Muntpaleis

The Royal Munt opera house in Brussels is one of Belgium’s most prestigious entertainment venues. When it was decided that the building had to undergo a long period of renova¬tion, beginning in May 2015, a plan to provide a temporary structure for its rolling programme of event productions was put in place, using the Tour & Taxis site along the Avenue du Port as its location. During the construction phase, a number of deficiencies were found and the construction was put on hold. Stageco was brought in to design a new technical grid and 1,100-seat grandstand, however, a number of issues had to be taken into account, as season tickets and individual event tickets had already been on sale for some time, the seating plan of the original grandstand had to be maintained. Not an easy task, as the new tent structure’s dimensions were different to the old one. With the new tent structure [the Muntpaleis] being a last-minute solution, there were some problems relating to height clearance, yet the technical grid had to be as high as possible as the scenery for several productions were already manufactured. Stageco’s solution was to build the grid using Stageco 750 towers and 1400 trusses with 1050 trussing positioned on top [not integrated] of the 1400. The grandstand was created using scaffolding providing sufficient amount of stairs, technical platforms and a general entrance underneath the highest part of the stand. Starting work on the project in January, Stageco’s design and construction had to be completed within a short time frame. The temporary structure opened to the public in March 2016 and with the renovation of the opera house running behind schedule, the new struc¬ture continued to be in service well into the first half of 2017, with Stageco providing full technical back-up and assisting the client with any changes to the technical grid or stage floor when required by production designers. pics (c) PTM