At the heart of the NEC’s £4.5 million transformation has been an Acivico architect that supplied concept designs for the stunning and technically innovative pyramid formations, which will completely change the look and feel of Birmingham’s iconic premier international conference and leisure venue. Principal Architect Alan McBeth developed three gigantic custom designed trapezoidal shapes, each the size of a three-story house, using the latest design software. When connected, these form a 3D wall of 37 units, reinventing and giving life to the flat facades on five of the halls, originally constructed in 1976. Using state-of-the-art membrane technology and a healthy dose of imagination, the vision was for the facade to be covered with stretched membranes combined with colourful vector graphics panels, positioned between the 3D trapezoidal shapes. “The design required the use of the latest in tensile fabric innovation from within the UK and we found the print graphics specialist in Holland – the only company in the world that could print the polyester fabric which covers the trapezoids to the correct lifespan requirement,” said Alan McBeth. “The magnitude of this work has to be seen to be appreciated, but it is very scalable and there is no doubt this type of design treatment can be applied to give an economical facelift to other aging buildings, large or small, in need of some TLC,” he continued. The final colour changing boulder pattern was designed and supplied by international PR and advertising firm McCann whose programmable LED animated backlighting has created a dynamic and engaging environment for the 7 million annual visitors to the campus, but it’s at night that guests can really see the complex come to life. Acivico has used graphic visualisation technology to share the display. “We are delighted with the outcome of these concept designs by Acivico. The team understood the brief perfectly and came up with a unique concept using innovative technology which they brought to life using superb 3D visuals. The finished results are stunning,” commented Martin Clarke, NEC Marketing Director. The NEC’s ‘project facelift’ will be officially revealed with the launch of the Bear Grylls adventure world in October 2018.