Britten Slays Dragon Cave Design for Tradeshow Booth Display

New Orleans, LA

Situation

Place yourself at the threshold of an imposing cavern—rows of stalactites lining the jaws of this looming lair. A flicker of motion registers in the gloom and there is a glimpse of our thorny antagonist—an irritable, scaly dragon! Is this a passage lifted from a fantastical story? A thematic attraction at an amusement park?

No, in fact it’s a massive foam sculpture installation at a conference for the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD!)

Undertaken by Access TCA on behalf of Spevigo®, the vision was a towering cave display reflective of the client’s “Disrupt the Fury” campaign. Drawing on the dragon motif of this psoriasis treatment, the intent was a literal cavernous exhibition that would draw-in conference attendees. Hailing for a hero fabricator brave enough to slay this ambitious design, Access TCA entrusted this daring feat to Britten.

Solution

Accomplishing this bold project required several Britten products and plenty of collaborative effort. The first objective was to create a sturdy interior framework that could support the weight and offer the rough shape for the cave foam sculpture. The solution was to form the infrastructure from EventTruss™ display truss system. Modular, sturdy, and an exhibition industry staple, the EventTruss™ was arranged into a framework for the exterior overlay.

Next, to create the craggy appearance of a rocky cave entrance, over 60 blocks of Foam3D™ were designed, cut, sanded, and painted to be pieced together into a cohesive shell. Functioning like a massive (and complex) jigsaw puzzle, these pieces were custom designed and color-matched to one another to form a seamless exterior, completely concealing the frame. Covering the exterior, the interior and even the roof of the cavern to allow for consistent drone coverage of the entire faux-geological formation.

Impact

The finished Spevigo® dragon den was an impressive feat of Britten ingenuity and perseverance. Measuring 40 feet wide and towering 20 feet tall, the entire structure was completely assembled at Britten before being deconstructed, labeled, shipped, and reassembled on site.

Undergoing extensive test fitting, color adjustments, final seam touch-ups and a hundred other logistical obstacles to overcome. The finished dragon den cave foam sculpture for Access TCA, their client, and the AAD conference was nothing shy of extraordinary!

The result of this extensive and Britten effort did not go unnoticed. Ecstatic about the completed exhibit, Eric Anderson, Creative Director for Access TCA posted on LinkedIn, “Let’s go! #aad2023 opens today and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the end result of months of collaboration, planning and design…Executed in 3 days. And now—amongst a sea of exhibit booths, stands a cave. Beyond proud.”