GW Group Produces Special Effects for New Children's Experience at Kongeparken, Norway

The GW Group produced a complement of special effects for Barnas Brannstasjon (Children's Fire Station), the newest attraction at regional theme park Kongeparken, in Stavanger, Norway. Barnas Brannstasjon immerses children ages 4-9 in meaningful role-play while teaching principles of fire safety and teamwork in an authentic setting. The attraction opened for the 2011 season. It was completed on a budget of $2.75 million.

"I was very pleased when Haakon Lund, proprietor of Kongeparken, asked me to contribute to this project," says GW Group principal George Wiktor, who has been a story design consultant for Kongeparken and for Lund since the park opened about 15 years ago. "Haakon understands the family market. He has a clever and interesting way of creating attractions that blend entertainment, education and storytelling, and has built a successful business drawing about 350,000 annual visits. With Barnas Brannstasjon, Kongeparken has again set a brilliant example of how much can be accomplished on a modest budget with a resourceful team that cares about quality."

The 20-minute experience starts as a home fire safety briefing but quickly becomes an adventure when an emergency call is received and the young park visitors are enlisted to respond. They cross to the fire station, don fire-fighter jackets, slide down the pole and ride bright red trucks to the scene of a simulated fire, where they work as a team to pump water and extinguish the fire. Their success earns them certificates of accomplishment and a home fire safety checklist (which can be submitted later for a gift from the attraction sponsor, a local insurance company).

Parents watch from a gallery as the children enact their roles with gusto. "For the parents it's powerful - even cathartic - to observe their children's earnest participation," says Wiktor. "The kids are very focused on the 'grown-up' tasks at hand." Barnas Brannstasjon accommodates 30 children at a time. "Kongeparken has set a brilliant example of how much can be accomplished at a theme park on a modest budget with a resourceful team that cares about quality."

GW Group's main role was to design and deliver the lighting, smoke, fire and water effects that help make Barnas Brannstasjon feel authentic, and to provide a control system that would be robust and simple for park staff to operate and maintain. It was a cross-continental endeavor: GW Group designed the effects and control package in the US with creative technical partners Visual Terrain (Lisa Green and Steve Young), Kool Fog (Brian Rowe), Sigma Services and Alcorn McBride (Tommy Bridges). Wiktor traveled to Kongeparken to manage installation and commissioning of the system. The $2.75 million budget included everything except land costs; Kongeparken used its in-house resources for facility design, construction, fabrication, AV and purchasing, with Lund as project manager and Wiktor providing some additional consulting.