The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden is home to the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera, and the Royal Opera House Orchestra. The venue is in operation seven days a week, which made the upgrade of the flying system – with the continuous cycle of shows and rehearsals – a significant challenge.
The tight schedule at the Royal Opera House demands that regular maintenance is precisely coordinated. Introducing an upgrade into such a saturated timetable is always challenging, and given that the opera presents performances and rehearsals every day, with only a two‐week summer break, this complete overhaul of the hoisting system required meticulous planning and a phased approach.
Undoubtedly, the most challenging element of the project was to seamlessly integrate the controls and safety improvements with the pre‐existing flying equipment, thereby ensuring the continuity of stage automation.
Outside the summer break, the TAIT team operated a rigorous weekly schedule of overnight and weekend work to minimize interruptions to the demanding program at the Royal Opera House.
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TAIT updated the Motor Control Centre cabinets, 108 flybar winches, transferred 18 lighting battens to Apex hoist operation, and replaced multiple multipoint hoists. In addition, 70 Kinesys Apex hoists were added to the grid and nearly 1000 load cells were integrated, complete with new safety features to ensure that the hoisting of performers meets modern standards. A key element for the smooth operation of this equipment was the implementation of a series of epiQ consoles. Despite every component of the Royal Opera House’s flying infrastructure in London being affected by the intervention, TAIT completed the project without interrupting the show schedule, thanks to a meticulous and well-structured work plan.
