Building Wrap Advertising: High-Impact Advertising in Busy Locations

Building wrap advertising is one of the largest and most visually impressive forms of outdoor advertising available. By transforming scaffolding or an entire building elevation into a large-format advertising space, brands can achieve exceptional visibility in locations with high levels of pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

For this reason, building wrap advertising is most commonly found in major UK cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester. These locations offer the combination of high footfall, busy roads, major transport routes and prominent buildings needed to make a large-scale advertising campaign commercially worthwhile.

However, city centres are not the only locations where a building wrap can be effective. Buildings positioned alongside busy motorways and major roads can also provide excellent advertising opportunities.

Why Location Matters for Building Wrap Advertising

One well-known example is the former Fort Dunlop building alongside the M6 near Birmingham.

The Grade I listed building has previously been used for large-scale advertising, with graphics covering a substantial elevation of the approximately 24-metre-high and 130-metre-long building.

The M6 carries extremely high volumes of traffic each day. With tens of thousands of vehicles passing the site, a large-format advertisement in a prominent position can potentially be seen by a significant audience.

This illustrates one of the main advantages of building wrap advertising: scale.

Unlike traditional posters, digital displays or smaller roadside advertisements, a building wrap can dominate the surrounding environment. When the location is right, the advertising message can be visible from a considerable distance and repeatedly seen by commuters travelling the same route.

This repeated exposure can make a building wrap an attractive advertising medium for brands, events and organisations wanting to create strong awareness.

Why Isn’t Building Wrap Advertising Used Everywhere?

Despite its potential, building wrap advertising is not suitable for every building or location.

One of the biggest challenges is obtaining the necessary planning and advertising consent.

Local planning authorities carefully consider the impact that large advertisements can have on the appearance of buildings, streets and surrounding areas. Particular attention may be given to listed buildings, conservation areas and prominent city-centre locations.

As a result, advertisers should never assume that permission for a large building advertisement will automatically be granted.

A strong proposal may require the involvement of an experienced planning consultant who can present the case to the relevant local authority.

The chances of achieving consent can often depend on the circumstances surrounding the installation and the relevance of the advertising to the building itself.

When Can Planning Consent Be More Favourable?

A building that already requires scaffolding for refurbishment can sometimes present a stronger case for a printed scaffold wrap.

Scaffolding can have a significant visual impact on a prominent building, particularly when refurbishment work continues for several months. A professionally designed and installed building wrap can help disguise the temporary structure and maintain a more attractive appearance.

Advertising that relates directly to the organisation occupying the building, an exhibition taking place there or an event at the location may also have a clearer connection with the site.

This can be very different from installing scaffolding primarily to create advertising space on an unrelated third-party property.

Each project is different, which is why planning requirements should always be investigated at an early stage.

Building Wrap Advertising at Somerset House

The building wrap advertising produced by Project Print Management for Somerset House in London is a good example of how large-format advertising can be incorporated into an active refurbishment project.

Somerset House was undergoing building works and therefore required scaffolding. Rather than leaving the scaffold structure fully exposed, the available space was used to promote exhibitions and events taking place at Somerset House.

This provided two benefits.

Firstly, the printed wrap helped improve the appearance of the scaffolded elevation.

Secondly, the advertising communicated useful information about activities taking place inside the venue.

The result was a high-impact advertising installation that complemented the temporary construction environment while making productive use of a large and highly visible space.

Somerset House Building Wrap Changeover

Project Print Management has completed multiple advertising changeovers at Somerset House, allowing the large advertising area to be reused for different campaigns.

The banner measures more than 12 metres high and 25 metres wide, creating an impressive advertising space in the heart of London.

For the installation, the artwork was digitally printed in high resolution onto mesh PVC.

Mesh PVC is commonly used for scaffold wraps because the open structure of the material allows some wind to pass through it, making it more suitable for large external installations than many solid banner materials.

The finished building wrap was reinforced with webbing and manufactured with large eyelets positioned approximately every 300mm around the perimeter. This provides strong fixing points and helps the banner to be tensioned correctly during installation.

Correct finishing and installation are essential on any large building wrap. A poorly tensioned banner can move excessively, create unwanted folds and reduce the visual quality of the finished advertisement.

Creating High-Impact Advertising from Scaffolding

When the right building, location and campaign come together, building wrap advertising can transform temporary scaffolding into an exceptional marketing opportunity.

Rather than viewing scaffolding purely as an unavoidable part of refurbishment, property owners, brands and organisations can potentially use the space to communicate with thousands of people every day.

Successful projects require much more than simply printing a large banner. Planning requirements, scaffold design, wind loading, print materials, finishing methods and installation all need to be considered carefully.

Project Print Management provides specialist large-format printing and installation services for building wraps, scaffold wraps and large-format outdoor advertising projects throughout the UK.

Whether the objective is to promote an exhibition, advertise a brand or improve the appearance of a building during refurbishment, a professionally produced building wrap can turn an otherwise temporary construction structure into a powerful advertising platform.