Metstudio Exhibition Architects and Design Consultants

Metstudio Trade Show Stand for The Campaign for Wool

2011-12-15T12:42:00.000Z

The Campaign for Wool

Client: The Campaign for Wool
Size: n/a
Budget: n/a

A travelling branded exhibit for the Campaign for Wool: an initiative originally conceived in 2008 by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and launched publically in 2010, in response to the enormous challenges facing the wool industry. The new exhibit launched at Grand Designs Live 2011 (winning a ‘Grand Designs loves’ medallion as one of the best stands at the show) and will be used across a number of events in the coming year and beyond.

Responding to a creative brief to move away from traditional notions of trade stands, the design team at MET Studio believed the campaign’s messages would be best served by simply spelling out the words ‘choose wool’ for high impact, using giant-sized letters for the word ‘Wool’ both for directness and also in order to use the letters as a medium to illustrate wool’s flexibility, forms and many varied applications.

The letter ‘W’ shows wool in its near-raw state in natural-coloured shagpile. The first ‘O’ is an earthy, neutral colour, made up of blanket sections overlaid onto one other. The second ‘O’ is a full-colour patchwork, whilst the ‘L’ is made up of carpet tuft samples. The rear side of the letters shows a photo-based pastoral scene of sheep grazing, chosen to underline the key messages about wool as a ‘smart’ material, whilst reinforcing the key message that sheep farming keeps the UK landscape green and beautiful.

WINNER
Grand Designs Loves..
Grand Designs Live 2011

“We absolutely loved the Campaign for Wool stand. It had real impact at the show, it was strikingly colourful, kids were clambering all over it, adults couldn’t resist stroking the large letters as they walked past, or in fact sitting on them. All in all we thought the effort that had gone into making such a showstopper should be recognised in some way.”

(Bernie Herlihy, Editor, Grand Designs)

Winner
‘Grand Designs Loves’ Award

Grand Designs Live 2011

Award-winning Trade Show Booths – Designers Metstudio

2011-12-15T12:40:00.000Z

Mary Chocolatier
Westfield Shopping Centre, London

Client: Mary Chocolatier
Size: n/a
Budget:n/a

MET Studio was commissioned to design a mid-mall retail kiosk for a Belgian chocolate brand entering the UK for the first time, located within the new Westfield Shopping Centre environment in west London.

The central display for the kiosk takes the form of a flowing, tiered unit made in white Hi-Macs in order to contrast fully with the product and show it off dramatically. The display allows for a very clean and pure feel, with a shape inspired by the density of melted chocolate and the way in which it falls, suggested by the tiered layering.

The materials choice for the display, as well as being aesthetically strong, allowed for a flexible design with real durability in order to withstand knocks and dents of constant everyday use.

Metstudio - Expo Design - Libyan Pavillion in Shanghai

2011-12-15T12:37:00.002Z

Metstudio Expo Design in Shanghai

Libyan Pavilion

In the tightest timeframe ever undertaken by the company, MET Studio was asked to redesign the Libyan Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 Expo from scratch and to do so, from commission to opening, in only 25 days. Architect Yi-Ching Liu (formerly of Zaha Hadid’s office) designed the new building envelope and MET Studio was tasked with creating the new interior and exhibition, with Libyan company Ecou overseeing the whole project.

The theme for the new Pavilion was ‘Beautiful Libya and so much more’. With an AV- and graphic-led exhibition, MET Studio was able to talk about Libya’s past and culture, but also to show some of the highly environmentally-conscious building programmes of the current day and hopefully help change people’s opinions of this fast-changing and exciting country.

Ecou’s Chairman congratulated the creative team on their astonishing feat, saying ‘Where there is a will, there is a way. Nothing is impossible to achieve. It was a difficult, challenging and demanding task, but your joint efforts and teamwork have made it a success story after all. Those who have demonstrated their willingness to do their best in the execution of this project will always be appreciated.’

Metstudio - Childrens city Dubai

2011-12-15T12:34:00.002Z

Children’s City

Museum and Exhibition Designers Metstudio for Childrens City, Dubai

Children’s City
Dubai

Client: Dubai Municipality
Size: n/a
Budget: n/a

The Children’s City project was originally conceived in answer to an international competition set by the Dubai Municipality and its desire to give the local community a facility, which would provide an educational learning centre, combined with play facilities.

The result was the largest hands-on children’s museum in the Middle East. The final museum incorporated three building blocks with galleries centering on science and culture, as well as performance spaces and a planetarium.

The ambitious project – six years in duration – was completed successfully, thanks to a close working relationship created between a highly international team, from the client in Dubai to MET Studio in the UK to exhibit fabricators and contractors based in Germany.

Metstudio – Publications and Press

2011-01-17T12:52:00.001Z

If you are a journalist and you have a media enquiry, please contact our PR Director, Caroline Collett of Caroline Collett PR Ltd, by clicking here

Since the company’s inception, MET Studio’s work has been published in many leading books and journals from around the world, including national UK newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Independent and international newspapers such as China Today, The Straits Times, The Business Times and The Singapore Times. Feature coverage has also been given in some of the world’s leading exhibition, architecture and design journals, such as Blueprint, The Architect’s Journal, The Museum’s Journal, Leisure Management, Heritage Development and FX in the UK, Interiors and Sources and Exhibit Today in the USA, Design 360°, Hinge, Perspective and Times Space in China, IDS in Malaysia and LINO in Australia.

Our Approach at Metstudio

2011-01-17T12:51:00.001Z

The best design results from dialogue with the people who commission us. Understanding a subject, thinking strategically, appreciating our client’s needs and communicating to your target audience in an imaginative way are at the very core of what we do as a company.
From dialogue comes ideas. Without an idea there is no effective design. But, in the immersive experience world, we are also dealing with information, devising strategies to make that information stimulating and engaging.
Innovation might commonly be described as the commercial and financially successful exploitation of ideas, associating innovation with a tangible outcome. However, in today’s fast-changing environment, this is not enough. Innovation is also the art of making new connections, pushing the reactions of audiences both cerebrally and emotionally to create the most effective uptake of ideas and messages.
Increasing consumer sophistication is leading to ever more technically advanced methods of delivering experience, but we are acutely aware that while people gawp at the whizz-bangs and multimedia displays, there is a subtle but powerful yearning for the real. CGI and similar technologies are blurring the boundaries between what is likely or possible and what is real. As a result audiences increasingly need reassurance. This insight is driving our current work towards ways of offering people the euphoria of spectacle and the absorption of static display at one and the same time.

Press and Publications for Metstudio

2010-11-01T14:34:00.002Z

Since the company's inception, MET Studio's work has been published in many leading books and journals from around the world, including national UK newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Independent and international newspapers such as China Today, The Straits Times, The Business Times and The Singapore Times. Feature coverage has also been given in some of the world's leading exhibition, architecture and design journals, such as Blueprint, The Architect's Journal, The Museum's Journal, Leisure Management, Heritage Development and FX in the UK, Interiors and Sources and Exhibit Today in the USA, Design 360°, Hinge, Perspective and Times Space in China, IDS in Malaysia and LINO in Australia.

Met Studio shortlisted for 3 Awards in 2010

2010-11-01T14:30:00.002Z

Three MET Studio projects have been shortlisted for three different awards so far in 2010. The BugWorld Experience (which also got an Honourable Mention in the ICIAD Ring Awards 2009 in China), was a finalist in the Scottish Design Awards exhibition design category. The Manchester United Experience, Asia’s first interactive football environment, was a finalist in the International Award section of the UK’s Museums and Heritage Awards, whilst Conflicts of Interest, our stunning, graphics-led exhibition for the National Army Museum in the UK, made the final four for the UK Art Fund Prize 2010, the UK’s largest single arts prize.

David Attenborough at the Budongo Trail Edinburgh

2010-11-01T14:23:00.002Z

David Attenborough praises Budongo Trail

Sir David Attenborough paid a recent visit to the Budongo Trail Chimpanzee exhibit, created by MET Studio (together with Cooper Cromar Architects) for The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, where he was presented with the Society’s first Centenary Medal by HRH The Princess Royal. He was impressed with the whole exhibit and wrote to express his thanks with the words:

‘The Budongo exhibit is a truly outstanding achievement. I suppose everyone who has had first hand acquaintance with chimps in the wild must initially have reservations about keeping such creatures in captivity, particularly in a non-tropical environment, but the Budongo installation is so remarkable and imaginative that it banishes those doubts.’

MET Studio has worked in conjunction with The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and Cooper Cromar Architects over a two-year period to design and build this world class Chimpanzee enclosure. The exhibition focuses on the conservation effort currently taking place in the Budongo forest, Uganda, by introducing visitors to the tireless efforts being made in the preservation of our closest animal cousins. The exhibit has already been billed as one of Europe’s leading zoological interpretational experiences.

2010-11-01T14:19:00.002Z

Metstudio are pleased to announce the launch of our new website. MET STUDIO

The new site has lots of new images from recent projects, we are involved on an international basis with museums and exhibitions, eco-parks and zoos, corporate and retail interiors, expos and special events; being created around the world.

It's now available in additional languages, the old web-site was always in English and Simple Chinese; now it can also be viewed in Spanish and Chinese.

MET Studio Design - The Manchester United Experience

2009-09-16T15:27:00.001+01:00

British experiential design consultancy MET Studio has completed the design of an exciting, new, immersive exhibition and experience for the world’s most famous football club, Manchester United. The Manchester United Experience is a £1.5m, 1000 sq m indoor attraction, located within the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel in Macau – a SAR (special administrative region) and former Portuguese colony in south-east China.

It is the first ever visitor attraction featuring the club to be opened outside of Manchester United’s Old Trafford heartland (and Asia’s only interactive football experience) and has been created to appeal to both fans and a lay audience alike. ‘Our ambition in designing the space’, commented MET Studio’s Alexander McCuaig, head of graphics and AV on the project, ‘was to create the most exciting and world-class football experience outside of actually watching the beautiful game live.’ With the company’s long experience in masterplanning major visitor attractions and in-depth knowledge of Far Eastern markets, MET Studio was ideally placed to help develop the look and feel of the scheme, jointly with the client, from the earliest stages.
Visitors are taken through the highly interactive experience on a route, which covers everything from the earliest beginnings of the club to a real sense of what it means to support, play for and manage the world-class club of today. From huge-scale media walls to exhibits which allow fans to pit their own footballing skills against today’s team, to being directly addressed by Sir Alex Ferguson in a behind-the-scenes look at the Old Trafford Changing Room and joining the players in the tunnel before a game, the experience completes in a wraparound and highly stylised 4-minute presentation of a classic Manchester United game, atmospherically captured and re-presented by award-winning film director Daryl Goodrich (the man behind ‘Sport at Heart’: the film that launched the British bid to host the 2012 London Olympics).
Former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson, who, along with United legend Brian McClair, formally opened the attraction, commented: ‘The Experience really captures the spirit and the atmosphere of this great club. The amazing way in which they have used technology makes it really feel like you are in the United dressing room or lining up with the players in the tunnel. It’s the next best thing to being at Old Trafford.’ United’s Chief Executive David Gill added: ‘The Experience has exceeded all expectations. It is an exciting prospect for our fans in Asia and I am sure it will prove to be an extremely popular attraction.’
MET Studio’s client on the project was The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, owned, as is its sister hotel in Las Vegas, by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. The Vegas hotel, opened in 1999, is America’s largest AAA Five-Diamond Resort and is comprised of 4049 suites and a 120,000 sq ft casino. The Venetian hotel in Macau is part of a new-build, mixed use, retail and leisure complex on the Cotai Strip, bordered by canals. The hotel rooms are arranged around the perimeter of the complex, which also features a casino on the ground floor, a Cirque du Soleil attraction and a large variety of food court and retail usage, including a 600 sq m Manchester United Megastore (designed by Head in Hong Kong), which serves as an entry point to the Manchester United Experience.

The Manchester United Experience: Walk-through

01: Entrance / Mezzanine Drum

Visitors pay to enter the attraction in the Manchester United Megastore situated directly below. They begin to get a sense of what lies ahead via a cylindrical ‘drum’ stairwell with a mezzanine mid-point waiting area, surrounded by 8 screens showing high-contrast, slowed-down 360° footage of the current Manchester United team. The screen display is clearly visible and audible (with an audio track of fan songs) from the shop, attracting the attention of shoppers and enticing them towards the entrance area. Having paid, there is then a full revolution and a half of stairway to build anticipation before visitors come through the door into the main space and arrive in the first main area: The Club.Each visitor enters the experience equipped with a named and personalised visitor card (akin to a credit card), which will allow information to be stored on it and for interactives to recognise the user, awarding points or congratulating the user for high scores on some of the games to come – as well as setting skill levels that are appropriate to the user’s age group.

02: The Club

The aim of the first major space is to instill a sense of wonder at the incredible history of this iconic team, first founded in 1878 and now ranking as the world’s richest and most valuable club (recently valued at £1.8bn). Taking inspiration from Old Trafford’s Eastern Stand facade, the first display takes the form of a curved wall of screens showing looping footage of some of the club’s biggest stories, such as Sir Matt Busby and ‘The Busby Babes’ and their tragedy and triumph at Munich and beyond – and, more recently, ‘Winning the Treble’ in 1999 and ‘The Double’ in 2008.

In front of the screens are a number of classic artefact displays in glass boxes including, for example, signed football boots from both Bobby Charlton and Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as a glass model of Old Trafford. The bespoke model, commissioned for the scheme by MET Studio, allows visitors to highlight areas and run footage of everywhere from the reception to the changing rooms, physio rooms and boot room as they navigate their way around the ground, with images of the chosen space projected directly onto the wall behind.

A further digital exhibit takes the form of a 2D digital book, which visitors can leaf through via a touch screen, giving a much more in-depth chronological history of the club via hand-written notes and old photos, which interact with the object and media wall.

03: Training

The highly-popular Training Area (the largest area in the space) is all about what it takes to be a Manchester United player. Created as an open ‘field’ with artificial grass, it features five individual interactive mini-games. Players register their details on a touch-screen and an age-appropriate game level is selected for them to try out exactly what’s needed to train like a pro and to find out how skilful they are compared to their friends and fellow-visitors. To keep visitor flow moving, players can only use each game once and for a limited time. All five games, focusing on differing skills / challenges and set up with real footballs and sequential lighting pads, are linked to a giant scoreboard, the room’s focal point, so that top scorers’ names flash up on the ‘wall of fame’ board, whilst their efforts are recorded on cameras set within each of the five games – Awareness / Dribbling / On the Turn / Shoot / Goalkeeping – so that they can watch their performance afterwards. Some of the walls also feature clear Holo-pro screens, showing past and present Man Utd heroes performing the same challenges as the visitor players.

The space is edged by a giant mural of the real team at their training ground (in a slightly abstracted version of the real ground), created by a local artist to a brief by MET Studio. Display screens show the players in training, with in-depth looks at tactics and set pieces, as well as the general fitness regime all players are part of.A final exhibit is the fan wall, where visitors get to see the vastness and diversity of the Manchester United global fan base, becoming part of the club family themselves via two further touch screens.

04: The Manager

In one of the smaller spaces in the experience, visitors come face to face with Sir Alex Ferguson – The Manager – and get an insight into what makes a great manager and what the manager expects from his players.

The space itself is based on what the players’ changing rooms really look like, complete with original wood panelling, benches and real team shirts against the walls signed by the current team. Touch screens allow you to find out more about any particular player – including being able to browse through a digital version of Wayne Rooney’s kitbag, getting to know another side to players, such as their hobbies or iPod music lists.

A large screen then shows Sir Alex Ferguson, using Pepper’s Ghost hologram technology (where real film is projected onto glass at 45 degrees and projected into a disconnected space and then merged). Sir Alex then speaks about what it takes to be a player for Manchester United and, whilst speaking, is interrupted three times by three different players, who talk to him as though all is happening in real time.

05: Build Up

The ‘Build Up’ space is a multi-faceted environment, centering on how it feels on match day to be going to Old Trafford, capturing the anticipatory atmosphere in sight, sound and even smell. A giant mural shows the outside of the stadium, complete with approaching fans, hot dog / burger and programme sellers, with an audio track of real sound recorded at the stadium, including snippets of real fans’ conversations. A vending machine next to the scarf seller lets people buy badges in real time, whilst a Manchester Post seller shows you what the paper is saying in a 3D display.

Screens all around show the global media build-up to a major game, with major-name pundit commentary, whilst replaying highlights from some of the greatest games in Manchester United’s history on a large multimedia wall.

A ‘Match the Manager’ area shows you what it takes to be the best manager in the world, running footage and then allowing visitors to make managerial choices, compared afterwards to the actual decision Sir Alex Ferguson had made at that moment.

A final area displays full-size replica trophies and allows visitors to pose for photos on a green-screen background with a choice of images (eg Old Trafford or the Manchester United team) in the ‘Lifting the Cup’ area.

06: The Tunnel

The tunnel replicates the Old Trafford tunnel in a stylised reconstruction just before a game, with footage of the actual team shot on a very high-resolution camera, then projected onto the tunnel wall as if waiting for a game at full size, right next to you, building a further sense of anticipation. The players are seen stretching, eyeing up the opposition – in this case, you, the visitor.

As you progress down the tunnel, the noise of the ground mounts to a crescendo. Eventually the doors at the end of the tunnel open and visitors walk through into the experience grand finale alongside the players themselves.

07: The Match

The experience ends with a space that takes you as close to the feel of a live game as possible: ‘The Match’.

As you walk in, a 7m x 3m, 360°, high-definition screen shows the Old Trafford crowd as if you have just walked live onto the pitch at the Theatre of Dreams, combined with the sound of a deafening roar from the crowd. The impression is backed up by multi-sensory devices, including a blast of cold air and the smell of freshly-cut grass, creating a 4D experience. Then all goes silent and the screens go black before launching into a 4-screen, 4-minute version of a classic game, when Manchester United beat rivals Liverpool three goals to nil. The film, directed by award-winning London Olympics director Daryl Goodrich, shows four angles on the same events, with score and commentary integrated into the graphically-treated film, which builds to a massive crescendo. The high-impact footage will allow you almost to feel every tackle and to experience a real impression of the tension that the players actually feel whilst on the pitch.

08: Share the Success

This final area lets visitors down gently after the Match experience. Passing a photomontage capturing the victory, images of the visitors taken in the build-up area are shown alongside, prompting visitors to collect their own framed photographs from the sales point in the Megastore below. The floor then ramps up with a final look over the ‘Training Zone’, whilst the ‘Share the Success’ wall focuses on the unsung heroes of the club, the groundsmen, exhibiting a genuine antique lawnmower once used to trim the Old Trafford turf.

Metstudio - Spring News 2009

2009-05-11T14:02:00.002+01:00

Services to meet
your needs

We offer clients the highest service from masterplanning right through to final installation and beyond into an on-going revenue-generating project strategy.

MET Studio Design are able to offer the following services:
masterplanning and concept development
corporate design strategy
interpretation and scriptwriting
environmental 3D design branding and marketing strategy
graphic design
project management
institutional planning.

The company is supported by a network of leading specialists who cover branding, corporate literature and website development, sculpture, modelmaking, computer/multimedia programme production, audio-visual production, illustration, electronics, engineering, architectural services, interactive device production, lighting design, project marketing, production and special effects.

http://www.metstudio.comMetstudio continue to be masters of museum design, excelling at exhibition design and vistors centres. We are currently working on a number of exciting new projects at home and abroad. Internationally awarded in recogniton of our work, including winner of International Trade Queens Award for Enterprise, Top Honnor Award Excellence on The Waterfront, Winner of The Urban Land Institute - Global Award for Excellence, Winner International Trade Awards & Winner International Award Museum and Heritage Awards for Excellence.

Autumn News

2009-01-19T11:58:00.004Z

MASi, a partnership between MET Studio and Academy Studios in California, is currently developing a new project -- "The BugWorld Experience", an insectarium to open at the Albert Docks in Liverpool, UK, in June 2009.

Spring News

2008-11-10T19:24:00.000Z

MET Studio is proud to announce the royal opening of the Budongo Trail Chimpanzee exhibit by HRH The Princess Royal.
MET Studio have worked in conjunction with the RZSS and Cooper Cromar architects over the last two years to design and build this world class Chimpanzee enclosure. The exhibition focuses on the conservation effort currently taking place in the Budongo forest, Uganda by introducing visitors to the tireless efforts being made in the preservation of our closest cousins, the wonder and awe of their environment and the varied and intricate personalities they possess. The exhibit has already been billed as one of Europe’s leading zoological interpretational experiences.

“This is going to be setting an amazing new standard for British and European zoo interpretation.”

-Stephen P Woollard, Education & Interpretation Manager.

Spring News

2008-11-10T19:17:00.000Z

An exhibition put together by soldiers to depict their experiences fighting the Taliban has been nominated for the Art Fund Prize (Ben Hoyle writes). Helmand: The Soldiers' Story, at the National Army Museum, Chelsea, is one of ten projects and institutions being considered for the £100,000 prize. More than 150 soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade contributed to the exhibition, which tells the story of their tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2006.

2008-11-10T19:12:00.000Z

MET Studio is proud to announce their recent win: "London International Trade Awards Winner 2007".

MET Studio is proud to announce two awards received for Hong Kong Wetland Park
The Waterfront Centre "2007 Excellence on the Waterfront Awards" Top Honor Award, awarded by the Waterfront Centre of Washington DC, USA, and presented in Boston USA on 2 November 2007. The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Global Award for Excellence, awarded by the ULI also of Washington DC and presented in Las Vegas, USA, on 26 October 2007. "This brings to 15 the number of national/international Awards conferred on our project and I would like to take the opportunity to thank you all once again for your invaluable contributions to this amazing success story! - please pass on my appreciation and regards to all of your staff and sub consultants who were involved. We truly had a remarkable project team."-Andy Lewis at Architectural Services Department, Hong Kong

Winter News

2008-11-10T19:10:00.000Z

MET Studio celebrates 25 Years

On the evening of the 15th of November, to celebrate our silver anniversary all elements came together for a night of rich chemistry. 200 employees and friends of MET Studio, past and present, fused for a night to remember. Click here to view pictures from the celebration.

Autumn News

2008-11-10T19:05:00.000Z

Met Studio has recently completed its work for a unique exhibition that is now open at the National Army Museum. HELMAND: The Soldiers’ Story has been built, written and contributed to by soldiers of 16 Air Assault Brigade, to tell the story of their experiences fighting in Afghanistan’s troubled Helmand Province in 2006.

Summer news...

2007-08-14T14:51:00.000+01:00

MET Studio Design working alongside Zaha Hadid are shortlisted for the design of the prestigious British Pavilion at Expo 2010, Shanghai. The final decision on a winner will be taken in September after interviews with the 6 candidates.

The Network Pavilion tells the story of our worlds as we move in to a new century which is already being defined by global networks. It has been designed to display and embody the network sensibilities and realities of our time. The structure fuses content with architecture and creates experiences never seen before in an exposition pavilion. It connects the UK to China in ways that demonstrate the unique place the UK occupies worldwide within its own networks, from global finance to tourism and travel and the arts.

For further information please follow this link

Spring news...

2007-08-14T14:48:00.000+01:00

MET Studio Design Ltd and Haley Sharpe Design were joint winners of the International Award for the outstanding work they had undertaken for two major overseas projects - Hong Kong Wetland Park and Historic Jamestowne, respectively.

Autumn News.........

2007-01-05T13:44:00.000Z

Following MET Studios appointment, as the design build agency, for the SaudiAramco R&D centre, the job is now on site and due for completion at the end of 2006.

Summer News.........

2007-01-05T13:38:00.000Z

MET Studio have been awarded the design and build contract for the Budongo chimpanzee exhibit by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland at Edinburgh Zoo. Working with, Edinburgh based, architects Cooper Cromer, MET Studio are working towards completing the project by the end of 2007.The project is to be one of the largest attractions of its kind in Europe. MET Studio will be responsible for the interpretation of all exhibits and theming, focusing on the Budongo forest in Uganda and the Budongo chimpanzee conservation project. The project will also feature exciting interactives highlighting the similarities between chimpanzees and humans.

Hong Kong Wetlands Park

2006-08-01T12:22:00.000+01:00

Spring news...

Hong Kongs Chief Executive Opens The Wetland Park

Donald Tsang declared the Hong Kong Wetland Park open on 20th May 2006 and encouraged people to introduce “this treasure of nature and world-class green tourism facility to friends and relatives overseas”. The 10,000 square metre visitor centre, along with its 60 hectares of recreated wetlands, were masterplanned, designed and supervised by MET Studio over the last 5 years. With three major interactive exhibition galleries (including a walkthrough swamp with live crocodiles), and extensive exterior interpretation, the Park will be a focal point for local and regional conservation education. It has already proven to be enormously popular with the public.
For more information visit:
http://www.wetlandpark.com/en/index.asp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Wetland_Park.

MET Studio's HK Wetland exhibition installation continues

2004-11-30T17:32:00.000Z

With the appointment of the exhibition fit out contractor last month the Hong Kong Wetland Park project has entered its final stage. Installation work on the exhibition areas will begin early in the New Year with participation from specialists in the USA, China, Australia and Europe collaborating to create the Worlds largest permanent exhibition on Wetlands and migratory birds. As can be seen from one of the latest photos of the site, the main curtain wall façade is now in place and the central atrium is approaching completion. In the background the 40 storey towers of Tin Shui Wai new town keep watch.

MET Studio Design shortlisted for another export award

2004-11-30T17:30:00.000Z

MET Studio Design has been short-listed for yet another export award this month – the Exporter of the Year category in the National Business Awards. These annual awards, sponsored by Orange, are acknowledged by The Chancellor of the Exchequer as “the UK’s business Oscars”. Once again MET Studio are flying the flag for the UK’s creative industries as the only design company short-listed amongst entries that include major corporations such as Proctor & Gamble, RBS, 02, Royal Mail, BP and British Gas. The winners will be announced at the Grosvenor House Hotel in November.

Hong Kong retail project opens

2004-11-30T17:28:00.000Z

MET Studio Design have completed a new retail project within the shopping complex of IFC2 (the International Finance Centre 2) in Hong Kong for jewellery retailer CARAT*, a leading retailer in the growing market for high quality synthetic and simulant gemstones. The store is the retailer’s fourth outlet in Hong Kong, following on from the success of a first store in the Lan Kwai Fong district and two department store concessions. ‘Our brief was to evolve the design of the existing store’, commented MET Studio Design’s Senior Designer Neil Williams, ‘moving on from its harder, geometric lines and softening the overall feel with the use of curved lines and new materials, as well as working around the parameters of an unusual space, both making the most of that space whilst ensuring optimum security for the product.’

MET Studio Collects Queens Award for overseas commissions

2004-11-30T17:26:00.000Z

This month the three directors of MET Studio Design (Chairman/Creative Director Alex McCuaig, Managing Director Chris Cawte and Director of Communication Chris White) were all invited to attend a special reception at Buckingham Palace, given by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh. The reception was held to celebrate the achievements of the winners of 2004’s Queen’s Award for Enterprise. MET Studio Design was first notified of the award in April 2004 in recognition of business excellence in international trade, having successfully exported the company’s masterplanning and design services through sixteen separate overseas commissions over the last three years.

view full article

New exhibition project opens in Hong Kong

2004-11-30T17:24:00.000Z

On 21st June, Mr Tung, Chee-hwa, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, officially opened a major new US$6.5m exhibition project in Hong Kong - The Hong Kong Jockey Club Drug InfoCentre. The centre marks an important milestone in Hong Kong’s drug preventive education; targeted specifically at young people, it makes use of multi-media exhibits and interactive games to disseminate anti-drug messages, as well as serving as a venue for enhancing local and international exchanges among experts in the anti-drug field. Project funding is by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, whilst development of the project was led by the Narcotics Division, Security Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under the guidance of the Action Committee Against Narcotics . Building design is by the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD) of the Hong Kong Government whilst MET Studio Design have undertaken all branding, exhibition and 2D and 3D design.

MET Studio Design Managing on America Design Tour

2004-11-30T17:20:00.000Z

MET Studio Design Managing Director Chris Cawte has been out on the road this month, delivering the aptly-named speech ‘America, Come Out of the Classroom and Get Back on the Road!’. The occasion was the 2004 American Association of Museums Annual Meeting in New Orleans, where Chris was invited to take part in a session chaired by US-based company, Academy Studios Inc, considering what American museums can learn from non-US attractions and exhibitions. The speech urged museums – not just in America, but worldwide – to be prepared to take risks in order to reach beyond the traditional family remit to more difficult audiences.

Met Studio Award Queens Award for Trade

2004-11-30T17:17:00.000Z

We are very proud this month to announce that MET Studio Design has been granted a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category of the 2004 Awards. The awards are [the most prestigious business awards in the UK and are] recommended by a panel of experts reporting to the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. They are then approved by Queen Elizabeth II before being conferred annually on the Queen’s birthday (21st April) in recognition of outstanding business achievement.

The company won the Queen’s Award – a very rare accolade for any UK design company – after achieving a year on year increase in export revenue since the formation of the company. In the last three years MET Studio Design has received fees from sixteen separate commissions from clients in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and the United States

MET Studio involved in cultural mission

2004-11-30T17:15:00.000Z

Chris White, Director of Content at MET Studio Design, has been invited once again this year by the British government to play a prominent role in a cultural heritage scoping mission. This month’s mission, to China, has been organised by UKTI (United Kingdom Trade and Industry) and will be undertaken by leading UK museum industry professionals, including representatives of leading British Museums

concrete formwork in HK near completion

2004-11-30T17:14:00.000Z

The concrete formwork for the major new 90,000 sq ft visitor centre building at the Hong Kong Wetland Park is now nearing completion. The HKWP is Hong Kong’s first ever dedicated environmental attraction and is due to open in 2005. The HK$520 million project has been commissioned by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department (AFCD) of the Government of the Hong Kong SAR. MET Studio Design have created the scheme’s exhibition design under the project leadership of ArchSD (the Government's Architectural Services Department).

Chris White MET Studio Design Director on a mission

2004-11-30T17:11:00.000Z

Chris White, MET Studio Design’s Director of Content and Interpretation, has taken part in a Scoping Mission to Taiwan, organised by the UK government’s Department of Trade and Industry. Chris was one of three UK specialists invited to take part in the mission, aimed at highlighting export services opportunities for British businesses. MET Studio Design was the only design company to take part, alongside tourism specialists Deighton International and environmental specialists Jorth Consulting. The mission covered the cities of Taipei and Chiayi and the counties of Pingtung and Kaohsiung and its results are to be published shortly by the DTI.

MET Studio's Design Forum

2004-11-30T17:09:00.000Z

This month sees the launch of a new section within our website – the MET Forum: an open space showcasing everything from opinion pieces to reviews, favourite designs and new creative work. The Forum will feature contributions from invited guests, alongside pieces by MET Studio’s own staff. Our three launch items are Five Favourite Designs by Grant Gibson, Editor of leading UK design magazine Blueprint, a photo essay on the controversial sport of Ultimate Fighting by renowned photographer Francesca Yorke and an article asking us to look again at our endless pursuit of originality by MET Studio Design Associate James Norton. Regular updates from invited guests will follow on the widest of subjects, whilst browsers of the site are openly encouraged to respond to what they have seen and read using the Forum Feedback button.Click on this link to see the Forum in full : www.metstudio.com/forum

Alex McGuiag speaks for Foreign Office

2004-11-30T17:06:00.000Z

Alex McCuaig, Chairman and Creative Director of MET Studio Design, is taking up a prestigious invitation this month from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to speak at a Museum and Heritage Site Seminar in the historic Greek city of Thessaloniki

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Metstudio Short-listed for design award and industry award

2004-11-30T14:44:00.000Z

MET Studio Design has a clutch of plaudits to announce this month, having been shortlisted for no fewer than FOUR forthcoming awards, in celebration of the company’s recent creative and business achievements. At the FX International Interior Design Awards 2003, MET Studio Design have been shortlisted for the Best Museum/Gallery Award for their masterplan of The Deep. Based in Hull, within a landmark building by Terry Farrell & Partners, The Deep is the world’s only submarium and has become a phenomenally successful tourist attraction. In recognition of the company’s export achievements, MET Studio Design has also been shortlisted in The Exporter of the Year category of the London Business Awards 2003 (run by the London Chamber of Commerce) and in The Corporate Exporter of the Year and Best New Exporter of the Year categories of the International Business Awards 2003 (run by Trade Partners UK). All four awards are to be announced in the course of November 2003.

See project The Deep

New Hong Kong Offices for Met Studio Design

2004-11-30T14:42:00.004Z

MET Studio Design is delighted to announce the opening this month of a new, full-time office in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong. The new office will allow us to service our many Far Eastern clients more effectively as well as enhancing our business development activities in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Singapore, building on our strong and long-held reputation in the region. The new office will be the company’s third office, joining the London head office and the Portuguese office in Lisbon, where the company has developed a strong working relationship with local communications specialists Artevisao, after working together on a project for Portugal Telecom.

Metstudio wins Hong Kong design project

2004-11-30T14:39:00.000Z

MET Studio Design has been commissioned by the Electro-Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) of the Hong Kong government to design a new 'educational path', which will run throughout the department's new headquarters building.

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