www.psam.uk.com
venue profilE
Project Team
fi rst direct Arena Developer Leeds City Council
Project manager/ Quantity surveyor
Procurement/ technical
Contractor BAM Technical Holmes Miller David Langdon
CDMC Turner and Townsen PMP/ IPW/ Arup
Concept stage architect (to stage D)
Concept stage engineering (to stage D)
(from stage D)
Delivery architect Populous Landscape architect
Grontmij MEP Rotary Yorkshire subcontractor Civils work GRKC subcontractor Steelwork Fisher Engineering subcontractor
Operator SMG Europe Roofi ng
Lakesmere contractor
Wlan, wi-fi On-Communications (kit – Extricom)
Securi ty and safety systems
Kaleidoscopic lighting imposes different moods on fi rst direct arena.
Jacobs (Populous interior)
Jacobs Engineering Arup
“This is a nice house you’ve got here... it’s a beautiful building and a great place to play.”
The fi rst direct Arena’s offi cial opening night featured Elton John and his band and he will be followed by shows such as Leonard Cohen, Rod Stewart, Andrea Bocelli and Cirque Du Soleil.
The Boss opens up
First night can be a challenging one for any venue operator, particularly when one of the world’s most popular stage performers, Bruce Springsteen, is scheduled to play several months ahead of the offi cial opening. Our writer Paul Haines went along to see how the new venue coped during its preview night.
Opening night at any new venue is always an exciting, yet often chaotic experience, and with the fi rst direct
Arena being right in the centre of Leeds, I decided to put venue planning to the biggest test and arrive by car.
The arena’s development has been overseen entirely by the local council, which has utilised its other resources and dedicated two large multi-storey car parks to arena parking when the venue is staging events.
I chose the Merrion Centre car park, a fi ve-minute walk from the venue, and whilst there were some potentially serious teething problems with the ticketing machines, the sheer number of staff on the ground and their ability to fi x the problem and communicate clearly to the increasing numbers of gathering people transformed a diffi cult situation into a well-managed one.
first direct arena
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
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