WIDE FORMAT Transformation

For a leading technology company known for its highly themed campus environments, a pedestrian connector linking a parking structure, escalators, and gathering spaces became an opportunity to extend the larger fantasy-inspired experiences already woven throughout the campus.

Drawing inspiration from creatures, landscapes, and environments familiar to fans of Tolkien-inspired fantasy worlds, the building already featured themed environmental graphics, custom flooring, dimensional architectural elements, and hidden visual details throughout the experience. This project expanded that world—refreshing select graphics, introducing new experiences, and bringing previously unfinished architectural features into the story.

Bringing the project to life required close coordination among multiple partners:

• JP Cullen — General contractor and builder
• Cuningham — Architecture, interior design, and experiential design
• Schmelzer Paint Company — Installation
• Hughes Flooring — Elevator floor graphic installation 
• Thysse — Wide format production, proofing, and project management

Thysse's challenge wasn't imagining the experience—it was making it real.

From large-format wallcoverings and elevator graphics to themed flooring and dimensional elements, every component needed to align with the design team's vision while fitting within the realities of an active construction environment. Timelines were tight. Access windows were limited. And as often happens on complex construction projects, some elements continued to evolve even after installation had begun.

One of the most prominent features of the project is a 35-foot-tall environmental graphic installed along the escalator wall.

While visitors experience it as a single seamless image, bringing it to life required careful planning and execution. The wallcovering had to be installed during a narrow construction window before surrounding glass escalator partitions and architectural elements restricted access to the space. The deadline was driven by a massive training and continuing education summit that would bring more than 10,000 clients through the space.    

Installing graphics at that scale is demanding under any circumstances. Installing them from elevated lifts while aligning massive wallpaper panels across the full height of the wall introduces another level of complexity entirely.

The size of the panels themselves added another challenge. As wallcoverings become longer, they become significantly heavier and more difficult to handle, requiring a combination of specialized equipment, careful positioning, and a steady hand during installation.

The design team wasn't creating artwork for a brochure or a monitor.

They were creating environments.

Files routinely measured several gigabytes in size, allowing intricate details to remain sharp whether viewed from inches away or from across the corridor. Every texture, character, and environmental detail needed to hold up at architectural scale.

Before production began, Thysse produced hard-copy proofs for wallcoverings, flooring elements, elevator interiors, and elevator door graphics to ensure every component matched the designers' vision before final production moved forward.

The result is an environment filled with details that reveal themselves differently depending on where you stand. Large scenic elements establish the atmosphere, while smaller characters and visual references reward visitors who take the time to look a little closer.

One reality of large-scale construction projects is that not everything stays exactly where it was originally planned.

As construction progressed, adjustments continued even after portions of the graphics had already been installed.

In one instance, an electrical outlet located within a completed section of environmental graphics needed to be relocated. Rather than accepting a visible patch or compromise, the affected panels were reprinted and replaced to preserve the integrity of the finished experience.

Other modifications occurred as architectural elements evolved throughout construction, requiring ongoing coordination among designers, contractors, installers, and production teams.

It wasn't unusual for multiple trades to be working within the same area simultaneously, all moving toward the same completion date.

Success depended on flexibility as much as execution.

While the large-scale graphics immediately capture attention, the smaller details are what keep the experience interesting.

Hidden creatures, environmental references, and subtle visual moments are scattered throughout the connector, encouraging repeat visitors to discover something new each time they pass through.

Themed flooring extends the visual narrative underfoot. Elevator interiors continue the story between levels. Dimensional architectural elements emerge from walls and structural features. Together, they transform what could have been a simple connector into an immersive experience.

For employees and guests moving between buildings each day, the corridor becomes more than a passageway.

It becomes part of the destination.

Projects like this highlight an often-overlooked reality of environmental graphics.

Success isn't determined solely by artwork or production quality.

It requires coordination between architects, designers, construction managers, electricians, installers, fabricators, and production teams—all working toward the same vision while adapting to the realities of an active construction site.

On projects like this, success isn't measured by a single graphic or installation. It's measured by whether every element—from architecture and construction to graphics and fabrication—works together to create a seamless experience.

In the end, that's what visitors remember: not the proofing process, construction schedule, or installation logistics, but the feeling of stepping into a world that feels complete.

That's exactly how it should be.