Rudi Enos Biography

1970’s

In the 1970’s tents were rarely used for major events - they were essentially canvas roofs used for flower shows or circuses. They had a virtual forest of poles positioned right in front of where the audience needed to see the action. It was common practice to pull down the structure in bad weather - an unsustainable practice for commercial enterprise.

From an entertainment family spanning generations, Rudi came into the events industry with a mechanical engineering background, and pushed the boundaries of what was known, by designing increasingly larger structures.

As a young man, Rudi spent this period travelling the world with circuses and events, learning the difficulties with traditional tents and realising the possibilities.

Projects :

• 1977 : Stage build for Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee event, Newcastle. Transported, erected and dismantled 4 separate stages around the town, on the same day.

• 1977 : Stage build for Muhammad Ali’s famous visit to South Shields and Bents Park, Gateshead. BBC Inside Out Extra feature on youtube.com ➚

• 1978 : Rudi’s first Big Top (30m) built and subsequently used at Glastonbury Festival for approx. 25 years.

• Big Tops / Circus Tents ➚

1980’s

Based on his learnings and desire to revolutionise the temporary events industry for the benefit of the audience and promoter, Rudi’s Kayam design, originally conceived in the 80’s, proved to be the forerunner of most large-scale tension structures in use today. The Kayam was the very first tent of its kind, to be available for temporary outdoor events, that had the centre King Pole removed, to allow for ample sight lines for audiences. As we look back now, we can see that this proved to be a game-changer for the outdoor events industry - predominantly music festivals.

During this period Rudi also designed many temporary and permanent hospitality structures for outdoor events, for customers including Alton Towers, British Aerospace (winning an IFAI Outstanding Achievement Award), Coca Cola, Jaguar and Volvo.

Projects :

• 1983 : Carousel modular frame marquees design and build.

• 1983 : Alexandra Palace Pavilion replacement tensile roof. View project ➚

• 1983 : Alton Towers Black Hole membrane design. View project ➚

• 1983 : 35m, 4-pole Big Top for Phillip Gandy, for Channel 4 Television Showcase, Aberystwyth.

• 1984 : Design and build of awnings, structures and exhibition facilities, including the Sealtite awning system, under the Sunart brand. View projects ➚

• 1984 : Rudi designs and builds his first membrane anticlastic canopy.

• 1985 : AliMarq frame tent system design

• 1985 : 7,000-seat Big Top for Peterborough Country Music Festival (the first municipality licensed event of this size in the UK), sponsored by Mercedes Benz. View project ➚

• 1986 : The Royale, a 2-storey portable press office and viewing platform for British Aerospace, predominantly used at Open Golf tournaments. View project ➚

• 1987 : 30m-span aluminium frame structure design and build.

• 1987 : The Kayam first designs. View project ➚

• 1989 : Dover Castle entry canopy - Rudi’s first permanent tension membrane / roof.

• 1989 : Hornsea Covered Market glass-roofed structure.

• 1989 : Winner of the IFAI Outstanding Achievement Award for The Royale. View project ➚

• 1989 : Rudi is Keynote Speaker at the 77th IFAI Convention, Orange County Convention & Civic Centre, Orlando, Florida, USA.

1990’s

The 90’s saw more innovation, with Rudi designing yet more structures that were the first of their kind. The MoonBurst Marquee from 1990 was imaginative and visionary; many frame-supported tensile structures now using the design features. Other projects include structures for the Ebbw Vale and Gateshead Garden Festivals, permanent structures and tensile roofs for Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl, Birkenhead Park Cricket Pavilion, Millbrook Proving Ground, Sandown Park and Tees Barrage Water Centre and temporary structures for the rapidly growing outdoor event (festival) industry, including for Disney on Ice, nearly every major festival in Europe, and of course, the Guinness World Record holding ‘Largest Portable Event Venue’, Valhalla Tensile 1.

Some of the ground-breaking concepts introduced in the Kayam design and the Valhalla Tensile 1 have been used since by many other designers and manufacturers. Most festival tent stage structures around the world owe something to Rudi’s original 1997 design. This decade saw the peaked roofs of Rudi’s designs become the primary icon for festivals, with the BBC choosing to use the iconic shape for their festivals logo. The primary concern, as well as producing visually stunning portable venues, was to ensure that the audience could see the full width of the stage without obstruction. Rudi made a significant contribution to the growth of high-end outdoor productions by providing designs with clear-sight lines for all, and that can be certified and insured the same as a traditional building, giving international promoters the confidence to hold major world-class events in temporary, and crucially portable, structures.

Special Structures Lab was formed in 1998.

Projects :

• 1990 : Cardon Park hospitality structure.

• 1990 : Silverstone Formula 1 Grand Prix Portable Grandstand Seating.

• 1990 : BodyWorld at Gateshead Garden Festival - Rudi’s first £1m project. View project ➚

• 1992 : The Kayam designs are realised, with the build complete and first used at Reading Festival. View project ➚

• 1992 : Birkenhead Park Cricket Pavilion, with Anthony Hunt Associates. View project ➚

• 1992 : Cardiff Bay Pavilions, Mid Glamorgan Pavilion, and Hoover New Technology building at the Ebbw Vale Garden Festival of Wales, visited by over 2m visitors.

• 1992 : MoonBurst portable structure. A stunning alternative to standard square and rectangular marquees. Rudi’s MoonBurst is used at Royal Ascot, Silverstone Formula 1 Grand Prix, Burghley Horse Trials, Pavarotti In The Park, Hyde Park (to mark the 30th anniversary of the start of Pavarotti's operatic career) and Chatsworth House Garden Party, hosted by The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and attended by Princess Diana. View project ➚

• 1993 : Castlefield Bowl outdoor event pavilion, Manchester, with DEGW Architects. View project ➚

• 1993 : Geodesic dome design.

• 1994 : Millbrook Proving Ground domes. View project ➚

• 1994 : Alideck Stage design for Apex Stages.

• 1994 : Polygon Stage design for The Cutty Sark Tall Ships race (Weymouth, UK > A Coruña, Spain > Porto, Portugal > Saint-Malo, France).

• 1995 : MT65 Disney On Ice 65m 8,000-seat touring Big Top. View project ➚

• 1995 : Tees Barrage Water Centre roof design. View project ➚

• 1996 : Mepal Outdoor Centre roof design. View project ➚

• 1996 : Gargantua tensile structure design for Feld Entertainment / Walt Disney On Ice, the forerunner to the Valhalla.

• 1997 : Valhalla / Tensile 1 design. View project ➚

• 1998 : Swamp Circus Groundfly design.

• 1998 : SpaceMatrix geodesic node system patent granted. View project ➚

• 1998 : Valhalla / Tensile 1 built for Gearhouse PLC and is awarded the Guinness World Record for Largest Portable Event Venue. View project ➚

2000’s

In the 2000’s, Rudi continued to push the boundaries of temporary and permanent tensile structures, mainly in terms of creative innovation in style, shape and aesthetics. Born of this were the Flying Saucer for NoFit State Circus, (specifically designed to look like a craft landed from outer space) and various small, visually arresting structures for clients such as Strongbow and Aftershock.

Also during this period, Rudi concentrated on permanent structures and tensile roofs, including consultation on the Istanbul Formula 1 Grandstand Roof, design of the Bahrain Financial Harbour building, Ankara Theatre, and the beautiful Waterfront Stage canopy for Latitude Festival.

Projects :

• 2000 : Gatecrasher 2000GC Millennium Eve event held in Valhalla Tensile 1. #itwillalwaysbewithyou. View project ➚

• 2000 : RoofTrack Scaffold Roofing System patent granted.

• 2000 : NoFit State Flying Saucer. View project ➚

• 2000 : MT66 MegaDome. View project ➚

• 2000 : Umbrella Roof design.

• 2001 : Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, Manhattan in the Valhalla Tensile 1. View project ➚

• 2002 : Rudi holds Examining Temporary Structures seminar.

• 2002 : Earth Summit 2002, South Africa held in the Valhalla Tensile 1. View project ➚

• 2003 : P Span Arena. View project ➚

• 2004 : Tennent’s Pyramid. View project ➚

• 2004 : MTV Europe Music Awards, Tor di Valle Racecourse, Rome, Italy held in Vahalla Tensile 1. View project ➚

• 2004 : Sandown Park Canopy, with J&J Carter. View project ➚

• 2005 : P Span Arena patent granted. View project ➚

• 2005 : Anatolian Show & Convention Centre, Ankara, Turkey (Anadolu Gösteri ve Kongre Merkezi). View project ➚

• 2005 : Istanbul Formula 1 Grandstand Roof, Turkey. View project ➚

• 2006 : Bahrain Financial Harbour building. View project ➚

• 2006 : Stadium Park Tensile Roof. View project ➚

• 2006 : The Strongbow Rooms. View project ➚

2010’s

Rudi was a member of the HSE (Health & Safety Executive) Joint Advisory Committee on Entertainments (JACE) and Temporary Demountable Structures working groups.

Projects :

• 2010 : BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend held in the Kayam. View project ➚

• 2010 : Revolution Karting Canopy design.

• 2011 : Latitude Festival Moon Flower Stage design.

• 2011 : Yorkshire Planetarium Domes design.

• 2012 : Waterfront Stage, Latitude Festival. View project ➚

• 2012 : Rudi holds Examining Temporary Structures seminar.

• 2013 : Band Canopy, Le Rocquier School, Jersey.

• 2011 : Rudi is Keynote Speaker at the UK Festival Conference. Read Billboard article ➚

• 2014 : Relentless Pyramid. View project ➚

• 2014 : Airshelta Inflatable Building design.

• 2014 : CE-SPaCe Arena (John Peel Stage). View project ➚

• 2014 : Yorkshire Wildlife Park Amphitheatre design.

• 2016 : Dumbo (Walt Disney Studios) design and consultation. View project ➚

• 2016 : Victoria (Mammoth Screen for ITV) calcs and consultation. View project ➚

• 2017 : Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald (Warner Bros. Pictures) design and consultation. View project ➚

• 2017 : StarSpan Stage Cover. View project ➚

• 2018 : The One And Only Ivan (Walt Disney Studios) design and consultation. View project ➚

2020’s

Undoubtably now one of the originators of this niche, highly specialised area of structural design and engineering, Rudi provides specialist consultancy services via Special Structure Lab, including structure design, Film & TV consultation and structural certification, certification for the events industry, construction and other engineers and manufacturers.

Rudi brings a ‘security blanket’ to projects devised and run by others. If an event promoter, or a traditional architect, or a creative of any kind is wondering if their ‘crazy’ tensile ideas will work, Rudi applies his unmatched experience, skillset and approach to providing the answers, without compromising on safety, style and innovation.

Projects :

• 2022 : The Mirror Pavilion Spiegeltent. View project ➚

• 2023 : Burberry London Fashion Week 2023 calcs and consultation. View project ➚

• 2024 : Burberry London Fashion Week 2024 calcs and consultation. View project ➚

• 2024 : The LightCloud™ Cablenet (Chevron Stage for Festival Republic). View project ➚

• 2024 : The Chevron Stage Highly Commended in the Tech Innovation Of The Year category at the Access All Areas Awards 2024.