LONDON – Cover It Up has been appointed as a "preferred" drapes and soft goods supplier to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. Events and functions are routinely staged in places like the museum's Central Hall, home to "Dippy," a 26-meter-long Diplodocus skeleton. A standard draping package for this space typically includes a 160-by-25-foot LED color changing starcloth along one side of the room, hung in the hour between the doors being shut to the public at 6 p.m. and the typical event's kickoff time of 7 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. This is handled by six Cover It Up crew members.
"Specials" are also often needed for ancillary rooms, depending on the event layout and concept, involving draping with different materials like velvet and trevira, pulled from Cover It Up's extensive stock. A recent example was a "creepy crawly" room that was dressed in dark blue velvet cloth.
Cover It Up were also on hand when the new Darwin Centre opened, which involved hanging various baffles and black serge drapes to close down the space and ensure that people could be contained in different areas – and again, all this was achieved in a hectic one-hour time slot.
The company also created custom white Bolton drapes to conceal all the trussing and motors used for flying the sound and lighting equipment. With aerial artists performing as part of the show, there was one central motor control point on the floor, which also had to be neatly encased with white draping.
Recently Cover It Up rigged the LED starcloth – used as the backdrop to the lounge area – for a society birthday party staged in the Central Hall, and installed sets of heavy red velvet drapes across the recessed arched areas that edge the room. These were used for a combination of smaller private lounges and utility areas to help facilitate the catering operation. They also dressed the entrance corridor in black velvet cloth.
"It's a great honor for the company to be chosen as a preferred supplier by such a prestigious London landmark venue," said Cover It Up's Rhys Sion. "We are really enjoying the challenges and variety of the work there."
For more information, please visit www.cover-it-up.com .
