Opera House

The challenge

Placing a banner on a historic façade

Clearly a case for Prangl: The fitting of a huge advertising banner on Graz Opera House was intended to attract the public's attention and draw attention to the 2023/2024 art season opening. But because of the location in the middle of the city and the associated limited freedom of movement, the project required a well thought-out concept.

Our solution

Tricky assignment for the pros

The Opera in Graz - the second largest opera house in Austria after the Vienna State Opera - celebrates the opening of the new art season every year at the beginning of autumn. On the occasion of this event, a banner measuring 11 x 9 metres was to be fitted on the façade on the side of Kaiser-Josef-Platz. In this project, it was not the weight that was important, but the size of the object to be assembled, the limited space and, above all, the numerous overhead lines and tensioning. The latter were responsible for ensuring that the units were also operated by Prangl professionals.

Two truck-mounted work platforms

The Prangl employees positioned two truck-mounted work platforms on the narrow pavement directly adjacent to a tram stop. The aerial work platforms used here had a maximum working height of 27.60 metres, a load capacity of 230 kilograms and a horizontal reach of 17.00 metres, making them ideal for this task. Opera staff were assigned to “divert” passers-by from the danger zone. One fitter took a space in each work basket to first fit the four fastening rails at the specified points.

Manipulation between overhead lines

With the help of ropes, the uppermost transverse rail was first carefully pulled upwards. Done with the utmost care at all times so as not to come into contact with the many lines. The next step was the installation of the two vertical rails on the left and right, followed by the last crossbar at the bottom. Afterwards, the teams were able to attach the banner to the girders piece by piece - being careful not to touch any line with every movement of the work basket. In the presence of many onlookers, the work was completed to the complete satisfaction of Graz Opera.