IHG Shanghai Wonderland
The Challenge:
Upon InterContinental Hotels Group’s announcement of the build of their 200th hotel, we were contracted to assist with technical and creative aspects of their celebratory exhibition.
Artist Alexander Hall, or ‘Haut de Gamme’, was commissioned to hand-paint 200 champagne bottles in his prestigious, bright style for an exhibition set to tour the world. Haut de Gamme decorated the unique bottles to represent each hotel within the InterContinental Hotels Group, drawing inspiration from cultures of the South and North America, Asia and Europe.
It was our task to turn the bottles into a suspended sculpture.
Key requirements;
- Suspend the bottles to form a 3-dimensional ‘200’ in the hotel event space
- Manage logistics of transporting the sculpture from London to Shanghai, and back
- Work with a local production company to assist with the installation remotely
The Solution:
Our role was multifaceted; we worked with IHG to arrange international shipping of the deconstructed art installation to the site. Upon arrival, we worked with the client’s local production partners to install trussing, lighting and the metal grid via designs which we had supplied.
Each valuable bottle was meticulously hung from steel wire, with the installation taking place overnight, while the hotel was quiet. Each bottle needed to be suspended from a truss grid with steel wire sections, allowing the bottles to hang in multiple areas to create 3D shape of the numbers ‘200’. The steel wire inside the bottle was extendable to dictate the height from which it would hang.
Members of the public and key international partners of IHG were invited to attend a ceremony to open the exhibition, for which the installation was the centrepiece. We were also in charge of deconstruction and assisted with returning the installation to London, where it would continue its tour around the world.
It was a pleasure to work with IHG on their celebration of Shanghai Wonderland’s opening, which is an architectural feat in itself. The hotel was constructed in an abandoned quarry and boasts 16 stories above ground level. The remaining 2 levels are aquariums, deep within the quarry which has been filled with water to create an artificial lake.
The Results:
- Outstanding client feedback
- An exciting opportunity to produce in the world’s largest city
- No damage to any bottles during the installation and de-rig
Working with art installations, listed buildings and high-value pieces is something Okoru is accustomed to and insured for. When there is a requirement to be extremely careful and considered, we are your trusted partner.
