Winner – JTSE Innovation Award
Journées Techniques du Spectacles et de l’Évenement 2023, Paris
Winner – ABTT Engineering Product of the Year
ABTT Theatre Show 2023, London
Winner – DTHG Technology Product Award
Showtech 2023, Berlin
Winner – LDI Best Debuting Product Award
LDI 2022, Las Vegas
Harlequin Liberty Switch® is a revolutionary award-winning professional multi-use flooring system which transforms between a sprung dance floor and a rigid theatre floor at the touch of a button. It is designed for venues which regularly put on both dance and theatrical performances and so require both a sprung and a rigid floor in the same performance or rehearsal space.
Harlequin Liberty Switch enables a Harlequin Liberty sprung floor to be transformed to a rigid (unsprung) floor quickly and easily. This is achieved by using moving carriages which engage with stop blocks on the underside of the Liberty panels to create a rigid floor and disengage to create a sprung floor.
Harlequin Liberty Switch is more sustainable than the traditional alternative of using a portable sprung floor or ballet wagon. Having one multi-purpose floor instead of two separate floors uses less resources. The floor does not need to be stored, moved, installed or uninstalled for each performance, reducing the manpower required and energy consumed.
Harlequin Liberty Switch uses no power to stay in the selected mode, minimising energy consumption.
All timber used in the manufacture of Harlequin Liberty Switch is responsibly sourced from sustainable well-managed forests that are FSC certified. All Harlequin vinyl flooring is 100% recyclable.
Case Study: Yuen Long Theatre, Hong Kong
Yuen Long Theatre has renovated its theatre stage with Harlequin Liberty Switch, enabling a diverse variety of performances at the Hong Kong theatre. This world-first theatre project was the first time Harlequin has collaborated with TAIT on a stage that involved a wagon and an 11m diameter revolve with Harlequin Liberty Switch.
Steven Snow, TAIT Asia VP Operations, said: “It’s not been a client/vendor relationship, it’s been a partnership all the way through the project. It has allowed us to deliver a world class venue on time that we can all be proud of.”
Case Study: Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera and Vienna State Ballet needed a rehearsal space with both a sprung and rigid floor that they could use on a daily basis. Following over two years of development in 2022, Harlequin’s technical teams from the UK, Luxembourg and Germany worked together to install Harlequin Liberty Switch at The Vienna State Opera House.
