A hotel ballroom in warm gold light, round tables laid and a stage at the far end

Luxury 2 December 2024

Heritage Celebration

A centenary dinner in a listed palace where nothing could be drilled, rigged, taped or leaned against — and the room still had to change.

340: Guests
100: Years marked
0: Fixings into fabric
14: Free-standing structures

Client: Saffron House
Location: Udaipur, India
Guests: 340
Format: One night, 18:00 – 01:00
Event type: Luxury

Creative concept

The idea
the night was built on.

A hundred years of a family business, told in a room older than the business. We resisted projection and screens entirely: the story was carried by light, by a printed programme at every seat, and by objects from the company archive set on plinths along the guests’ route to dinner.

The challenge

A protected heritage interior. No fixings, no floor loading above 4 kN/m², no heat sources near textiles, and a conservation officer present throughout the build.

The solution

Every structure was free-standing and ballasted, drawn and load-calculated in advance. Lighting was entirely LED on floor bases with no rigging. The conservation officer was given the full drawing set three weeks ahead rather than being met on the day.

The execution

Build passed inspection with no changes required. Fourteen free-standing structures carried the whole scheme. The archive route added eleven minutes to the average arrival, which was exactly what we wanted it to do.

Run of show 5 cues

The document
the crew worked from.

Abridged from the working run sheet. Every line was owned by a named person before the doors opened.

09:00 Conservation walk Officer on site with the full drawing set. No changes requested.
13:30 Ballast and set Fourteen free-standing structures positioned and load-checked.
18:00 Archive route opens Guests routed past eleven plinths on the way to the hall.
19:45 Seated dinner Four courses. Programme at every seat in place of a screen.
22:10 Centenary address House to quarter, single warm key on the lectern.