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in a box but a continuation of the journey. Everything has to fit the theme, or at least be quirky, so we’ve even worked with Coco-Cola to create a freestyle drinks mixing area designed to look like a garage where the drink comes out of petrol pumps.’
Rather than requiring less resilience than ‘real’ buildings, these fantasy worlds have to work even harder thanks to the additional stresses involved. ‘We build our rides to last 30 years as that’s the safe lifespan of the steel under these stressful conditions,’ says Burton. ‘Te material choices have to be so robust as millions of guests go through an attraction each year – the grade of specification is extremely high compared with other areas of architecture.’
World of Jumanji has been nearly four years in the making, which means that Burton was kept busy through lockdown. ‘I spent most of that time sitting alone in my room sketching rollercoasters,’ he laughs. It might be a different field, although Burton jokes that designing a theme park ride is really only designing a transport network, but the process would be recognisable to anyone working on a large building project. ‘We move from Sketch, to CAD and then on to BIM.’ Te Building Information Modelling enables Burton and his team to balance different requirements of the themed area, known as a Land, including upkeep. ‘Te main ride is a launch rollercoaster so it needs a lot of power for the big electro- magnets, and space has to be allocated for maintenance,’ he says.
Te power-hungry nature of theme parks is probably inevitable, but Burton tries to balance that with eco- friendly choices in other areas. ‘Merlin is working to be a sustainable company, so we have used a lot of upcycling in World of Jumanji. For example, the bazaar area – a Marrakesh-type environment – is made using secondhand and reclaimed materials, including old bits and pieces from other parks.’
created £17 million World of Jumanji which, like the game in the movie, moves through different themed areas called Biomes. At the centre is the Jaguar Shrine, the height of a five-storey building, and with a steel and concrete structure that has to be just as resilient against wind and weather and meet the same codes. Tere are two smaller rides, games and food and drink provision which also has to fit in with the theme. Te snack bar, for example, is set in what looks like an overturned truck that has been ransacked by the Mandrills.
‘Everything has to fit together and work cohesively within the space like a giant jigsaw,’ he says. ‘We don’t just design the exterior environment but interiors as well, so there are hotels at the park where people can have an overnight stay that also have to be themed – not just a bed
‘Everything has to fit together and work cohesively within the space like a giant jigsaw. We don’t just design the exterior environment but interiors as well’
Even in a job as exciting as Burton’s, opportunities like designing World of Jumanji from scratch don’t come around all the time. ‘It was a rare opportunity to launch an entire new Land,’ he says. In between he has been working on smaller but no less challenging concepts such as the newly opened Curse at Alton Manor at Alton Towers. ‘It’s like a haunted house, a dark ride that takes you through a theatre-like experience, with darkness as the canvas.’ Merlin also owns Warwick Castle, which brings with it a different set of challenges. ‘It’s a heritage site so you can’t do rollercoasters and everything needs to be very sympathetic. So, I’ve used lights and projection to bring the castle walls to life rather than doing anything structural,’ he says.
‘Every day is different. I could be sitting at my desk sketching ideas for a new ride or attraction, or sitting with architects discussing plans and how we translate that into the build environment, or even on a movie set directing actors.’ He is frustratingly tight-lipped on what the next project will be, but eventually concedes that it will be the UK’s tallest rollercoaster at Torpe Park – beyond that it’s all top secret. But he is certainly excited about the challenge: ‘Working on theme parks you can’t just be an expert in one thing, you need to understand everything; how things go together, how they work, how they impact the environment and, above all, how they tell a story.’
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