When it comes to high-impact outdoor advertising, it is difficult to find anything more impressive than a Giant building wrap. Covering large areas of scaffolding or temporary building structures, these enormous printed graphics can transform a construction site into one of the most visible advertising spaces in a city.
At Project Print Management (PPM), we specialise in designing, producing and installing large format building wraps for prestigious locations across London and the UK.
One of our standout projects was a Giant building wrap at Somerset House in London, produced to promote the exhibitions, events and cultural programme taking place at this internationally recognised venue.
This particular installation measured approximately 12 metres high by 25 metres wide, creating an advertising display that was almost impossible to miss.
Giant Building Wrap Advertising at Somerset House
Somerset House is one of London’s most recognisable cultural destinations. Combining historic architecture with contemporary art, exhibitions, performances and events, it attracts visitors throughout the year.
The venue regularly hosts major exhibitions and seasonal events, making its prominent central London location an excellent opportunity for large-scale advertising.
PPM has worked with Somerset House on several building wrap projects, with this installation being the third large advertising wrap we produced for the venue.
The purpose was simple: use the available scaffold structure to create a huge visual campaign promoting activities taking place inside Somerset House.
A construction scaffold would normally be viewed as something unattractive that needs to be hidden. With a Giant building wrap, that same temporary structure becomes a highly visible communication platform.
Instead of visitors seeing scaffolding and construction materials, they see professionally designed large format artwork.
Giant Building Wrap Advertising Gets Noticed
The biggest advantage of large-scale scaffold advertising is visibility.
A display measuring 12 metres high and 25 metres wide cannot easily be ignored.
Unlike smaller posters, digital screens or traditional billboard advertising, a Giant building wrap can dominate an entire elevation of a building.
This is particularly effective in busy city-centre locations where thousands of pedestrians and vehicles may pass the site every day.
For cultural venues such as Somerset House, the wrap can promote exhibitions, events and activities directly to people already in the surrounding area.
For commercial developments, building wraps can promote brands, luxury products, property developments or major campaigns.
The scale creates impact that few other advertising formats can match.
However, installing an advertisement of this size requires much more than simply producing a large piece of print.
Planning Permission for Giant Building Wrap Advertising
Planning is one of the most important considerations for any large external advertising installation.
Advertising consent cannot be assumed, especially when the proposed Giant building wrap is located on a historic or architecturally significant building.
Somerset House is a particularly prestigious London location, so obtaining the correct approvals is an essential part of the process.
Planning requirements vary depending on the size, location, duration and content of an advertisement. Local authorities will also consider how the installation could affect the appearance of the building and surrounding area.
For this reason, we normally recommend that clients investigate planning requirements at the earliest stage of a project.
For large advertising wraps, specialist planning consultants can often provide advice on the feasibility of a proposal before significant design and production costs are incurred.
Once planning approval is in place, the detailed work of surveying, artwork preparation, printing and installation can begin.
How We Produce a Giant Building Wrap
Creating a Giant building wrap requires specialist large format printing equipment and materials designed specifically for external use.
For the Somerset House project, the artwork was digitally printed at high resolution onto a fire-retardant mesh PVC material.
Mesh PVC is particularly suitable for scaffold wraps because thousands of small openings in the material allow some air to pass through the graphic.
This is an important consideration when covering large areas of scaffolding, as wind loading needs to be considered as part of the overall scaffold and wrap design.
The graphics are produced on a super-wide large format printer capable of printing material approximately five metres wide.
Individual printed sections can then be joined together to create the enormous finished image.
Producing the print is only the beginning.
The perimeter of the graphic also needs to be properly finished so that it can be securely tensioned onto the supporting structure.
For this project, the material was finished using high-frequency welded webbing and Keder edging, together with suitably positioned large eyelets.
This creates a strong finished edge capable of dealing with the loads placed on the material once it is tensioned onto the scaffold frame.
Creating a Clean Finished Appearance
One of the things that separates a professional building wrap from a simple scaffold banner is the finished appearance.
For the Somerset House installation, the Giant building wrap was installed onto a projecting scaffold sub frame.
Rather than simply attaching a flat banner across the front of the scaffolding, the sides and bottom of the printed material were wrapped around the supporting structure.
This helped conceal the fixings and scaffold framework behind the print.
The result is a much cleaner appearance that makes the advertisement look more like a giant purpose-built billboard than a banner attached to scaffolding.
This level of finishing is particularly important on high-profile projects where the quality of the final installation needs to match the location.
Installing Large Building Wraps with Rope Access
Installation is another specialist part of any large building wrap project.
At 12 metres high and 25 metres wide, a graphic of this scale cannot simply be lifted into position in one straightforward operation.
PPM uses experienced, highly trained rope access installation teams for many of our building wrap projects.
Rope access allows installers to work efficiently across large scaffold elevations while tensioning and securing the printed material correctly.
The installation also needs to be carefully coordinated with the main contractor.
Construction or maintenance work is usually still taking place behind the graphic, so our installation programme must fit around other trades working on the building.
Good communication between PPM, the scaffold contractor and the main contractor is therefore essential.
Our objective is to complete the installation safely and efficiently without unnecessarily disrupting the construction programme.
Building Wrap Advertising and Construction Sites
A Giant building wrap can provide an excellent opportunity when scaffolding is already required for building maintenance or refurbishment.
Instead of simply covering the scaffold with standard sheeting, the available elevation can potentially be transformed into a visually impressive advertising or promotional space.
For organisations such as Somerset House, the graphic becomes a way of communicating with visitors.
For property owners and developers, it can help promote a development.
For major brands, it can create an enormous advertising platform in a prime city location.
Building wraps can also serve a purely decorative purpose, reproducing the architecture hidden behind the scaffold through trompe l’oeil graphics.
The right solution depends on the building, location and objectives of the client.
Giant Building Wrap Specialists
At Project Print Management, we manage the complete process for large format building and scaffold wraps, including surveying, material specification, print production, finishing and specialist installation.
Projects such as Somerset House demonstrate that large format print is about much more than making an image bigger.
The structure, materials, wind loading, finishing, access, planning and installation all need to work together.
When these elements are properly managed, a Giant building wrap can turn an otherwise unattractive scaffold structure into one of the most impressive advertising spaces available.
At 12 metres high and 25 metres wide, the Somerset House installation certainly achieved that.
Sometimes, when you want an advertising campaign to be noticed, bigger really is better.
For more information on events and exhibitions at Somerset House please visit: https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on
For more information on Giant building wrap advertising please contact us or visit our blog for our latest work.
