MakeCover: the story behind a FESPA Gold Award

Rob van den Braak/10/04/2016/Large Format/Sign, Marketing/Advertising, SIGN EN

The FESPA Gold Award for MakeCover was no surprise to those in the know. The Delft station which was transformed by MakeCover into a spectacular art hall is very appealing and the right choice for the Decals category. MakeCover used self adhesive films and large format graphics to achieve the results.
For more information about this logistically challenging project with 3,858 drawings of more than 30 million dots by MakeCover in the press release below.

FESPA catches up with MakeCover Managing Director, Ronald Steenkist to learn more about the company’s offerings and the winning project ‘Delft Station’.

Last month, FESPA celebrated another successful year with an exciting Annual Awards ceremony. Printers, designers, manufacturers, publishers, staff and FESPA Associations gathered together at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam, to celebrate the exceptional achievements of the print community over the past twelve months.

A variety of awards were presented throughout the evening, including the prestigious Best in Show Award, voted for across all the categories and awarded to the entry that deserves recognition for their innovation and excellence.

This year’s Gold prize in the category of Decals was awarded to MakeCover for its project Delft station.

Speaking after the winning announcement MakeCover Managing Director Ronald Steenkist commented: “It feels great to win, it’s nice to be rewarded for all the hard work you put in. I was up against stiff competition, so it’s amazing to know I’ve won.”

Delft station is a landmark building designed by Mecanoo Architects in Delft, Netherlands. The company chose a building that had a look in all directions. The lowered roof lines at the corners provide a gradual transition to the existing buildings and station and municipal office in one.

The new concourse is built on top of the tunnel and sits on the side of the inner city (Westvest) where travelers can reach the underground platforms.

The station is separated by a glass wall from the public hall (entrance side Coenderstraat) and is an integral part of the municipal office, the first, second and third floor of the building covers.

The office will soon house the municipal organization, with space for the public counters and workplaces, where residents and business owners will relocate to.

The ceiling has a height of 7,700 m2 and the image on it, ‘The Delft blue graph’, has been designed by Geerdes Designs. They had the historical plan of Delft around 1876, with the first station of Delft, and changed it to be suitable for the slat ceiling.

Applying 14.8 linear kilometers of foil and using a special software let the graphic to fit in the exact geometry of the straight and curved baffles. The baffles are 20 cm high, 7 cm wide and 30 cm apart.

The software then generated 3,858 drawings. The image is made up of over 30 million dots, of course, in the Delft blue colour, a total of 14.8 linear kilometers of film applied to the baffles.

“What makes this ceiling extra special is that the pattern moves in the ceiling and, from every angle the traveler has a different face.”

“The logistics was with no doubt the most challenging part of the project. The large volume of baffles, the different sizes and shapes of them and the way we had to apply the right drawing on the right baffle was what made this project so difficult and unique.”

“To ensure they don’t hit each other, we had to collaborate with the designer, Geerdes Design. We are therefore proud that the entire project went perfectly and produced a wonderful result.”

MakeCover is a Dutch company specialized in restyling of interior and exterior of buildings by using self adhesive films and large format graphics. The main applications they do are façade restyling with window frame films, wall graphics for interior decorations, restyling of furniture with self adhesive films, graphics and privacy films on glass and special projects.

The award-winning project, the Delft Station, is one of the most impressive works the company has created so far and definitely one of the most unique and special.

Rob van den Braak

Printer’s devil (1964), phototypesetter, offsetprinter, teacher of graphic techniques, salesmanager, productmanager, trade journalist, founder of BlokBoek e-zine (2011). But above all husband, father, friend and lover of life in southern Spain (since 2010).