MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — North America is the prime export market for a Melbourne-based company's new stadium seats. Camatic Pty. Ltd. developed its Quantum stadium chairs over two years. The chairs have polypropylene seats and backs, with struts and pivots made of glass-filled nylon. The chairs are designed for multipurpose stadiums.
Warwick Brown, Camatic chief product designer, said Quantum chairs differ from traditional stadium seating because, instead of being bolted into concrete, the chairs are attached to aluminum beams.
"This means they can be adjusted for spacing in the future," he said.
Major changes can be made to a stadium without new holes having to be drilled into the concrete to replace seating.
Brown said features such as armrests, upholstery pads and cup holders are modular and can be added to the chairs at any stage, including after installation.
This year Camatic has supplied 50,000 Quantum chairs to Melbourne's new, A$460 million (US$270.6 million), multipurpose Colonial Stadium, and another 20,000 were installed at the A$200 million (US$117.6 million) Sydney Superdome, an indoor sports center. Brown would not disclose contract prices.
"We are looking at quite a few international jobs and some local jobs, but the Quantum seats have been developed primarily for export use," he said.
Brown said the United States is a huge market for Camatic and the company already has negotiated about five jobs. He said the chairs will be targeted at football and multipurpose stadiums, as baseball arenas have more traditional seating.
Camatic products already are known in the U.S. market: The company supplied 54,000 permanent seats for the 1996 Olympic stadium in Atlanta.
