IKEA has teamed up with Embrace Building Wraps to showcase a colossal FRAKTA bag scaffold wrap design at Oxford Circus.
The bustling Oxford Circus has long been known as a shopping epicentre, and now it’s home to a new and impressive visual centrepiece: a giant-scale printed scaffold banner featuring IKEA’s signature blue FRAKTA bag, designed and executed by Embrace Building Wraps.
This majestic installation, draping the former Topshop location, comes as part of IKEA’s media initiative to promote its new store, set to open next year. The journey began back in February when discussions were initiated between Embrace and the client’s agencies, Mother London & HELO.
Five of the six unique sections portray a shadowy line depiction of the building itself, maintaining the recognisable Westminster City Council street nameplates in their authentic spots.
The crowning glory, however, is the last segment: a life-like blue FRAKTA bag that spans a whopping 662 m2 with three-dimensional handles reaching lengths of 32 metres and widths of 1.8m.
Just to put this mammoth project into perspective, the installation necessitated 1,000 linear metres of scaffold tubes and 2,400 m2 of environmentally-conscious PVC-free (Kavalan Sunlight Weldable) scaffold wraps – a space equivalent to 44 double-decker buses.
Positioned in such a prime locaction, the bold installation is sure to capture attention. Over 1.3 million vehicles traverse the area monthly, and a staggering 121,000 pedestrians flock to the nearby Oxford Circus station daily.
Greg Forster, Managing Director at Embrace Wraps, remarked, “Being entrusted with such a high-profile project for IKEA at this iconic location has been truly exhilarating. Our team seamlessly coordinated everything, from the innovative design to installation. The standout FRAKTA bag is sure to ignite conversations both in the streets and online.”
But it’s not just about showmanship. Embrace Building Wraps, in partnership with Ecologi, has committed to planting 2,400 trees, mirroring the banner’s footprint, in their global forest initiative.
Additionally, upon the wrap’s removal, plans are already in place to repurpose the material, ensuring a sustainable lifecycle. We will stay tuned to report more on this sustainable endeavour in the future.
