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Construction site outside the Royal Albert Hall as part of The Great Excavation project

News The Royal Albert Hall “The Great Excavation” captured through Time-Lapse

28 April 2020 Kate

The Royal Albert Hall’s “Great Excavation” project, captured through our time-lapse, is just one way the nearly 150-year-old venue is celebrating its impending milestone birthday.

We were proud to once again be asked to capture another project for the Hall, this time to capture the momentous 18-month build.

Time-lapse capture of the Royal Albert Hall's 'Great Excavation' project, major construction works in preparation for the venue's 150th anniversary celebrations in 2021.

What was the Royal Albert Hall “Great Excavation” project?

Set in the heart of South Kensington and with a Grade 1 listing, the only option for expansion was to dig down and fit in a two-storey, double-height basement. This “Grand Excavation” in the southwest quarter of the property has now provided 1000m² of valuable extra space. Time-Lapse Systems were honoured to be asked once again to join forces with The Royal Albert Hall to document this extensive work at the prestigious Victorian concert venue.

How did we create a time-lapse video for this complex capture?

Time-Lapse Systems are continually capturing construction sites in high-quality time-lapse videos, but as this wasn’t a build going upwards, we had to rethink how we captured a build going down, into the ground. Our engineers had to pre-plan and devise a bespoke free-standing camera system for the Royal Albert Hall. This brand new fixing method was designed to be cautious of the historic structure of the building, allowing our expert engineers to rig a freestanding camera system from the roof. It was skilfully positioned above the construction site to capture as much of the work as possible. Once in place, the camera system was remotely micro-managed throughout the project to effectively capture the site throughout a multitude of stages and weather conditions.

To ensure the public and the Hall’s supporters felt involved in the process, the Royal Albert Hall embedded our bespoke iRis viewer into their website, so the live feed of the work was available to all. Once the construction was complete and having captured 18 months of Ultra HD quality images during the dig and build, our dedicated editing team produced a detailed time-lapse video of the whole “Great Excavation”. This high-quality visual account of the whole process has been used by the Royal Albert Hall on its website and across social media, to showcase this landmark project.

What are the benefits of the “Great Excavation”?

Now the work has been completed, the Royal Albert Hall is able to herald in a new era with plenty of back-of-house space. There are very practical additions such as a visitor’s café, office space, storage and a new energy efficient boiler system. But there’s also a multi-purpose space for education, outreach work and artists, allowing the community to interact further and to benefit from this prestigious concert hall for years to come.    

Why use time-lapse videos?

Time-lapse videos play an important role in documenting landmark and unique builds. Visually capturing the whole process with high-quality video allows prestigious clients to reference how developments have been made and to show the work to the public and donors.

As the UK’s leading time-lapse video company, we have the expertise and know-how to produce high-quality time-lapse videos to suit specific requirements and logistics. Please contact us for more details and to discuss your next project.

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Time-Lapse Systems are a part of Hideaway Media Ltd (est. 2007). World leader in the provision of bespoke time-lapse capture and site monitoring solutions. UK and Worldwide.