Moreton Hire provides tenting for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games

Moreton Hire provides tenting for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games—the largest event Australia has hosted since the Sydney Olympics.

More than 6,600 athletes and team officials from 71 Commonwealth nations and territories converged in April on Australia’s Gold Coast and event cities for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018)—a mammoth celebration of sport, entertainment and culture. Based in Brisbane, Moreton Hire was invited to bid (and was granted) the tenting portion of the event to provide 520 structures, including air conditioning, concrete weights, flooring, ramps, doors, lighting and safety equipment. “Tendering for an international event of this magnitude is incomparable to other major event tenders,” says Annie Morahan, Moreton Hire marketing manager. “The process was beyond a proposal. It involved a variety of stakeholders to review and enquire, negotiations, company due diligence and detailed accreditation and security checks.”

Structure matchmaking

Not only did Moreton Hire install structures along the Gold Coast, it also provided temporary installations in the event cities of Brisbane, Townsville and Cairns—and the overarching request across all sites and all suppliers to the games was safety. “From Day One it was critical to go through a detailed and thoughtful procurement phase before any installation began,” Morahan says. “Our global procurement team worked fearlessly with Losberger Do Boer, our major European partner, to procure not just the quantity of structures required for the games, but the right structures for Moreton Hire and the Australian market in the long term. It definitely lengthened the procurement but it was worth getting it right.”

The new structures are from the same modular system and have interchangeable features to enable different configurations. “Customers can have an arched body with a hex balcony if they want,” Morahan says.

Losberger tents used throughout the games included Pagoda and peaked Eurotops for places where smaller structures were needed to house first aid, family lounges, team break-out zones, officials’ registration and storage. Multiflex structures were chosen for a variety of configurations with different leg heights for the opening ceremony preparation zones, AV production areas, ticketing entry, registration zones and more.

The team installed Uniflex structures when extra-large width and space were required. Uniflex structures were predominantly installed in the athletes’ village for a temporary gymnasium, storage, changing rooms, officials’ lounge, warehouses and spectator areas. For places where the Uniflex wasn’t big enough, Moreton Hire installed Maxiflex. With its capacity of 50 meters in width and clearspan views inside, it was the choice for high-traffic areas such as contractor, workforce and volunteer check-in; athletes’ village operational office; and vehicle scanning zones.

Losberger introduced its KUBO structure to the Australian market shortly before the games, and Moreton Hire selected the eco-friendly cubic structure for the Longines Pop-Up Boutique on the beachfront in Broadbeach. “Its rectangular structure offers a building-like design, and more opportunity for external branding,” Morahan says.

Wind, rain and journalists

Many of the installations were along the beachfront, heightening the complexity “as you need to factor in wind, sand and corrosion to engineering plans,” Morahan says. “And Cyclone Linda didn’t help. Even though the cyclone stayed away, strong winds and rain were still there.”

The Commonwealth House Media Centre was installed on the beachfront, and for this particular structure, Moreton Hire had the “full-suite” contract, including build, interior fit, signage, AV and event and site management. Event management included welcoming guests, hosting incoming and outgoing journalists and continuously transforming the marquee to host at least three events per day. The Moreton Hire site management team oversaw installation and maintenance during the event, including all areas from security, maintenance, cleaning and catering to reception and client management.

“It’s a new world for us to deliver an event of this magnitude and complexity,” Morahan says. “Now that we’ve done it, we have all the knowledge and experience to take forward, not just for international events, but for any major events or exhibitions we build in the future.”