Company:
Arena Americas Oak Creek, WI

Project Details

Fabric 1

Duraskin B 1673
Producer: Verseidag Seemee US
Supplier: Verseidag Seemee US


Engineer Company 1
Lightweight Design

Design Company
Arena Americas

Architect Company
Mekus Tanager

Fabrication Company
Arena Americas

Graphics Company
TGI Worldwide

Project Manager Company
Arena Americas

Installation Company
Arena Americas


Please describe the project specifications

The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series sailed into Chicago June 10-12, 2016 as part of the first stage of competition in the 35th running of the event. It centered around the popular Navy Pier along the shore of Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago. Over 200,000 Spectators watched the race run on fresh water for the first time in the cup’s 165-year history. Six countries competed to collect points towards the America’s Cup final in 2017, which was held in Bermuda.


What was the purpose of this project? What did the client request?

Our objective was to build temporary structures for hospitality, VIP parties, sponsorship, vendors and ticketing to enhance the viewing experience of guests at the event. We supported the competition with more than 20,000 square feet of clearspan structures, 18,000 square feet of laydown flooring and carpeting, tables, chairs and HVAC.


What is unique or complex about the project?

Chicago’s number one tourist attraction, Navy Pier, was a perfect location along Lake Michigan to host the event, but planners had to be creative with the limited footprint available. Our in-house design and manufacturing team collaborated with engineers to determine the best way to install clearspan structures on the rooftop of Navy Pier to take advantage of all usable space. This solution brought about many challenges including how to safely anchor the structures, how to transfer the rental equipment to the rooftop and how to use the space for the best views of the race.

Our design and manufacturing team and tent engineer designed the tent structures to the bottom of the baseplate to meet Chicago Building Code requirements for an Exposure D structure (open terrain / edge of a large body of water / highest wind exposure category.)

Once our tent engineer gave us the forces the tent would be subjected to under Chicago Building Code Exposure D, we began working with a building engineer to design custom anchor plates. The custom anchor plates were designed to transmit the load from the baseplates to the girders and beams of the main structure. They were also designed with a 3” height to prevent projection into the sub flooring that was also installed.

Each anchor plate was laser cut to specifications with baseplate locating holes. Our in-house welder used the locating holes to swiftly weld the baseplates and steel bars to the anchor plates.

Once on site, our team had to coordinate the transfer of all equipment to the rooftop using a forklift. All tent parts, flooring, glass and hard walls, doors and HVAC units had to be carefully lifted over the 36’ tall wall of the Pier. The small, 10’ elevator was used for smaller equipment and furniture.


What were the results of the project?

We installed a 15m x 77.5m (50’ x 254’) structure as the main hospitality space on the rooftop. This structure was guttered to a 10m x 15m (33’ x 50’) south balcony tent, 10m x 20m (33’ x 66’) kitchen tent, 3m x 48m (10’ x 158’) walkway tent and multiple small entrance / connector tents. The clearspan structures were enhanced with many amenities including glass and hard wall, flooring and carpeting, lighting, liner, climate control and modern furniture. The rooftops and gables were branded with large custom graphics. Guests were able to purchase tickets to the hospitality spaces which featured extensive race viewing areas, unique on-water experiences, interactive engagements and displays. Additional vendor structures were installed at water level and were open to the public.

The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series in Chicago was the first ever race run on fresh water. It was Chicago’s first opportunity to make a huge splash in the race circuit and the elite hospitality and viewing space at Navy Pier certainly didn’t disappoint. Thousands of guests from all over the world came to see the impressive teams compete on Lake Michigan.

Our company is unique in that we have an in-house design and manufacturing team that works diligently to present solutions to challenges like this event. America’s Cup and Navy Pier had limited space to work with and we were able to present them with a perfect solution on the rooftop of the Pier that allowed guests 360° views of Lake Michigan. Both America’s Cup and Navy Pier were extremely pleased with the outcome of the project.

Despite some unpredictable sailing conditions over the weekend, the competition included three races, with Artemis Racing taking the overall win.


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