Embrace Building Wraps in Cheltenham, UK, provides a comprehensive project management, print, installation, maintenance and removal service for large-format scaffold wraps, building wraps and printed graphics for site hoardings. Working closely with high-profile retail brands, leading construction contractors and development specialists, Embrace noticed an increasing interest for environmentally-responsible solutions from these partners as industries work towards sustainability goals, aligning with the company’s commitment to protecting the environment and reducing waste. “Our goal is to reduce reliance on PVC and move to more sustainable printable media solutions as the sector’s leader in environmental positivity,” explains Managing Director Greg Forster.

Forster came across the KAVALAN brand through its exclusive UK distributor CMYUK, and set about testing KAVALAN to see if it would meet their requirements. Embrace Building Wraps doesn’t do things by halves; the company recently completed the world’s largest printed scaffold wrap at Selfridge’s department store in Birmingham, the UK’s largest outdoor art installation, and a range of other large-scale projects.

On this basis, a PVC-free product used by the company needs to measure up and withstand wear and tear. “Our materials need to be very hard-working,” explains Forster. “It can’t tear, it needs to be weldable and have Keder edges. We carry out robust testing, and so we needed to test the KAVALAN product to ensure it’s going to deliver the same quality of print, manufacture and longevity as its PVC counterparts.”

Embrace Building Wraps concluded that KAVALAN delivered the same visual appearance and manufacturing process with heat and vibration welding, and the material also passed all a UKAS certified fire test centreboth in its natural state off the roll and with Embrace’s chosen cured inks. After successful testing, the Embrace Building Wraps were happy to put the material to work on projects with its prestigious partners. Forster explains: “If we can use it on a project, we will use it! We offered the PVC-free alternative and everyone said yes. We’re delighted with it, and so are our clients.”

After being approached about an exciting project that involved the regeneration of The Sandhurst Block on the former army barracks in Bordon, UK with a vision for an installation that celebrates generations of the future, nature, and community, Embrace knew that using KAVALAN would be a perfect fit. Following an open call, the winning design includes a vertical garden in the centre of the block, inserted between two giant building wraps. The building’s two wings are also wrapped, and printed site hoardings run around the perimeter of the site, forming a ‘secret garden’.

Embrace planned, printed, and fitted the building wraps either side of the green living wall, and installed are ten 18 m2 & two 12m2 PVC-free wraps attached using Keder rail systems. On the left and right building wings are two of the UK’s largest digitally printed PVC-free building wraps using KAVALAN,– both measuring 400 m2.

Greg Forster explains: “We were the only organisation to go in there and say, we can offer you a PVC-free product, which paid dividends because they were really happy with the idea and it helped us secure the project. It’s something that’s becoming increasingly important to our clients.” The icing on the cake comes in the form of the KAVALAN Eco Calculator, which allows users to enter their KAVALAN product of choice, their preferred unit of measurement and the quantity, and automatically generate the eco-savings result. “It’s a great add-on to show our clients, who in turn can add that to their own messaging,” says Forster.

Embrace Building Wraps were also responsible for the UK’s first PVC-free printed scaffold wrap at Newson’s Yard in London’s Belgravia, for client Grosvenor Estate, who were very excited to be the launch partner for the KAVALAN product from Embrace, resulting in a striking, high-quality printed piece of art that expertly disguises the scaffolding on the historic building. KAVALAN was also deployed to conceal refurbishment work on the site of leading independent jeweller Allum and Sidaway in Salisbury, UK. The eye-catching creative was dripping with gemstones and embodied the luxury and opulence of the brand.

As the Embrace team provide an end-to-end service, there is an additional benefit to the use of KAVALAN that makes a significant difference during installation. “It’s much easier to load up on the print machines, onto the vehicles ready for install, lifting up on the scaffold & hoisting into position, and the same goes on the removal process,” says Forster.

Greg Forster, the team at Embrace Building Wraps, and their clients are all thrilled with KAVALAN’s performance, and the company now offers the PVC-free solutions in all the proposals they send out, as well as their marketing materials. “Anybody with a sense of responsibility should realise that if there is an alternative material that performs the same, if not better, and leaves a smaller footprint, it's not rocket science to make the change,” says Forster, concluding: “If the material is comparable and does the same job as PVC, it’s a no brainer, isn't it?”

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