Oxford Street icon wrapped by Embrace Building Wraps

The John Lewis flagship department store on Oxford Street in London is currently undergoing a significant refurbishment in order to transform the store’s external façade. These changes will enhance the streetscape in readiness for the planned opening of Crossrail in December 2018.

Embrace Building Wraps were appointed to print and install a giant building wrap in order to ensure that the store maintained its usual high impact presence and to avoid any customers incorrectly assuming that the store was not open for business as usual.

The banner comprises of four separate large scale sections which have been seamlessly joined to create the illusion of a single banner. This project presented a unique challenge in so far as the exact dimensions and join positions of each banner could not be confirmed until after the scaffolding had been erected, but we love a challenge!

The end result is a stunning representation of the John Lewis brand, perfectly serving the purpose of not only disguising the development works to minimise loss of trade, but also making a strong statement that attracts new customers to it.

Christopher Partridge, Project Manager at John Lewis Partnership commented: “It looks absolutely outstanding. It has caused much chatter internally on our social networks and all of it very positive and complementary. I would like to thank the Embrace team for such a quick turnaround and smooth installation process. I almost don’t want to take it down again!”

Greg Forster, Managing Director at Embrace Building Wraps, said: “Whilst we did have few months to plan the project with their trade partners, we knew that the John Lewis team required the store to be wrapped as quickly as possible after installation of the scaffolding. We were able to print and install the 2,500 m2 wrap directly to the scaffold in under 28 days – delivering ahead of schedule. We are delighted with the outcome and the striking design of wrap. It is highly visible from Oxford Street and Bond Street underground stations, attracting customers and ensuring that the passing audience can see that the store is trading normally whilst the façade works are underway.”

For more details, including a full photo gallery head over to our John Lewis Oxford Street case study page