Twycross Zoo’s latest visitor attraction, The Gruffalo Discovery Land, has been brought to life with a stunning range of graphics and signs from leading large format print and installation experts MacroArt.
Collaborating with themed attraction specialists Richard Matthews Associates Ltd. (RMA), MacroArt helped deliver the graphical impact for Twycross Zoo’s exciting new themed area. Covering four acres, The Gruffalo Discovery Land brings to life the much-loved characters from the bestselling children’s book and aims to inspire children to consider the importance of conservation and the natural world around them.
The team at MacroArt spent more than 40 person-days creating and installing over 850 square metres of graphics for the attraction, working alongside Twycross Zoo’s design team to make sure it was ready for the VIP opening event at the end of March.
Gary Baker – Senior Project Manager at MacroArt, oversaw the extensive project, from initially surveying the complex site, carpentry, flooring, and electrical work, to printing more than 80 separate dye sublimated fabrics and fitting them to almost 1.2 km of curved SWAL tracking. In addition, an array of ACM panels and bespoke circular lightboxes were installed around the site, further enhancing the visitor experience.
Due to the nature of different materials used across the site, MacroArt’s dye-sublimation, UV and bespoke departments worked across the project with the installation team bringing everything together on site.
Sustainability played a key role in the project which used a combination of PVC-free, recyclable materials and reusable panels wherever possible, with all waste materials returned to MacroArt for processing through its accredited waste recycling channels.
Twycross Zoo’s graphic designer, Ben Watson, was impressed with the speed and effectiveness of the collaboration; “Bringing a display of this size and complexity to life in such a short time was a real challenge, and I was glad to have the professional team at MacroArt support us in achieving such an impressive result.”
Nigel Knight, Managing Director of RMA, added; “We are delighted with The Gruffalo Discovery Land and MacroArt’s graphics have played a large part in delivering the impact for this new adventure.
“It was incredibly rewarding to work so effectively with the teams from MacroArt and Twycross Zoo to deliver this project, on time, on spec and to such a high level of quality, especially given the challenging deadlines and very involved installation procedures.”
Mike Hamling, MacroArt’s Project Lead said; “The whole team at MacroArt provided a seamless delivery of this impressive operation. It was great to see so many of our departments working so well together to achieve a common goal.”
