Area 51 have converted one of London’s major conference centres into various different guises thanks to its imaginative décor and entertainment packages on a number of occasions.
For example, have you heard the one about a badger, rabbit and mole that walked into a hub in the shadow of Westminster Abbey and Big Ben?
That’s exactly what happened at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster when three larger-than-life anthropomorphic characters held sway in an enchanting forest to enraptured guests.
Specs the mole, a hip bebop jazz trumpeter, was joined by Mr. Badger, a theatrical “luvvie” and Ms. Rabbit, a culinary queen who also sang like Ella Fitzgerald. The three characters were expertly brought to life by Area 51 performers at a brilliant high-profile event.
The QEII staged a stunning showcase entitled “Bloom” for the events industry and Area 51, together with Event Trees, provided remarkable jaw-dropping décor as well as the three performing creatural creations.
The centre’s fifth-floor Cambridge Room was brilliantly denatured into a sophisticated and beguiling world of floral joy.
Guests arrived through a leafy, herbaceous walkway lit with twinkling fairy lights to emerge into the central chamber of the underground themed space and were offered cocktails from reach of the characters: Ms. Rabbit’s sugar snap pea, lime and mint gin; Mr. Badger’s vanilla and chai vodka; and Specs’ negroni-styled tequila, mezcal, Aperold and rose vermouth.
Each character had its own idiosyncratic space to hold sway in: Mr. Badger strutted in his own intimate theatre, Specs jive-talked in his swinging jazz club hang-out while Ms. Rabbit dominated in her hipster café.
Later visitors to the event were ushered up to the sixth-floor Mountbatten Room where they emerged inside a giant blossoming daffodil that incorporated the whole room thanks to Area 51 design and installation experts, complete with towering petals and floor-to-ceiling projections plus audio of bees buzzing around.
After dinner Ms. Rabbit entertained guests with her own cabaret show.
On a separate occasion, politicians, tourists and business leaders were greeted with the sight of a colourful crazy golf course in the heart of London.
Area 51 and its sister company Event Trees helped put the “crazy” into golf as part of a major corporate drive on behalf of the Queen Elizabeth II.
The concept featured a bespoke course in the shape of the QEII Centre’s logo with artwork in place of grass in order to tell the story of the world-renowned venue and to promote its many facilities and policies.
The project had its challenges including creating a 12-metres-long version of the centre’s logo together with making sure the structure remained level; laser levels and patience were the order of the day!
Other features included a pallet bar and pallet seating, realistic life-like trees set among real trees and an accompanying event included a drinks reception with cocktails and a series of endless first -class canapés, with a couple of rounds of golf in between for guests.
Opened by the Queen in 1986, the Queen Elizabeth II Centre called on Area 51 on another occasion in order to mark its 30th anniversary.
The Warwickshire company helped create a special birthday party with a difference and as the building hosts more than 400 events a year, this needed to be a world-class production. Design specialists were commissioned with creating an eye-catching series of props and scenery based on 1980s memorabilia.
Among the iconography incorporated into the décor were the boom box, Rubik’s Cube, Pac-Man, hard rock and hair metal, Return of the Jedi, and many more. The dining area, however, needed to take on a fully immersive futuristic appearance.
The company took three of those key cultural icons – 80s pop culture, glam and sci-fi – to create three separate themed entrances for guests. Area 51’s larger-than-life doorman cheerfully directed visitors at random into one of the three walkways for a welcome and a photo opportunity wearing the wigs and fashion items we provided. From there they entered the Cambridge Suite for reception drinks. It was decked out in vibrant 80s décor with a giant Rubik’s Cube, boom box, 1980s prints and memorabilia hung around the room, and they were entertained by street dancers. The climax of this journey was the ascent via a Tron-inspired staircase to the Mountbatten Suite dining area, which was transformed into the fuselage of a massive sci-fi Mother Ship. This huge enterprise took the team just two days to construct, and the organisers were overjoyed with the results.
