THE BRIEF:
Opened by the Queen in 1986, the Queen Elizabeth II Centre wanted a 30th birthday party with a difference for those who had helped make it one of London’s most successful events venues. It hosts more than 400 events a year, so its own birthday party had to be world-class. Area 51 were commissioned with creating a massive montage of 1980s memorabilia – the boom box, Rubrik’s Cube, Pac-Man, hard rock, glam rock, Return of the Jedi, and many more. The dining area, however, needed to take on a fully immersive futuristic appearance.
THE BUILD:
We took three of those key cultural icons – 80s pop culture, glam and sci-fi – to create three separate themed entrances for guests. Area51’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 we had transformed into the fuselage of a massive sci-fi Mother Ship. This huge enterprise took our team just two days to construct, and the organisers were overjoyed with the results.
GALLERY
