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Media1 Outfits Orlando Museum With Wall Wraps

Careful application, scheduling required

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This month’s article describes Wrap This!’ installation of the interior, museum-wall wraps we first discussed in March’s column. As I wrote that column, we’d just begun working on the Skeletons, Animals Unveiled! museum (www.skeletonmuseum.com) here in Orlando, on tourist-filled International Dr.

This one-of-a-kind museum features more than 400 skeletons of different animals collected worldwide from the creatures’ natural habitats. Museum Arts (www.museumarts.net) commissioned Wrap This! for this project. Founded in 1962 by Charles Paramore, Dallas-based Museum Arts prides itself on providing longstanding, unique, custom-built exhibits. Its artistic flair and in-house fabrication fills a unique niche for design, fabrication and installation specifically geared to create immersive visitor environments. The company focuses on national zoos, schools, hospitals and, of course, museums.

Background
I asked Robert Hamilton, Museum Arts’ design manager, to describe its Orlando project:

“For this location, Museum Arts was asked to create an ‘attraction’ rather than a simple museum exhibit that displays skeletons. One of the many reasons for Museum Arts winning the job was the creative director’s initial design of the space. He was, essentially, working with a hollow box.

“After having built many sketches and a FoamCor® foamboard model, he created a floor plan that not only offered guests an intriguing perspective of these skeletons, but also presented the specimens in a manner that surpassed ‘scientific mode’ and added the dimension of excitement and wonder. Museum Arts created all of the berms, or ‘stages’, for the specimens, as well as the cases and interactive exhibits, and transported them to Orlando for installation.

“In addition to creating an exciting attraction, Museum Arts designed backdrop murals that simultaneously offered bright, engaging scenarios that enhanced the skeletons without overpowering the scene. Given their size, composition, purpose and color, the resulting graphics are nothing
less than breathtaking. Media 1/Wrap This! successfully provided the necessary ‘visual feel’ for this space; viewers will be pleased!”

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Keeping odd hours
Due to the physical constraints of the facility’s build-out, we worked hand-in-hand with the contractor to coordinate ideal times to install wall wraps. We had to avoid interrupting other contractors while assuring we didn’t apply wraps in areas still under construction. As our photos demonstrate, this venue was custom-built, with contractors cutting concrete flooring, installing partial walls, or building and hardcoating individual display floors in conjunction with us wrapping the walls.

Cutting concrete certainly curtails installing adhesive vinyl – in fact, it makes it nearly impossible! So, we had to work quickly during the construction phase, and finish long before they started placing the skeletons in the different environments.

This meant working weekends. The site was then closed to other trades, and we could sling vinyl undisturbed! Veteran installers Pete Dow and Jon Louree worked several March weekends onsite, and laid down an impressive average of more than 1,000 sq. ft. per weekend. They used standard 3M wrap tools, such as Gold™ nylon squeegees, rollers and heat guns where needed.

Each display area varies. For example, the Domestic Dogs background wrap encompasses a mere 68 sq. ft., while the Africa display measures 685 sq. ft. Other featured display habitats include: Arctic, Big Cats, Flightless Birds and Reptiles. Many of these wall areas contain flat, smooth MDX
or drywall walls, which enabled relatively easy installations, but several displays proved more complicated.

Manatee mojo
The Sirenia display provided challenges. The what display? In Florida, we call Sirenians sea cows. Stumped about sea cows, too? Just call them manatees.

These 1,500-lb. endangered animals are Florida’s state marine mammal, and the approximately 5,000 currently living are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Wikipedia’s descriptionis: “The Sirenia, commonly known as sirenians, are also referred to by
the common name sirens, deriving from the sirens of Greek mythology. This comes from a legend
about their discovery, involving lonely sailors mistaking them for mermaids”. I don’t know about you, but I think manatees make some ugly mermaids; they must have been very lonely sailors!

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This manatee display spans approximately 16 ft. No big deal, right? Not quite; the wall base and flooring sections feature a flowing, convex curve, which made it virtually impossible to get ladders close enough to the wall to install vinyl. What about a Little Giant ladder and walk plank? Well, all of our planks measure only 12 ft. long, and Little Giant’s largest one extends only 16 ft.

Even at this length, it wouldn’t give us enough room to attach it to the ladders on either side of the wall. Obviously, we couldn’t stand on the curve; what could we do? Make a custom walk plank, that’s what! Our wrap team borrowed a 2 in. x 10 in. x 18-ft. rectangular, aluminum tube from our Media1 sign-fabrication division, and placed it on the Little Giant ladder at either side of the curved wall. This allowed free access to the wall.

How did we transport an 18-ft.-long, heavy-aluminum tube to the jobsite? Enter Steve Pass, Media 1’s lead fabricator. Steve cut the 18-ft. section in half to create two, 9-ft. sections. So, that’s easier to transport, but how did we assemble it into one piece again on the jobsite? Using two, 5-ft.-long, 2 x 2 x ¼-in., aluminum angles, we pushed half the angle length into one tube and attached it using “beam eaters” (heavy-duty, self-tapping screws), then slid the second, 9-ft. section onto the other end of the angle, and attached it in the same way. This created an 18-ft.-long walk plank that easily held 340 lbs. of weight (two average-sized guys). Dow and Louree unscrewed it to break it down and brought it back to our shop, where it stands ready for another project.

To date, we’ve installed 3,000 sq. ft. of material for this project. Because of some construction delays, we still have another 1,000 sq. ft. to apply before we’re finished.

But the graphics and exhibits are coming together, and this is going to be an impressive museum. We’re also producing two full wraps, which will be installed on Kia Souls that the company will use to promote the new venue.

Stay tuned for completion photos once the museum is open!
 

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