Roundhay Park hosted one of Leeds’ biggest music events of the summer — a crowd of around 70,000 gathered across the parkland to see Lewis Capaldi headline. The production team needed a level stage at the heart of the site for a brand activation.

We were commissioned to deliver a single, level platform strong enough to carry multiple pergolas, bars, and a DJ booth, set on a slope that dropped roughly seven feet across the footprint.

 

A Seven-Foot Fall Across the Site

Roundhay Park is beautiful, undulating parkland — which sometimes presents a challenge for staging. To hold a true level across the whole platform, we started the deck as low as we could at the top of the hill and let the structure step up as the ground fell. By the front edge, at the bottom of the slope, the platform stood around seven feet tall. The result the audience saw was a flat, stable stage, made possible by a supporting structure that grew steadily taller from back to front.

From Ground Anchors to 13 Tonnes of Ballast

Our original plan was to hold the structure in place with ground anchors — though underground services running directly through the build area made this impossible. Live cables and pipes ruled out driving anything into the ground.

Rather than compromise the build, we switched strategy and ballasted the structure instead, using 13 tonnes of weight beneath the deck to lock it in position. It is a good example of why ballasted staging is so flexible — it delivers stability without a single fixing into the earth.

Reinforcing the Deck for Bars, a DJ and the Ballast

The ballasted platform had to hold and keep steady a serious load: multiple pergolas, the bars, DJ equipment and people. To take that weight safely, we reinforced the Steeldeck platform with multiple scaffold underprops, adding support where the structure needed it most. The build and de-rig together took twelve hours.

At a glance:

• Level Steeldeck platform built across a slope with a fall of roughly seven feet
• Front edge standing around 7ft tall at the bottom of the hill
• Reinforced with multiple scaffold underprops to carry pergolas, bars and a DJ
• Ballasted with 13 tonnes of weight — no fixings into the ground
• Engineered around live underground services (cables and pipes)

Why Ballasted, Modular Staging Suits Uneven Ground

A festival stage built on a slope only works if the structure can adapt to the ground rather than fight it. Because Steeldeck is a modular system, we could vary the supporting height across the footprint to hold a level top surface, then ballast the whole thing for stability instead of relying on fixings. That flexibility is what lets the same kit deliver a flat, safe platform whether the ground is level tarmac or a seven-foot parkland slope. This is the thinking behind our Steeldeck and wider event structure solutions — build to the site, not the other way round.

 

Festival-Ready, Fully Level

On the day, the platform did exactly what the organisers needed: a level, rock-solid stage holding steady on a steep slope in front of a crowd of around 70,000. The engineering — the stepped support, the underprops and the 13 tonnes of ballast — stayed completely out of sight.

The end result: Our client seamlessly incorporated their cladding to create a sleek brand activation for Lidl!

 

Planning a festival or outdoor event on tricky ground? Get in touch to talk through your project.

As the FIFA World Cup arrived in the New York–New Jersey area this summer, MetLife Stadium became one of the busiest venues of the tournament — staging eight matches in all, culminating in the final on 19 July 2026. With millions of fans converging on East Rutherford, the brand activations around the stadium had to be as ready for the crowds as the pitch itself.

Astound, working on behalf of Coca-Cola, needed a raised base for a fan experience in the MetLife car park — a levelled platform with steps and guardrails, built to turn an uneven stretch of tarmac into a clean, safe stage for supporters in the build-up to the games

 

 

The Challenge: An Uneven Car Park, Heavy Security and a Schedule Under Pressure

To carry a fan experience, the platform had to sit dead level over a 70ft × 36ft area while the ground beneath it sloped — all without compromising stability or creating trip hazards for the public moving on and off it.

The site added its own pressures. Security around MetLife was heavy throughout the World Cup, with access tightly controlled. The wider programme was running behind schedule, with the same build being rolled out in Dallas, Florida and other host cities — yet our team stayed ahead of those parallel crews and kept the New Jersey base on track.

 

The Build: A 70ft × 36ft Levelled Deck with Steps and Guardrails

Using our modular Steeldeck system, we built a free-standing base, sized and levelled across the slope of the car park. At a glance:

•  70ft × 36ft modular deck system, levelled across a sloping car park surface
• Decks set on packing and screwjacks to correct the gradient and hold a true level
• Integrated steps
• Temporary handrail systems fitted to the perimeter
• Built over client-supplied timber blocks supporting their truss, with the deck worked around them
• Two days to install the base, plus a day and a half for the rails and steps

 

 

Why a Modular Deck System Works for Outdoor Event Staging

Outdoor event staging rarely starts from a perfect surface. Car parks, fields and concourses slope, drain and shift, and the structure on top has to absorb all of that while still reading as level to the people using it.

A modular deck system does exactly that: standardised components packed and jacked to any height, configured to almost any footprint, and corrected across a gradient without pouring or fixing into the ground.

Safety is built in rather than bolted on at the end. Temporary handrail systems and temporary guardrail systems can be added to any exposed edge.

 

The Result

Coca-Cola’s scenic and fit-out partners took over a clean, stable platform, and the fan experience was ready to welcome supporters in the MetLife car park as the World Cup builds towards its 19 July final.

Planning an outdoor event that needs a levelled platform, integrated steps or temporary safety railing? Steeldeck builds modular deck systems for activations, fan zones and staging on any surface. Get in touch to discuss your project.