Printed building wraps and hoardings are a legal requirement, and while they can be used to hide unsightly building work, their potential advantages extend far beyond this.
With artfully designed hoarding graphics and carefully chosen printed materials, a construction site can cement itself into the hearts and minds of passersby as being visually pleasing, and even charming. Furthermore, the featured artwork can even fuel local excitement about the project under construction, or promote the team behind the project.
Innovations such as backlit lettering, illusory ‘cut to shape’ panels and 3D or lenticular hoardings are becoming increasingly popular, and the sky’s the limit when it comes to making sure your hoardings do something more than just protect your site. Whether you’re working on a small renovation, or a new housing development, making the right choice with print can make all the difference. So how can print and construction work together?
Printed media for every project
The choice to use a hoarding, scaffold wrap, or a combined approach, depends on the nature of each project, and especially on factors like its size, shape, and how long the duration of the construction work will be.
Building wraps, also known as scaffolding wraps can cover an entire building, floor to roof, in seamless graphics. This makes them one of the most high-impact forms of outdoor printed media. Usually made of wind-resistant PVC mesh, they are a durable and flexible format for sleekly conveying any chosen message.
Construction hoarding graphics are rigid structures, which can withstand all weather conditions. The printing materials and substrates used can be carefully chosen to achieve the exact desired effect, which can vary immensely between projects. In general, vinyl is adhered to ACM (aluminium composite materials), but other substrates such as metal can be used too. Hoardings can have a wide variety of finishes, including matte, gloss and anti-graffiti.
The advantages of printed wraps and hoardings
Whether construction sites are covered in full with building wraps or at pavement level with printed hoardings, the improvements which are made to the local environment by their inclusion can be immense. These include:
Attracting attention (In a good way!)
Even small construction projects can have a big impact on local residents, and they don’t always attract the right kind of attention – but a set of printed graphics can act as a great way to get people talking about your project for the right reasons. While it’s true that artwork which is too overtly promotional may not meet local licensing standards, there is almost no limit to how creative the graphic designs can be – and they can become an attractive talking point if you opt for the right kind of designs.
Building wraps and hoardings also win points for social shareability. Striking or thought-provoking artwork may also tempt people into taking photos and sharing them on social media — making construction containments a cleverly self-perpetuating means of advertising.
Building a better reputation
With the right graphics, it’s easy to make a really positive impression on a local community. Contractors and developers can win over the hearts and minds of local residents with a bit of creativity, humility, and self-awareness – and printed graphics are a fantastic way to achieve this.
From featuring the artwork of local schoolchildren, to providing people with helpful local advice (with maps, directions, or more), there are all kinds of ways you can use hoarding graphics to leave a positive impression upon people that see them. This kind of community engagement is invaluable, and can be difficult to achieve in other ways without significant marketing spend – whereas hoardings, once installed, stay put for the entire project.
Making an impact: what are the options?
The number of available ink, printing methods and substrates is continually widening, and the sky’s the limit when it comes to printed construction graphics. Furthermore, a high-quality building supplier such as PressOn can produce,install and remove printed outdoor media in record time, even rendering the prints the same day the artwork is received.
Depending on the size or duration of the project, larger or more durable hoardings may be required. Even double-height hoardings can now be seamlessly covered in printed designs, and specially-designed substrates materials can be used to create longer-lasting graphics.
Whatever the shape and size of the planned project, it is possible to create construction hoardings or a building wrap that masks the development while drumming up people’s excitement for its completion, and improving the local area in the meantime.
Although the neighbouring residents and businesses will always breathe a sigh of relief at the conclusion of building work, it is certainly possible to create truly innovative printed construction hoardings and scaffolding wraps — (even to the extent that the designs may be missed by some when it becomes the time to take them down!).
