NUSSLI Completes Grandstand Construction for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is the largest music festival in Scotland, and has been held every year in August in front of Edinburgh Castle on the Esplanade since 1950. Over 1,000 musicians and dancers perform for a live audience of around 8,800 at each performance. Grandstands are erected every summer on the Esplanade, which are then removed again in September. Scotland’s capital welcomes around 217,000 fans of the military parade each year. The grandstand structure that had been used until 2010 was replaced by a new, more flexible solution in 2011. The event’s general contractor Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd (SRM) tasked the Swiss-based event infrastructure provider NUSSLI with the planning, delivery, and initial construction of the new grandstand system. NUSSLI was the ideal choice for the task, as the company has gained considerable experience and knowhow as a provider of temporary event structures for sports and cultural events internationally.

“The new grandstands for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is absolutely unique. I don’t believe that there is any comparable temporary structure like it”, tells NUSSLI Project Manager Stefan Helfenstein. “It sets an entirely new benchmark for safety, comfort, architecture and functionality in temporary structures.” One of its unique aspects is the fact that it was planned as a permanent structure. That means that proper foundations were laid, and the event structure itself was constructed in compliance with national construction standards. Nevertheless, NUSSLI managed to halve the construction time needed for the previous grandstand installation.

“The new grandstands for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is absolutely unique. I don’t believe that there is any comparable temporary structure like it”, tells NUSSLI Project Manager Stefan Helfenstein. “It sets an entirely new benchmark for safety, comfort, architecture and functionality in temporary structures.” One of its unique aspects is the fact that it was planned as a permanent structure. That means that proper foundations were laid, and the event structure itself was constructed in compliance with national construction standards. Nevertheless, NUSSLI managed to halve the construction time needed for the previous grandstand installation.

“The new grandstands for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is absolutely unique. I don’t believe that there is any comparable temporary structure like it”, tells NUSSLI Project Manager Stefan Helfenstein. “It sets an entirely new benchmark for safety, comfort, architecture and functionality in temporary structures.” One of its unique aspects is the fact that it was planned as a permanent structure.

 That means that proper foundations were laid, and the event structure itself was constructed in compliance with national construction standards. Nevertheless, NUSSLI managed to halve the construction time needed for the previous grandstand installation. Construction logistics had to deal with space restrictions inside and outside the walls of the ancient castle. Monuments, and the sloping terrain along the sides of the structure, posed additional problems. Logistics were also forced to work around the huge numbers of tourists and visitors, frequenting the famous castle each day.

In the interest of sustainability, and not to be in the way of the many visitors of Edinburgh Castle, NUSSLI will remove the temporary event structures at the end of each event. The opening event of this year’s military parade in Edinburgh will be held on August 5, 2011.