Stunning building wrap helps beautify Melbourne CBD as iconic building undergoes two-year refurbishment 180 Flinders Street is a flagship development in Melbourne’s central business district. The AU$300m project will refurbish and extend an iconic building. Printed on an HP Scitex XP5500 Industrial Printer, an 850sqm building wrap ensures the site will remain stunning throughout the two-year development.

Industry sector: Construction

Brand name: Scaffad

Testimonial from: Adrian McMurray, director, Scaffad

Print Service Provider: Cactus Imaging

HP equipment: HP Scitex XP5500 Industrial Printer

Website: scaffad.com

This is an HP Indigo digital print.

Challenge

“The installation of graphics on hoardings is now mandatory. They’re required to minimise adverse visual impacts of work sites and hoardings, and to increase the presence of creativity in our streetscapes. Frankly, many of these construction sites were eyesores.” -AdrianMcMurray,director,Scaffad

Protecting the aesthetics of an iconic site

180 Flinders Street is a flagship development in the heart of Melbourne’s central business district. The AU$300m, ten-storey project will refurbish and extend an iconic building opposite the city’s Federation Square, overlooking the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Cathedral. It is due to open in August 2020.

While this work takes place the building’s developers must protect the aesthetics of the site. Australian building regulations require construction sites, particularly those in high-traffic city centre locations, to make every effort not to spoil the visual integrity of the street. Building wraps, often showing a digital rendering of the finished development, are mandated.

The developers of the 180 Flinders Street site, required a wrap measuring 34m by 25m. It immediately engaged Scaffad, one of Australia’s leading out-of-home media companies and a leader in the building wrap sector.

The wrap had to be in place for two years and would need to be durable enough to withstand the Melbourne weather. The wrap also had to meet stringent fire safety regulations, with printing on a PVC mesh material.

The developers wanted the wrap in place within three weeks; the artwork would be a black and white rendering of the finished development. Australian regulations also require that no more than 10% of space can be used for commercial messages.

Solution

“We’rea100%roll-to-rollprintingfacility,offeringclientsthehighestquality output with fast turnaround and competitive pricing. Our size, scale and quality allow us to deliver ‘world class’ printing solutions and lead the grand-format printing industry.” - Keith Ferrel, co-founder and general manager – operations, Cactus Imaging

Printed within six hours

Cactus Imaging is the leading grand-format printing company in Australia. It has years of experience taking on challenging building wraps.

“We’ve been doing this for years now and customers value our expertise,” says Keith Ferrel, Cactus Imaging’s co-founder and general manager – operations.

The Flinders Street job was printed in five sections, taking six hours in total to print on Cactus’ HP Scitex XP5500 Industrial Printer. Ferrel says the most complex part of the job was the install; the reliability and print quality of the HP Scitex XP5500 provided assurance that the job would be completed on time and to standard.

Built on the proven success of the HP Scitex XP Printer series, the HP Scitex XP5500 Industrial Printer combines both high speed and high productivity, as well as the integrated mesh kit for building cover applications. Its high print speeds set it apart from the competition and enables faster turnaround times, printing at up to 325sqm/hr in billboard mode using HP Specialty Billboard Scitex Inks. The super-wide format enables Cactus Imaging to print on materials up to 5m wide.

“The HP Scitex is a great piece of equipment,” says Ferrel. “It just keeps going. You press the button and 24 hours later it’s still running smoothly. It never misses a beat.”

Results

“We provide a service that will not only enhance an area’s visual identity but also provide a revenue stream assisting local communities and developments.” -AdrianMcMurray,director,Scaffad

Enhancing a city’s visual identity

The Flinders Street wrap was printed and installed on time and to plan. It now covers one of the largest office developments in Melbourne’s CBD, ‘beautifying’ a high-traffic corridor. It will be in place until 2020 and is strong enough to withstand local weather and regular cleaning.

Today, Cactus Imaging produces 90% of all the building wraps for Scaffad. It is currently working on a 9,500sqm project to wrap the General Post Office building in Sydney, to be delivered in two phases.

Ferrel says the HP Scitex XP5500 has been central to this success: “It’s paid for itself many times over.”

He says the company’s ability to take on challenging jobs, and to pursue innovation, is the reason Cactus Imaging continues to grow. The company was bought by oOh!media, a leading operator in Australia and New Zealand’s Out Of Home advertising industry, for $6m in 2016.

“Our aim has always been to be seen as world-class, not simply the best in Australia or New Zealand,” says Ferrel. “Technology is the thing that drives us forward. If you don’t reinvest constantly, you’re going to get left behind.”

Adrian McMurray at Scaffad says the success of building wraps (and the popularity among the public) provide an opportunity for further ‘city beautification’ projects: “We see ourselves pioneering a shift toward new and exciting communication channels. We provide a service that will not only enhance an area’s visual identity but also provide a revenue stream assisting local communities and developments.”

© Copyright 2019 HP Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

4AA7-5981EEW, October 2019

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