Heriot-Watt Climate Hub Scenic Fabrication and Branded Environment in Dubai
Building a Climate Hub at Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University hosted its Climate Hub in Dubai during COP28 in 2023. Running across two weeks, the initiative required the university venue to support a changing programme of presentations, exhibitions and discussions while maintaining one consistent physical and visual identity.
Evolution Scenic was entrusted with the complete scenic scope. The work extended from the principal presentation space into the surrounding exhibition, lobby and circulation areas, creating a venue-wide environment rather than a single isolated stage installation.
The physical package included a custom stage, large scenic backdrop, freestanding exhibition walls, movable screens, display stands, directional signage, wayfinding and applied branding. Furniture and floral elements supplied by Evolution Furniture completed the occupied spaces and helped connect the functional and scenic requirements of the Climate Hub.
Each component needed to work within a different part of the existing university while still belonging to the same visual system. Materials, graphics, scenic construction and furniture were therefore coordinated to create continuity as visitors moved between arrival areas, circulation spaces, presentations and exhibitions.
Constructing the Main Presentation Stage
The principal presentation area was centred around a purpose-built plywood stage platform. Constructing the stage specifically for the Climate Hub created a defined presentation level within the existing university environment and established the physical base for the backdrop, screens, furniture and speaker activity.
Carpet was applied across the upper surface of the stage, creating the finished presentation floor and providing clear visual separation between the raised scenic environment and the surrounding venue. The restrained treatment allowed the branded backdrop and presentation content to remain the dominant features behind the speakers.
The stage formed part of the wider scenic composition rather than functioning as a standalone platform. Its relationship with the backdrop, movable television screens and furniture helped establish a complete presentation environment that could accommodate the changing programme across the two-week Climate Hub.
Using purpose-built scenic construction also allowed the presentation area to respond directly to the requirements of the temporary installation. The completed platform provided a controlled foundation around which the principal visual and functional elements could be arranged.
Fabricating the Printed Fabric Backdrop
A large scenic backdrop formed the architectural and visual anchor behind the main presentation stage. Its construction combined internal timber framing with MDF cladding before a printed fabric finish was installed across the visible surface.
The timber framework established the overall form of the wall, while the MDF created a consistent underlying surface for the textile treatment. This combination allowed the backdrop to function as a substantial scenic structure while presenting a clean and controlled face towards the audience.
Printed fabric carried the Climate Hub identity across a large uninterrupted area without dividing the backdrop into numerous separate graphic panels. The dark scenic surface incorporated Heriot-Watt branding and linear green graphic details, creating a strong visual field behind the carpeted stage and presentation furniture.
The finished wall operated simultaneously as temporary architecture and branding. Rather than placing graphics onto an existing venue surface, Evolution Scenic created a purpose-built scenic structure that established the physical character of the principal Climate Hub presentation environment.
Producing Freestanding Exhibition Walls
The scenic language established around the main stage continued into the wider Climate Hub through a series of self-supporting exhibition walls. These structures used the same principal construction method as the stage backdrop, combining timber framing, MDF cladding and printed fabric finishes.
Maintaining this common construction and finishing language helped connect spaces that served different purposes. Presentation areas, exhibition zones and circulation spaces could vary in function while still sharing the materials, surfaces and graphic treatment established by the main scenic installation.
The walls were developed as freestanding temporary structures within the existing university interior. This allowed the Climate Hub to create its own architectural boundaries and branded surfaces without relying on permanent alterations to the building.
Sustainability also formed part of the scenic brief. The freestanding wall system supported a temporary approach to construction, allowing the Climate Hub environment to be introduced within the university while maintaining the existing architecture as the permanent backdrop to the project.
Integrating Movable Screens and Display Stands
Visual content formed an important part of the Climate Hub programme, but the technical displays were not permanently embedded into the main scenic backdrop. Movable television screens with freestanding supports were positioned around the presentation area, allowing their placement to respond to different sessions and content requirements.
Keeping the screens independent from the rear wall preserved the continuity of the printed fabric backdrop. The large branded surface could remain visually uninterrupted while the displays provided the flexibility needed for presentations, discussions and changing programme formats.
Evolution Scenic also produced custom freestanding LED-screen stands for additional areas of the venue. Treating these supports as part of the scenic package allowed the technical displays to sit within purpose-built structures rather than appearing as unrelated equipment positioned around the Climate Hub.
The combination of movable displays and fabricated screen stands introduced flexibility without losing visual consistency. Technical content could be positioned where required while the surrounding scenic construction, branding and furniture maintained the wider identity of the temporary environment.
Manufacturing Signage and Wayfinding
The Climate Hub environment extended into the venue’s signage and wayfinding system. Directional structures were fabricated with internal steel frames, MDF cladding and vinyl graphics, combining a robust supporting construction with smooth branded surfaces.
Evolution Scenic also manufactured custom freestanding wooden signage stands finished with vinyl graphics. Their self-supporting format allowed identity and directional information to be positioned throughout the university without requiring permanent fixing into the existing architecture.
The smaller signage elements carried the same branded language as the larger scenic walls and stage environment. Colour, graphics and physical fabrication therefore remained connected even as the scale of the individual components changed.
This approach allowed the scenic identity to operate at both architectural and human scales. Large walls established the principal environments, while freestanding signs and directional features helped visitors move between the different areas of the Climate Hub without breaking the visual continuity of the installation.
Extending Branding Through the Venue
The Climate Hub identity continued beyond the principal presentation and exhibition rooms into the wider university environment. Evolution Scenic produced custom branding for the lobby counter, turning an existing arrival point into part of the temporary COP28 installation.
Additional graphic treatments were applied to elevator areas and selected exterior locations. Extending the branding into these circulation spaces meant the Climate Hub did not begin only when visitors entered the main room; its visual identity developed through the journey across the building.
The lobby counter became a particularly visible part of this arrival sequence, carrying large-format Heriot-Watt and COP28 graphics across the existing counter and surrounding presentation areas. This allowed an established architectural feature of the university to participate visually in the temporary environment.
Together, the lobby, elevator and exterior treatments connected the principal scenic spaces with the wider building. Applied graphics and purpose-built scenic structures worked alongside one another, extending the Climate Hub identity without requiring every area to contain large fabricated installations.
Coordinating Furniture and Florals
Evolution Furniture supplied the complete furniture setups and floral elements used throughout the Climate Hub. Seating and tables were arranged across the stage, discussion areas, lounge settings and supporting spaces, providing the functional infrastructure required for the changing programme.
White upholstered seating and smaller tables created a clear visual contrast against the darker printed scenic walls. This relationship helped the furniture remain visually distinct while still sitting comfortably within the broader scenic palette established by the backdrop, exhibition structures and branded surfaces.
Floral elements added a softer material layer to an environment otherwise dominated by plywood, MDF, timber framing, steel supports, printed fabric and graphic finishes. Their inclusion helped balance the harder fabricated components and contributed to the occupied character of discussion and lounge spaces.
Furniture and florals were coordinated alongside the scenic package rather than introduced as unrelated decorative additions. Bringing these disciplines together allowed presentation areas, lounges and discussion spaces to feel complete while retaining the same overall project identity.
Delivering Across a Tight Programme
The Climate Hub brought together several different fabrication and finishing processes within one temporary installation. Plywood stage construction, timber framing, MDF cladding, steel fabrication, printed textiles, vinyl graphics, technical display supports and furniture all needed to operate within a common visual framework.
Each production method served a different physical requirement. Timber and MDF created the large scenic walls, plywood provided the stage construction, steel supported directional structures, printed fabric established the principal branded surfaces and vinyl graphics extended the identity onto smaller signs and existing architectural elements.
The challenge was not simply to manufacture each component successfully, but to ensure that materials and finishes remained visually connected when distributed throughout the university. A visitor moving from the lobby into the presentation area and then through the exhibition zones needed to experience one coherent Climate Hub rather than a series of independent scenic packages.
Coordinating these systems during fabrication allowed individual trades and materials to contribute to the same environment. The result combined temporary architecture, graphics, technology and furniture without allowing any single discipline to feel disconnected from the wider scheme.
Completing the Temporary Environment
The Climate Hub scenic package involved several production processes taking place across multiple areas within an operating university environment. Workshop fabrication, graphic production, screen integration, furniture coordination, transportation and installation all needed to come together within a restricted delivery programme.
The main stage and printed backdrop formed the central installation, while exhibition walls, signage, screen stands and applied graphics were distributed throughout the wider building. Each element had its own physical requirements and final location, making accurate preparation important before the scenic package reached site.
Working within an existing institutional venue also required the temporary structures to respond to established architecture and circulation. Freestanding construction allowed the exhibition walls, signs and technical supports to establish the Climate Hub environment while remaining independent from the permanent building.
The completed installation demonstrates how detailed workshop preparation and coordinated production can support a project spread across several spaces rather than one concentrated event area. Different scenic components could be positioned according to their individual function while maintaining the visual relationship required across the complete venue.
