Royal Opera House turns to igus for cable management solution

(See igus at Machine Building North, 13 May 2026, on stand 54)

The history of the Royal Opera House stretches back to 1732 with the establishment of the 'Theatre Royal, Covent Garden' in London. Today, the Royal Ballet and Opera is the home of world-class opera and ballet a cultural powerhouse bringing together two world-class performing companies, The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet, supported by a cast of more than 3,000 employees, including technical staff, creatives and freelancers.

The auditorium, which seats over 2,000 people, represents just a ninth of the overall footprint of the whole site. The behind-the-scenes facilities include a 37m high fly tower to raise and lower sets, and a purpose-built 'get-in' elevator large enough to move full-scale scenery pallets and set pieces directly from loading level to stage, speeding up changeovers and improving backstage logistics. The upper machinery includes five vertically moving rows of beams equipped with halogen spotlights, for which igus originally suppled a customised zig-zag energy chain system to safety guide the numerous cables during the vertical movement.

In 2025, as part of a refurbishment project, the Royal Opera House looked to make the switch to LED lighting, but this impacted the energy chain requirements significantly. Although the new lights would save around 90% energy, they were substantially heavier, so a completely new, lighter support structure had to be developed, including a suitable energy supply system, and it was for this that the Royal Opera House team returned to igus.

Mark Smith, head of engineering projects at igus UK, comments: "We considered other solutions such as motorised e-spools, but due to the volume of cabling, the zig-zag systems were the best option just like 25 years ago. But there were significant challenges."

In particular, the igus engineering team had to consider the 'pendulum effect' that is usual during operation with a zig-zag cable management system. Here, with five battens made of three pieces each that run independently but close to one another, the pendulum was critical. "In our first tests, due to the significant number and weight of the cables, we used a robust energy chain, but this amplified the pendulum swaying by 1 metre side to side in our prototype testing on location," says Smith. "We knew we'd have to counteract that."

That was easily done on the inner battens, but there wasn't the space on the outer battens. "We solved this by using a single opposed zig-zag system, and a scaled version that we tested at our Cologne Headquarters showed that the lateral movement would be reduced to under 20mm," says Smith.

But that wasn't the end of the challenge. "We calculated the weights of our systems using 2.5mm thick steel baskets, but were told that the hoisting system would not be able to accommodate this," says Smith. Indeed, the weight of the originally planned guide boxes would have to be reduced from 200kg to 150kg. "The weight was first reduced by switching from steel to aluminium, and then by using structural engineering and stress analysis to remove excess material."

A final challenge was the timescale, as igus UK echain division director Justin Leonard explains: "The time window for maintenance and technical innovations was tight, with just four weeks available for this between seasons. When the curtain went up again at the start of September, everything had to run smoothly.

"We started production of the system in July, and had to deliver in time for August. But we did it, supplying 15 complete zig-zag systems ready for installation. And we were on hand to support installation of the system right through to commissioning."

The zig-zag system provides services such as power for lighting circuits, data, audio lines and fibre optics that feed the lighting battens over the stage. "Our zig-zag is a passive system and is designed to be unassuming and unobtrusive," says Smith. "They need to be quiet, reliable and not limit operational use. Each system can operate at 250mm/s speed, with zero downtime and only annual visual inspections required. We fully expect these new systems to outlive the previous systems."

Discussing the project, Musa Halimeh, programme lead at Royal Ballet and Opera, says: "The old lighting battens at the ROH have been at the centre of many of the challenges I've faced since starting the upgrade of the system in 2018. When we first started envisioning their replacement, I couldn't have hoped for a better outcome than what we've achieved."

Smith concludes: "Many stakeholders were involved in this project, not just the Royal Ballet and Opera themselves, but the truss manufacturer, the structural engineers and the electrical contractor, to name but a few. Of all the projects I have undertaken in my 27 years at igus, this makes the podium. It was a joy to be a part of."