Building wraps can help sprawling cities maintain their iconic look while under construction
Wrap it up
Building wraps will catch anyone’s eye – especially if they are grand, colourful and impressive. It may seem a very niche part of the signage industry, but how does a sign-maker get involved with this business? What tools are needed in order to start offering this service? We take a look at all you need to know.
Also known as a Trompe L’Oeil or a building façade, building wraps have provided an artistic eyeline, a veil to hide structures such as scaffolding and a place to advertise. Building sites will regularly display a hoarding that is hiding what is going on behind, advertising the engineering company taking on the job. Not only that, but often when it is a project on a prestigious building, the wrap will match the rest of the uncovered and untouched structure to create less of an eyesore while restoration takes place.
There are many aspects to consider when it comes to building wraps – there will be major equipment investment, and staff and safety considerations. There are surveys and working in partnership with other companies to think about.
However, this sector is not for the faint-hearted. The sheer size of some building wraps can be intimidating and there is good reason for it. It is not as simple as printing a super-wide wrap, putting up some scaffolding and installing it as many of you may well know. So, if sign-makers do decide to get involved with the challenge, how can they make a start?
Embrace the industry
Based in Stow-on-the-Wold, a beautiful Cotswold setting, Embrace Building Wraps has worked with some prestigious, blue-chip companies over the years. The business is there from the start until the end – from having the site measured and surveyed, receiving the artwork all the way through to the installation, maintenance and removal of the building wrap.
Embrace worked with the Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration company on this project on the Sandhurst Block
Greg Forster is the managing director of Embrace Building Wraps, and explains that the process begins with a quote, before moving on to making sure there is sufficient access. This is then followed by discussing the property, the scaffolding and running wind loading calculations. The next step is to receive the client’s artwork and make sure that it complies with local council regulations, especially if it is an advertising building wrap.
Forster continues to explain: “Tools of the trade are super-wide printers, vibration welding machines to create entire wraps from 3.5m or 5m-wide rolls, a machine to attach the perimeter webbing, Keder finish and then a machine to punch holes and fix the metal eyelets to the perimeter edges.”
Embrace Building Wraps produced this project for Carnaby Street Christmas 2020
Other areas to think about when it comes to looking at building wraps as a revenue stream is to think about substrates, printing and testing. Forster says: “We have been operating for decades in this space and our systems are tried and tested, and we have this down to a fine art. We were the first UK company to install digitally printed PVC-free wraps and we will always look at new products and test them in-house vigorously, before offering them to our clients.”
Start small
MacroArt is a large-format company that works in sectors from sports to graphic displays, and of course building wraps. Recently, the company undertook a project at Blenheim Palace which produced graphics to cover up the restoration works. What is interesting, is that while some of the signage and wraps were outside, there is also a scope to provide cover-ups for indoors too. Restoration was happening in one of the Palace State Rooms, so MacroArt, Blenheim’s marketing team and design agency Creative Gravy, created signage, hoardings, wall coverings and fabrics.
MacroArt is a large-format company that offers many services including building wraps. This is a recent project undertaken at Blenheim Palace
The hoardings that covered the outdoor traffic bollards were created using heat conformable printed vinyl to replicate the same sandstone the palace is built from. Pillar signage was also created to prevent any damage to ageing stonework.
Mike Hamling, key account manager for MacroArt, comments: “A site as nationally important as Blenheim Palace warrants and deserves to benefit from the very best that our industry can produce.
“Our team worked tirelessly to deliver the level of attention to detail required – assessing and adapting even the smallest of elements. From invisible panel joinings and hidden fixings, to exact replicas of existing wallpaper graphics and sandstone façades, everything was considered.”
Perhaps smaller hoardings and cover-ups could be a good place to start before moving onto the big jobs – as showcased here by MacroArt.
Tough going
It is never an easy task moving into a new sector but building wraps could be the toughest challenge going. Embrace’s Forster says that many have tried but it has not always gone to plan. He explains: “Many have tried, many have pulled out and a few have bitten off more than they can chew. The level of installs we deliver for our clients need a particular skill set and considerable experience, of which we have decades of.”
Forster also notes that it is not the case of putting up some scaffolding, printing a big wrap and installing it. There are many safety aspects to consider, and this includes a mountain of paperwork. He says: “We are dealing with major contraction projects where tier one main contractors employ our services. These days you need to jump through a tsunami of PQQ paperwork, SSIP, Safecontractor, Constructionline, and PAS91 certification is a must.”
Forster continues: “Our role can be a bit like herding cats, as we are dealing directly with a long chain of interested parties. We liaise with the client if we are carrying out the creative design or with the client’s creative agency for the messaging and brand vision.
Our role can be a bit like herding cats, as we are dealing directly with a long chain of interested parties”
“We sit very closely with the main contractor for all the onsite activity and their temporary works engineers. Our engineers work closely to ensure structural calculations work in harmony.”
Not only this, but Forster says that Embrace Building Wraps will also work closely with the local councils on potential road closures and traffic management plans, if they are needed during the installation of a project.
“The good news is that we are expert cat herders,” says Forster, before continuing: “With a dedicated and experienced operations team who take all of this in their stride, making the whole process smooth and simple for our clients.”
Other bumps in the road can come in the form of timing – while it is always great to get the job done exactly when the client wants it to be finished, this might not always be the case. Forster says this is because the sales process takes a long time from the initial enquiry through project completion, and sometimes it takes longer than planned.
Green wrap
With something as gargantuan as a building wrap, there is the potential for some concerns surrounding environmental sensitivity. However, Forster says that many companies including Embrace Building Wraps will be looking at, if not already using, PVC-free materials to create their hoardings. He explains: “We are committed to our sustainability and environmental policy. We feel it is the collective responsibility of our staff, supply chain and our clients to work as one.
We are committed to our sustainability and environmental policy. We feel it is the collective responsibility of our staff, supply chain and our clients to work as one”
“Together we can put sustainability at the heart of each project we manage which we hope will leave a lasting positive legacy, to this end we have set up four key initiatives.”
These include Banner Karma, upcycling, repurposing and being a climate positive workforce.
Banner Karma is a scheme where, following the removal of solid PVC and solid PVC-free banners, all materials are repurposed where possible. The banners and the fittings can be reused in agricultural settings in the UK by National Farmers Union members, or they can be shipped to southern Europe. “Even the spent bungee ties will be used, so that nothing goes to waste,” adds Forster.
Interestingly, Embrace Building Wraps has also started working with an artisan bag maker, which normally reuses quality textiles alongside leather from an English saddlery. And now, the company will also repurpose old PVC wraps into bags. Further repurposing comes from mesh PVC wraps being used as geotextile membranes that are inserted into the ground which helps to form protection. This is used commonly in drainage and engineering projects, so the companies use the PVC wraps instead of ordering new rolls.
O Factoid: The largest printed scaffolding wrap in the UK is ‘The Dogtooth Flower’ that was installed on the Selfridges store in Birmingham. It measures in at 10,400sq m and was produced by Embrace Building Wraps O
Forster also notes that Embrace is a climate positive workforce, and across the last seven months, has helped to plant just under 1,500 trees in Mozambique, Madagascar, Nicaragua and closer to home in the UK. Moving forward and Embrace’s investment in 11 projects across the world has also helped to offset 39.07 tonnes of CO2. This has been done though hydropower in Kanungu, Uganda; geothermal power production in West Java, Indonesia and converting landfill gas to energy in northern Turkey.
So, perhaps having a green eye for the environment can also be a bonus if a sign-maker is looking at moving into the building wrap or façade sector.
Favourites
When it comes to producing projects such as large building wraps and Trompe L’Oeil wraps, it must be hard to pick a favourite. Forster has a tough time choosing, but highlights a major project that covered 10,000sq m. “Very hard question,” says Forster, before continuing: “We have delivered so many. Selfridges & Co at The Bullring in Birmingham is monumental at 10,000sq m and the striking pink, magenta and black dogtooth design is visible from miles away.”
This building wrap was installed at Selfridges & Co at the Bullring in Birmingham
Other favourites include the Sandhurst Block for the Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company, a project for John Lewis & Partners on Oxford Street, a wrap for Peter Jones & Partners on Sloane Square and a job for The Peninsular Hotel on Hyde Park Corner.
Carnaby Street also boasted a big wrap from Embrace and Coventry University Civic Centre received a scaffold wrap and ACM (aluminium composite material) project for this year’s City of Culture. “I am a sucker when it comes to one to one, Trompe L’Oeil wraps where we replicate the building behind,” says Forster. “Easthampsted Park near Bracknell was a belter. We even wrapped a marquee once for an architect, the level of detail made the marquee look like a Portland Stone structure.
This Trompe L’Oeil from Embrace has been erected to cover up ongoing building works
“Finally, the digitally printed ACM panels look great on standard 2.4m hoardings but on other structures they leap out at you too, such as the 197 Sloan Street for The Cadogan Estate and Museum of London on Farringdon Road.”
That’s a wrap
If a sign-maker is thinking of entering the building wrap industry, there are several aspects to consider – from sizable super-wide-format printers to the type of substrate that will be used. Numerous safety concerns are of paramount importance to research thoroughly and making sure all standards are adhered to.
Embrace Building Wraps makes sure that any new substrates or systems are rigorously tested in-house
Much like Greg Forster and “herding cats” at Embrace Building Wraps, there is also the relationship with companies in the chain to think of too.
It may be a tough challenge, but it could also be very worth it.
Your text here...
