Microsoft's Cortana Launch Event On The Thames

MICROSOFT CORTANA LAUNCH

BETTER BY WATER

PROJECT DETAILS

When: November 2014
Where: London Eye

Microsoft wanted to make Cortana, Microsoft Mobile Devices’ personal assistant on Lumia famous, create a global media moment, and to ignite conversation.

The brief was to build a giant ‘loop de loop’ on a barge in front of the London Eye. Stunt cyclist Danny MacAskill then tackled the 16ft high loop de loop on his BMX in front of 200 guests who were on-board our passenger boat, Erasmus.

The loop married up perfectly with the London Eye to give the impression on camera that Danny was tackling the Eye itself.

PROJECT VIDEO

HOW LIVETT'S MADE IT HAPPEN

Livett’s teamed up with Star Events on this job and they executed an extremely technically challenging build seamlessly. Half of the build took place in West India Dock, which was the easy part! However due to the height restrictions of London’s bridges, we were forced to finish the build on-site opposite the London Eye.

This caused many challenges for the riggers as the target was to effectively double the height of the build to 20m from river level. We therefore had to use a vessel with a crane that had to have very specific lifting and reach capabilities. The barge was unrecognisable by the end of the build! There were many tricky elements for us, in particular having to line the loop up perfectly with the Eye, which we managed with a bespoke mooring system.

Safety on this job was paramount as we have hundreds of crews working at height, over water and all night to make the event a success. We provided marine safety cover throughout and all of the barges/boats required to ensure a spectacular show.

Danny did not disappoint after everyone’s efforts. Check out the video to see how he did it!