Fashion consciousness often influences the VIP tent designs

In December, Orgatent set up VIP tents in St. Moritz at the Women's Ski World Cup event.BY EUGEN RIESERRecent studies show that mobile festivities and large-scale events in the sports and culture sectors have increased significantly and are also particularly courted by VIP guests: Especially companies from the economic sectors automotive, luxury goods and telecommunications/IT like to stage their customer events with imposing tent installations in a very fashion-conscious and extremely extravagant way.New concepts are in demandBlasto AG in Rapperswil-Jona is celebrating its 30th anniversary and is one of the leading Swiss suppliers of rental tents and rental furniture. No matter where an event is celebrated, whether at the highest level in the mountains or in the lowlands, when emotions are called for, Blasto AG provides the atmospheric setting. From the cozy garden party to the cultivated business event at the company headquarters to the large event with individual tent architecture, tailor-made solutions are developed.The needs for VIP events and functions are very different and individual depending on the size of the event and sector, explains Heinz Huber, CEO and owner Blasto AG to MK. An interesting example is the industry event for live communication Xaver'13, which took place at Komplex 457 in Zurich. For the newly launched Xaver concept, Blasto AG was responsible for the conception and realization of the Apéro and After Show area on the terrace of the young event location. The aim of the space concept was to combine building architecture with tent architecture to create an authentic event ambience, and white pagoda tents were used in the check-in area.According to CEO Heinz Huber, the rental business in the areas of tent architecture and rental furniture is developing particularly on the qualitative level. "We are benefiting from this trend. Our clients are corporate customers, event agencies as well as caterers and private individuals. From Blasto, customers expect professionalism, flexibility, quantity availability and reliability in every phase from conception to planning and implementation. "In mobile facilities and space systems, the trend is increasingly toward transparency, straightforwardness and design. Blasto AG follows this trend with neat, transparent tent architectures and zendomes as well as with the new mobile room system CUBO.Fashionable furniture is requiredGrosswangener Orgatent AG has also been in business for a long time; the company has a wide range of tents and accessories. Whether for a sports event, a customer event, a cultural event, an anniversary, a product presentation or a family celebration. Among the more impressive projects are the FIS Ski World Cup in St. Moritz or on the Ville de Vevey ice rink, and also the Forum EPFL in Lausanne, where a wide variety of tent types are used.The demand for tent installations is there, but the prices "are not always so noble and exclusive. The furniture market has now become almost a fashion item. Colors and designs change every year, and even with fashionable furniture design, you quickly go out of fashion," Beat Bussmann, managing director of Orgatent AG, sums it up.In December, the Ladies Ski World Cup event took place in St. Moritz. The event was not as huge as a men's event like Adelboden, Lauberhorn or Crans Montana, he said. "But the standard was quite high - with solid glass facades in a fantastic mountain setting in sunshine. Carpet and interior decoration were also part of it," says Beat Bussmann.On the subject of business development, the Orgatent managing director says: "Fortunately, we are not dependent on just one client. Event agencies often work with larger companies and larger projects. Companies & individuals are among our partners and clients, as are caterers." With the modern installations, the Orgatent specialists are able to offer complete facilities for longer periods such as temporary arrangements during renovations. Fixed facades made of glass or insulated are offered in high quality as well as aesthetic shapes and looks. Toilet facilities meet the highest standards and technical facilities such as sound, image and communication are supplied by professional partners, says Beat Bussmann. New tent design launchedLosberger GmbH in Bad Rappenau, Germany, recently launched a new Cyclone tent design. With a striking square shape, an iligree open appearance and a new roof shape, this new design object quickly cut a good figure on the German event and trade fair market. In 2012, Losberger presented Palas, a variable, large-volume trade fair and event hall with a cube-like shape. Visually appealing and spacious, Palas with its combination of flat pitched roof, parapet and eight-meter side height grants fantastic design freedom.Now Losberger completes the midfield and reinforces the straightforward tent design with the new Kubo. This type of tent, based on the equipment level of Losberger P1 and P3N - large tent systems such as Palas, has a side height of four meters. "Since the market launch of Palas, we had also envisaged a straight-line, single-storey variant that knows how to convince with a cubic appearance, balanced proportions and a superior architectural signature," reports Martin Schatz, Head of Event Tent Rental at Losberger.The new S-Cube attracts great interestOne of the innovative and globally operating tent companies is Pro-Tent AG in Rüti, which has developed several new types of tents such as folding tents or tent systems or even the ingenious pep!tent. "As a rule, organizers or the planners of VIP events and functions have a finished concept and therefore also very precise ideas about how the corresponding premises should be presented. Creativity is therefore also required on our part, because it is often a matter of special designs. These are demanding and interesting tasks, explains Beat Bär, owner of Pro-Tent AG.It is noticeable that the organizers are moving away from the large simple tent solutions and the trend is shifting more towards "tent villages". This means that several tents are connected with each other and thus different worlds of experience and cozy corners are created quasi under one roof.For example, a sports event: The construction of a temporary roofing solution at different locations for the VIP guests at a Golf Masters tournament presents a challenge. In addition to supplying the necessary equipment, Pro-Tent was also responsible for the corresponding planning. Or at a customer event, the solution for a temporary showroom in an appealing ambience was sought and found in order to effectively stage the presentation of a new BMW model, Beat Bär tells MK.Pro-Tent AG's customers are mostly event agencies or the companies directly. The experts from Rüti concentrate on the creation of roofing or room solutions and, if necessary, cooperate with third parties for further services such as furniture, etc. "Mobile facilities or room-in-room systems are a huge need. For this reason, we set to work three years ago to develop a new type of room-in-room system. Originally, the suggestion came from a leading European manufacturer of office furniture. In 2010 at the Orgatec trade fair (International leading trade fair for office & object) a prototype of the current S-cube was presented. On the subject of space requirements, the Pro-Tent company owner says that workspaces are being converted much more frequently today. Accordingly, the requirements for a modern room-in-room system have increased, as they have for VIP events, says Beat Bär.This article appeared in the MK 01_2014 issue in the Communication section and can also be downloaded as a PDF downloaded be