Why is it that people and companies pour their time, energy and copious amount of money into projects without thinking about how the test of time and gritty environment will affect the installation?

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Writes Peter Ed

A sorry installation like this is the solar powered art installation, near Old Street roundabout in London. What a wonderful idea – made of recycled glass, it has in interesting story to tell, on well written panels, with a fun logic to how the solar panels interact with the LED panels.

I once saw it completely frozen in one fixed state, other times just utterly dark. What a waste of space, effort and, no doubt, a lot of money (who’s money?).

In fact, ‘Urban Art’ is only the most visible example of an astonishingly near-sighted approach to many high tech fixed installations. It happens everywhere. I have seen corporate lobbies with partially functioning ‘signature’ video and lighting, museums with moving images frozen,  video screens showing Microsoft’s ‘blue screen of death’ in shops and in (London) underground stations.

Even one of the themed casinos in Las Vegas, the Hilton Spacequest,  that just months after opening had significant parts of the lighting and video display obviously not working. Nobody was rushing to repair it – maintenance comes out of the operational budget, and nobody budgeted for repairing these expensive bits of high tech stuff.

Some of the fault must be attributed to the designers and consultants involved with the specification of the project. Some fault lies with owners or operators that do not take an interest further than “it must work when it opens”. Some fault lies with manufacturers that sell equipment into unsuitable applications. There is a conspiracy of ‘non-interest’ in the long term functioning of these fun and sexy displays.

What to do? Give up on the wonderful new toys that designers now have to play with? Hardly - they are here to stay. No, there is one main thing that must be asked at the onset of any fixed installation project:- “how will it work, and how should it be serviced over the life span of the installation”.

It means demanding answers to questions about suitability of all the system components, about choosing the correct cables with connectors that can do the job. It is about ensuring everything works in the temperature extremes it is subjected to, and thought has been given to condensation, thermal expansion, etc.

Sounds complicated? Well, no – it just normal fair for any professional designer cum project manager. The difficulty is not the technology – difficulty is the limited concern that designers, consultants, owners, operators and project managers have in thinking beyond the opening phase of the project.

It should be a primary design objective to ensure that an installation lasts its set working life and can be maintained at an affordable budget.

Images:  Spacequest Casino, Hilton, Las Vegas. Note the ‘window’ showing a moving Earth below, Solar panel art installation, Old Street, London. Both kind courtesy the author.

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Non-gaming revenues increased by 40% from S$94m to S$132m.  The S$6.6bn resort which began a phased opening in January 2010 and so the quarter ended 30 June 2011 is the first that can be directly compared to prior years full operational trading.  Daily average visitor numbers were 10,300 with an average spend of S$83 per head.  Occupancy at Singapore Integrated Resorts’ hotels for the quarter was 88% with an average rate per room of S$317.

Genting suffered significant losses this quarter in their gaming business which resulted in an overall decline in revenues of 17% from S$874m to S$727m.

The company plans significant new attractions in the near future to continue to develop the resort, as set out in the following comments from the quarterly financial announcement:

“We are particularly excited about the jump in volume and earnings from the non gaming business in the second quarter of 2011; with Universal Studios Singapore drawing 40% more visitors compared to the preceding quarter. The park's growth is most encouraging not only from a short term perspective, but more importantly it continues to establish the Singapore IR as the premier resort destination for the affluent in Asia. We continue to build on the Singapore IR’s appeal with new attractions. The Maritime Experiential Museum will open in October 2011, followed by the world-wide debut of Transformers - a major blockbuster attraction in USS in December 2011.

Also at the end of this year, we will add more luxury rooms at our high end West Zone. There will be larger suites and magnificent luxurious villas. Each of these villas have its own swimming pool, access to a beautifully landscaped environment and views of the spectacular sun set over the Straits. These accommodations, when fully completed by first quarter of 2012, will be highly complementary to our vision to be the playground for the rich and famous in Asia.”
 

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Below is a graph showing the comparison between Q1 2010 and Q1 2011, with a “bridge” between the two.  Unfavourable reductions in net sales across the business are partly offset by cost savings.  .

 
In an update describing the recent situation OLC noted that:

• Guest numbers had recovered to prior year levels by July due to solid admissions of guests from metropolitan areas, recovery in the guest numbers from the regions and guest recognition of new products such as “Fantasmic!”
• Net sales per guest had recovered by May
• Hotel occupancy rates have improved with the summer holidays
• Cost efficiency measures will continue
• Efforts to attract more guests will include rolling out 10th Anniversary events at Tokyo DisneySea from September together with various marketing initiatives
• ¥3 billion has been invested in private generators which will come online in late August to combat effects of government's power saving measures
• ¥2.1 billion to be posted as an extraordinary loss in Q2 relating to the cancellation of "ZED" performances at the Cirque du Soleil Theatre Tokyo from 31 December 2011

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Aside from making enough money to re-invest and a commitment to staff welfare and customer service, Tivoli are keen to develop a year-round business less at risk from the weather and expand into other areas of the leisure industry both within AND outside the park.

Key projects include:

• Hans Christian Andersen Castle – Tivoli are looking to maximise the use of the castle having already obtained a casino licence in 2010 and hosting a Titanic exhibition in 2011.  The annual report says, “The casino licence gave rise to developing a new concept for the entire Castle of which the casino will form part. It is the intention to renovate and reopen the Castle with the casino at the end of 2012…Obviously, the plans include adjoining restaurants etc, but it will also be natural to consider whether other leisure activities would fit the new concept for the Castle.”
• Increase attendance by:
  • entertainment and theme days or offers targeting special groups
  • increased package sales and the new pricing structure implemented in 2011 which are directed at families and aim to fill idle capacity
• Combat the weather – Cultural visitors to the daily shows at the Glass and Concert Halls also typically eat at the Tivoli’s restaurant and “generally form a good basis of the daily revenue”.  A classical music programme, the Tivoli Festival, will be launched to develop this area of the business.
• Increase the offering for cruise ship visitors - In 2010 Disney Cruise Line ships moored Copenhagen for the first time and this is a market segment that is growing.  “It is the intention that Tivoli will, in cooperation with a number of business partners, launch packages offering to take care of the visitors from they leave the ship until they re-embark in the evening.”
• Breaking out of the park - Tivoli own the Danish Wagamama franchise, and are looking to develop it:  “The possibility of opening one or several restaurants outside Tivoli is also being explored.”