The 2022 Commonwealth Games currently taking place in Birmingham is the largest multi-sport event held in the UK since the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

The opening ceremony took place last night at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. The scale and importance of this event for the city of Birmingham and for the UK cannot be underestimated. Along with TV viewers across the globe, we watched the ceremony with a deep sense of pride, knowing that our structural engineering team had provided various consultancy services for this project over the last two and a half years.

Our input into the project began in 2020 when we worked on the structural design for the Countdown Clock which was revealed at Birmingham Centenary Square on 9 March 2020 (find out more about Countdown Clock unveiling).

We then worked with our client TPE on developing the structural design concept for the temporary overlay of the Alexander Stadium. Our engineers have developed structural design intent for the temporary sport lighting towers, video screen support towers and audio support cable structures which enabled procurement and tendering of these temporary elements to suppliers. Appointed by Birmingham Ceremonies, Cundall has designed cable structures to support the aerial flying system used by flying performers and scenery during the opening and closing ceremonies. We also provided a structural assessment in support of various pieces of equipment required for the ceremonies.

We are looking forward to seeing the sport in action over the next two weeks and the Closing Ceremony which will take place on 8 August 2022.