Section 2
Load-in and Load-out
Most damage to old buildings during events does not happen while guests are present. It happens in the hours before and after, when tired crews move heavy things quickly through narrow, irreplaceable spaces.
Plan the route before the day
Walk the path from vehicle to room with the venue manager and your lead supplier. Measure door widths, threshold heights and turning points. Note every carved panel, painted surface, column and fragile floor along the way. The route should be agreed and, if needed, marked. Heavy items should travel the shortest safe path, even if it is not the most convenient one for unloading.
Traditional Chinese and colonial buildings often have raised thresholds between rooms. They are part of the architecture and should never be cut, removed or used as a step for wheels. Ask the venue for portable ramps or bring your own with soft rubber pads underneath, sized to sit over the threshold without touching its top edge.
Route survey
- Measure every doorway on the route
- Note threshold heights and photograph them
- Identify carved, gilded or painted surfaces within reach
- Agree a single route for heavy items
- Confirm where boxes and empty cases will be stored
- Confirm vehicle stopping point and timing with the venue
Protect floors and edges
Original tiles and timber floors scratch and chip easily. Insist on floor protection along the route and under heavy stations: hardboard or correx sheets on felt, taped only to themselves and never to the floor. Trolleys should have soft rubber wheels. Table and chair legs need felt pads. Corner guards on columns and door frames prevent the most common knocks.
Adhesives are a special risk. Gaffer tape, double-sided tape and putty can lift paint, gilding and plaster. If cable needs to be secured, use weighted cable ramps or mats, and route cables away from walls rather than along them.
Protection kit
- Floor sheeting with felt backing
- Self-adhesive tape for sheeting joints only
- Soft-wheeled trolleys
- Felt pads for every furniture foot
- Corner guards for columns and frames
- Weighted cable mats
- Portable ramps sized for thresholds
- Clean cotton gloves for handling near ornament
Timing and supervision
Allow more time than you would at a hotel. Old buildings slow everyone down: smaller doors, more turns, and fewer places to stage equipment. Schedule the heaviest items first, while crews are fresh. Ask the venue to have someone present who can make immediate calls about what may touch what. Brief every supplier at the start of the shift, not by email the week before; crews change and messages get lost.
Load-out is the higher-risk window. It happens late, crews are tired, and the instinct is to rush. Keep the same route, the same protection and the same supervision. Do not remove floor sheeting until all heavy items are out.
Vehicles and drop-off
Central heritage buildings often sit on busy roads with no loading bay. Confirm exactly where vehicles may stop and for how long, and whether a distinct pedestrian entrance should be kept clear for guests. Stagger supplier arrivals so that vans do not queue. At the House of Tan Yeok Nee, for example, the published drop-off point is 103 Penang Road, beside the main address at 101 Penang Road; anyone organising an occasion there can see the hosting details before fixing arrival times. The case study applies this section to that building.
After everything is out
Do a joint walk-through with the venue in good light. Compare the space with photographs taken before load-in. Note anything unusual immediately and honestly. Most venues are far more understanding about a reported scuff than about one they discover later.