Venue: Gare De Maritime (Speaker Lounge) & Croisette Cannes (seafront)
Event type: Festival/Activations
Brief:
Given the festival’s history Showcase was tasked to design, build and fulfil three entire areas, of which two were for the event’s legacy sponsors. The brief for the Speakers Lounge was that it needed to be high end, to have multiple seating areas, quiet spaces, kitchen areas and a studio. The two legacy sponsors’ spaces were won following a tender, Showcase was asked to create indoor/outdoor designs that captured the sponsors’ brands. For Whalar, they had to design a space with outdoor content areas and shading due to the heat. NBCUniversal was a tight brief that had to be turned around with one week, Showcase had to design and create a specification that catered for their multiple channels on the companies TV network.
Solution:
Speakers Lounge
Showcase used natural timbers and fabric wrap walls with high-end boutique furniture (all from Showcase’s own collection) within the design and locally sourced tropical plants. The addition of the furniture was an important factor in creating an atmosphere that was on brand with the aspirational location in Cannes. Multiple screens were erected throughout the space, a dedicated Project Manager and separate cameraman was responsible for content checks and management of all spaces.
Whalar House
For the indoor area, branded Whalar House, Showcase created two spaces within the tents of a 10x5m space giving the client a kitchen/serving area and lounge space, all fully air-conditioned. Again Showcase’s high-end boutique furniture was installed inside. Showcase took time handpicking the most appropriate pieces from their new collection, as experience has taught them that not all furniture works in the open air.
The outside space saw a split-level, decked, design terrace which incorporated a full truss system with dual zone PA systems for both spaces, as well as lighting and LED screen for the content stage area on upper terrace.
To accentuate Whalar’s new brand, multiple recycled fabric banners were installed and a roof system created shade for the spaces, in addition to eight 3mx3m professional grade parasols, providing shade for all areas. Again locally sourced tropical planting and furniture from Showcase’s new outdoor range was used.
NBCU
Showcase created the entire design within a 20m x 10m tent, which was turned into multi-functional spaces including the replicated set of Andy`s Club House seen on NBCUniversal’s channel; the Top Chef themed area doubled up as a private boardroom area. A ”Desperate Housewives” themed tech closet saw a fully functional walk-in wardrobe design and a new 75″ touchscreen mirror to highlight the look and feel of the space, it also displayed new content on screen for the client.
A spectacular bespoke fairground lighting installation to the front of the cabana was installed, the outdoor terrace within the decked area contained a fully sustainable natural wood planter with tropical planting.
The high-end furniture was from the new Showcase collection was selected to compliment the client’s brand and their overall vision for the various spaces.
Delivery:
The event build was four days, followed by a five-day show and 12 hour dismantle. It involved a team of 25 with dedicated project management for each area, plus a furniture installation team to cover all sites of the festival that Showcase was creating. Four trucks of equipment, manufactured products and furniture were shipped from the UK & Italy for the event. The design team was on hand from conceptual stage, pre-production and then on site to ensure the look, feel and creativity was executed exactly as planned due to the nature of event and clients’ requirements.
Project Service Summary
- Design and build of three separate spaces
- Screen build
- Space planning
- Lighting
- Filming
- Provision of technical equipment (lighting, audio & video)
- Furniture & plant supply
- Project management
- Logistics