When it comes to building wraps, these challenges are often magnified. Add in other tests and trials including the application’s constant exposure to the elements and the sheer scale of these pieces, and it makes this work all the more impressive. With this in mind, SignLink takes the opportunity to pay a special tribute to those companies active in this sector and showcases some of their most recent work. Meatballs And More First up is the aptly named Embrace Building Wraps, which has worked on a wide range of projects all across the UK. Among its most recent applications was a creative project that it carried out in partnership with furniture store IKEA. Embrace produced a large, printed wrap to cover scaffolding during works to transform the former Topshop location at Oxford Circus into a small IKEA store, its second location in Central London that is due to open before the end of the year. What made this project so unique was the design of the wrap, which was made to look like a giant version of one of IKEA’s iconic FRAKTA blue bags. The installation comprises six fully engineered offset frames provided by Embrace. Five of these carry a silhouette line drawing of the building itself, complete with the Westminster City Council street nameplates in their original positions. The final banner section replicates the giant blue FRAKTA bag with three dimensional handles. The project required 1,000 linear metres of scaffold tubes for the offset frames and uprights, and 2,400sq m of scaffold wraps, printed on PVC-free Kavalan Sunlight Weldable. In total, the wrap covered an area equivalent of 44 double-decker buses, while the bag handles measure up to 32m long and 1.8m wide. Greg Forster, managing director at Embrace, comments: “Working at such an iconic location for IKEA has been a blast. Once again, we have been appointed to deliver a spectacular installation. “We provided our full project management service from creative design for the building silhouette design, on-site co-ordination with the main contractor McLaren to the print and install, working closely with the scaffolding contractor TRAD. We are especially delighted that the FRAKTA bag and handle really pops out and will get the conversation going both on and offline.” Last year, Embrace also won heavy praise for a project carried out as part of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth LARGER THAN LIFE Among the largest applications in the industry, we take a closer look at building wraps and celebrate some of the most recent work produced by creative companies in this exciting sector TASTE FOR SUCCESS / BUILDING WRAPS 53 Issue 249 - October / November 2023 email: news@signlink.co.uk ▲ IKEA’s new Central London store is due to open later this year
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