The project was managed for Cover It Up by Elliot Stennett, and made use of their extensive stock of different coloured velvets, and was asked onboard after working on many previous projects for the Hospital Group and event producer, Selina Robson.
On this occasion, their brief involved the complete draping of the main room, a gala dinner for 350 VIP guests with two stages hosting speeches, awards, live entertainment, plus a separate casino room and after-party area.
"We had to transform this somewhat prosaic warehouse space into a beautiful and glamorous setting for the occasion," reports Stennett, who created the environmental design proposal for the draping based on a detailed brief from the client. His previous knowledge of the venue was a big asset in knowing what would work.
The walls of the main room featured a complete wrap of smart black velvet and were also flown on trussing. The velvet went from the floor to the height of the trussing, and the look was then finished off with a layer of back trevira suspended on steel wire rope between the top of the ceiling and the top of the truss line, creating a 14m height of black all around.
At one end were the two stages, a central one for the Awards presentations and speeches and one to the side for the band. Cover It Up backed both of these with 12m wide drops of blue velvet, complete with a header that concealed the top of a large HD screen measuring 10m wide by 7.5 tall, and a set of legs. This was all in the same matching blue velvet, and was a new set of custom drapes made up in Sky Atlantic's electric marine corporate blue colour.
To the side of one of the main room walls was the casino room, created as a 15m square space, walled in 6m drops of red velvet and a black casement roof.
(Jim Evans)
