MANTHORPE / Back at FIA16
Manthorpe Engineering return to Farnborough International Airshow this year with a bigger, better stand – once again designed by Ouno Creative. For 2016 Manthorpe had secured a very desirable location on a busy walkway intersection in Hall 1 and wanted an impressive stand that would ‘own’ the space around it.
They also wanted a stand that could display more physical product whilst reusing the corporate video and 3D imagery developed for FIA2014. So the Ouno team took the best parts of the 2014 stand design and turned the creative dial all the way up to 11!
The first eye-grabbing feature of the stand was a large 4 metre high curved illuminated fabric graphic featuring an fantastic 3D transparent render of a jet engine. This fronted a large meeting room suitable for hosting the high profile visitors that would be visiting the stand. At the base of the illuminated wall was an integrated curved plinth showcasing a range of high quality products manufactured by Manthorpe Engineering. The second high impact feature of the stand was an impressive 4 metre high, 16 screen video wall that absolutely dominated the walkway intersection. Whatever direction visitors came into Hall 1 from, they could not help but notice the Manthorpe Engineering stand thanks to this huge bank of screens running the corporate video. Again an integrated curved plinth under the video wall displayed a variety of product.
The concave curve of the video wall and the convex curve of illuminated fabric graphic overlapped to form a single wave-form visual canvas. Anchoring the stand corner at the walkway intersection was a large engine casing that was illuminated from within. The two curved plinths and the engine stand base all benefitted from a very effective blue under lighting. Ouno Creative worked closely with key partner Tecna T3 on the stand design and build from the outset.
A number of modular stand systems were considered, but Tecna was selected by Manthorpe as they were able to offer the most versatile solution at a competitive price – and most importantly – they delivered a team of experts prepared to ensure that Manthorpe got exactly what they wanted. This included a demo prebuild at the Tecna factory prior to the show which demonstrated to the client the system could deliver a stand of this size.
A big advantage of the Tecna modular system was that it could be assembled rapidly by a small team of just three people. The 10m x 7m stand build, including application of graphics, integration of bespoke timber frame video wall and electrical wiring was completed by Tecna in just two days. The entire stand was completed in three days. This represented good value for the client when compared to other neighbouring stands which seemed to require much larger workforces constructing for a full week or more. Even better, at the end of the show the entire Tecna stand is reusable, with many components being repurposed for another show at the NEC in October. Many of the other space only stands at FIA2016 were simply broken down and thrown away at the end of the event.
The 16 screen video wall was supplied by SmartAV, who also created a custom metal framework to support and lock the screens onto a bespoke 4m curved timber frame wall which was built by Aiver. Getting the correct curved face to the timber wall and ensuring the wall fitted exactly around the video wall was a tricky task requiring careful cooperation between Aiver and SmartAV. Of course, they were more than up to the task – when the video wall was matched to the timber frame wall they fitted like a glove. Brilliant work!
Overall the stand was deemed a great success, delivering maximum impact, more usable space, better ergonomics and a bigger presence – all on a modest budget. It even managed to be the only stand left with power during the Monday flooding, which resulted in all the other stands being blacked out whilst the illuminated Manthorpe message ‘Clearly Better’ shone out like a beacon of hope across a darkened Hall 1.
