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Kalzip
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The largest spherical structure in the world - the Sphere.
Inside, 'The Sphere' is an immense event location that offers space for 17,600 seated visitors and another 20,000 standing visitors. Over 165,000 speakers, including those integrated into the floor, ensure that the audience receives the best possible sound at every seat, regardless of the booked seating category or event. 4D elements such as sudden temperature changes, smells or air movements have also been integrated, taking the audiovisual experience to a whole new level. But that was not all.
The main attraction is the nearly 54,000m2 envelope of the unique building structure, manufactured by KALZIP. Specialised in façade and roof structures made of aluminium for over 55 years, the Koblenz-based company, a world leader in this field, was commissioned to construct and install the ‘Exosphere’.
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The main challenge was the shell: Approximately 1.2 million LED pucks are mounted on it, each puck consists of 48 individual LED diodes and each of these programmable diodes can display 256 million colours. These provide visitors with a breathtaking, 18K – sharp, almost 360° visual experience and make the ‘Exosphere’ the largest screen in the world.
Construction and logistics
The envelope consists of approx. 170 tonnes of profiled aluminium panels were prepared for use in the Koblenz factory.
On site in Las Vegas, the approximately 4500 profiled sheets were then further manufactured and prepared for installation. No easy task, because each of the aluminium profiles is approx. 8m2 in size and weighs 35 kg. First, the aluminium panels were brought to the right length by the skilled craftsmen, then the holes for brackets and rivets were pre-drilled, and the individual recesses for sound holes and ventilation grilles were added so that the aluminium profiles fit inside and next to each other on the round surface with millimetre precision. In the last step, the profiles were cleaned and loaded onto specially made transport trolleys, each transport trolley holds 14 profile panels.
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The prepared sheets were then transported to the construction site and lifted vertically tilted onto the building envelope with the help of special cranes, together with the transport trolleys attached to ropes, and installed.
This was partly completed in two shifts by more than 160 installers, which meant that 150m2 of aluminium profile surface could be installed every day – a total of 35,000m2, from the beginning of June 2020 to January 2021.
A total of 31,351m2 of fixed and 2,647m2 of pre-perforated aluminium profiles were used in this futuristic mega-project. In addition, 4,900 conically shaped and 1,075 conically shaped and perforated profiled panels were used – durable for eternity and all of them mottled grey to prevent reflections from the LEDs.
Visit Kalzip's website to get more information on this project.
