*Qudwa Teachers’ Forum Scenic Fabrication at Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi

Creating a Multi-Zone Scenic Environment for the Qudwa Teachers’ Forum

The Qudwa Teachers’ Forum was staged at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi in 2017. The physical environment extended beyond a single conference stage, requiring a main auditorium, six breakout rooms inside the ballroom, three further breakout rooms elsewhere in the venue, corridor installations and furnished terrace areas.

Evolution Events worked from a client-supplied concept and coordinated the wider event delivery. Evolution Scenic was responsible for fabricating and installing the principal scenic elements that shaped the auditorium, breakout rooms and circulation spaces.

This distributed scope required a consistent scenic language that could operate at different scales. The main auditorium needed to function as the visual centre of the project, while each breakout room required a smaller but complete environment incorporating staging, branded walls and screen integration. The work therefore involved more than creating a single scenic backdrop. It required a temporary architectural system capable of extending through several parts of Emirates Palace.

Building the Main Auditorium

The auditorium package was organised around a fabricated stage deck and steps. Behind the stage, a black scenic backdrop provided a controlled visual field for the remaining scenic and technical components. A custom central surround integrated the venue’s main screen into the overall stage composition.

The venue screen was not supplied by Evolution Scenic or Evolution Technical. Scenic responsibility centred on the physical structure surrounding it and the way that structure connected visually with the stage, backdrop and adjacent display features.

Smaller side screens were supplied by Evolution Technical. These were integrated into scenic and graphic display surrounds fabricated by Evolution Scenic.

The arrangement required close coordination between the technical equipment and the surrounding construction. Openings and finished edges needed to align with the screen dimensions, while the scenic structures had to provide a clean visual interface without preventing technical installation or access.

Dimensional icon panels introduced physical depth across the backdrop. Unlike flat printed graphics, these elements created changes in relief and shadow, allowing the visual identity to become part of the constructed environment.

The lower stage area incorporated branded fascia and panel-session scenic structures. Custom lecterns completed the presentation setting, while carpet and floor finishes established the auditorium footprint. Together, these elements formed a complete temporary scenic composition rather than a stage assembled from isolated rental components.

Manufacturing Nine Breakout Environments

The breakout-room requirement was substantial. Six temporary rooms were created within the ballroom, with three additional breakout environments installed elsewhere at Emirates Palace. The original project page confirms that the rooms incorporated bespoke stages and backdrops. Evolution Scenic constructed the environments using freestanding modular partitions fabricated in workshop-built sections. This method provided several operational advantages. The wall structures could be cut, framed, assembled and finished under controlled workshop conditions. Graphic positions, joints and visible edges could be checked before the sections reached the venue.

The modular approach also created repeatability. Where the breakout rooms shared common details, the same construction principles could be used across several units rather than developing every room as a completely separate build. Once delivered, the sections could be assembled into temporary room layouts without relying extensively on the permanent venue walls. Each breakout environment incorporated its own stage, backdrop and screen surround. Smaller screens were supplied by Evolution Technical and fitted into the prepared scenic compositions.

Although the rooms belonged to one project identity, they still needed to work individually. The construction therefore had to balance consistency with the practical requirements of each space. The available source material does not provide the dimensions of the partitions, stages or screen openings. It also does not identify whether every breakout room followed exactly the same layout. Those details have not been assumed.

Using Materials Across Different Scenic Functions

The confirmed construction palette included MDF, plywood, timber framing, metal framing, acrylic, fabric, printed panels, vinyl graphics, laminate, PU paint and carpet. This range supported both structural and decorative requirements. Sheet materials could be used to form stage surfaces, wall faces, fascias and display structures. Timber framing provided an adaptable method for producing the larger modular partitions, while metal framing could support details requiring additional rigidity or reduced visual bulk.

Acrylic enabled dimensional graphic components and other refined details to be incorporated into the scenic package. Printed panels, fabric and vinyl graphics carried the Qudwa identity across the auditoria, breakout backdrops, corridor installations and signage. The use of several graphic methods allowed the visual language to be adapted to different substrates and scales.

Laminate and PU paint provided controlled scenic finishes, while carpet helped define the floors of the temporary environments and cover transitions between constructed scenic elements and the venue surface. The precise material build-up of every component has not been supplied. The material list is therefore presented as a confirmed overall project palette rather than as a detailed specification for individual elements.

Extending the Scenic Environment into the Corridors

The project did not stop at the doors of the auditorium and breakout rooms. Custom infographic walls and freestanding panels were installed through the corridors. The original project described these installations as a way of carrying information and visual content through the venue’s circulation areas.

From a scenic perspective, the corridor elements served an architectural purpose. They changed the routes between rooms from neutral venue spaces into part of the temporary project environment. Freestanding construction allowed graphic content to be introduced without depending entirely on the permanent walls. It also supported the requirement to protect existing venue surfaces.

Signage and wayfinding were integrated with these graphic elements. This allowed operational information to use the same materials, proportions and branding as the main scenic package. The result was continuity between the principal auditorium, the breakout rooms and the routes connecting them.

Coordinating Scenic, Technical and Furniture Delivery

The project required coordination between several Evolution departments and the venue. Evolution Scenic fabricated the physical scenic package. Evolution Technical supplied the smaller screens used within the side displays and breakout environments. The main auditorium screen was supplied by Emirates Palace.

This division of responsibility made interface coordination important. Scenic structures had to be built around equipment supplied by other parties, while still achieving consistent finished edges, alignment and access. Evolution Furniture supplied the terrace furniture. These outdoor settings extended the project beyond the enclosed conference spaces and provided a coordinated furniture environment for the terraces, as also recorded on the original project page.

Evolution Events developed the delivery from the client-supplied concept, coordinating the different physical and operational components into one project. The ecosystem demonstrates how scenic fabrication can sit within a wider production structure without blurring responsibility. Screens remained technical equipment, furniture remained a specialist furniture supply and the constructed stages, walls, surrounds, lecterns and graphic installations remained part of the scenic scope.

Project Outcome

The Qudwa Teachers’ Forum environment demonstrated how multiple temporary spaces could be manufactured and installed as a single coordinated scenic package. Evolution Scenic delivered the physical construction required for the main auditorium and nine breakout rooms while also extending the project identity into corridors and circulation spaces.

The use of workshop-built modular partitions supported the three-day phased installation and reduced the amount of on-site fabrication required inside Emirates Palace. Technical responsibilities remained clearly defined. The venue supplied the main screen, Evolution Technical supplied the smaller screens and Evolution Scenic fabricated the surrounding physical structures.

Evolution Furniture’s terrace package completed the project ecosystem, while Evolution Events coordinated the delivery from the client-provided concept. The completed environment stands as a practical example of multi-room scenic fabrication, temporary conference architecture and coordinated installation within a protected venue.