projection, lighting and sound
  • External power generators
  • Bespoke air conditioning system, including an airflow chart and bespoke aircon tubes after COVID-19 to ensure appropriate air circulation
  • CO2 and temperature monitoring

The Goals

Full venue conversion from athletics centre to graduation hall, including:

AVset up
Power generators, heating/aircon, lighting
Boards to protect the running track and carpet throughout
Staging with two hanging screens
Furniture and decor
Tiered seating

Build, event management and de-rig – in four days.

Technical support throughout the event, with show production crew to produce the live graduation ceremonies..

The Results

Thanks to careful planning, our team’s accumulated expertise, and the right technical equipment and know-how, at every graduation session we are able to help Brunel University deliver a day to remember to its graduates and their guests. Despite the tight deadline, the Athletics Centre is successfully transformed into a welcoming and elegant graduation venue, with high-quality sound and video supporting the entire event.

At the end of graduation week, the venue is quickly returned to its original state while preserving the condition of the existing running track. 

After each graduation ceremony we also hold a thorough debrief with Brunel to assess the event’s success and consider feedback from the audience and stakeholders, cost-saving strategies to implement, challenges addressed and how to prevent them, and more. This allows us to continuously improve the graduation ceremonies year after year, and to nurture our long-standing relationship with Brunel University. 

Would you like to hear how we can help transform your venue for an unforgettable event experience? Get in touch with our team!

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TESTIMONIAL

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