We’ve decorated Clayton Square for many years, and the building has seen many changes. It was time to change the colour scheme from beautiful jewelled colours we’d used for several years, to something new. We’ve used peacocks with blues & greens, we’ve done reds & golds, blues & silvers too. So this time I thought I’d go with their orange branding, something quite contemporary.
So for the new scheme I decided to enhance their branding & use their orange for the theme incorporating lights & garlands from previous years too. With my maths head on I calculated costs for labour, scissor lifts, accommodation & just how many colours of each bauble per garland I’d need to order. Over 4,000 of them!
We needed to strip the previous decorations, wire ALL the baubles and re- dress prior to installation.
Once ready to work through the night we took delivery of the lifts but only once boards had been laid on the floor to prevent tiles from cracking – a logistical problem. Teamwork is crucial! Then we could start to hang the long drape lights & by using batons we managed not to tangle them with the suspended flashing snowflakes. Once the garlands were up I followed to ensure all the baubles were hanging where they should be…attention to detail even that high up!
Finally the large meridians were suspended – a mixture of white and warm white lights which I love. The largest ones are 110cm in diameter and very heavy, and the ‘high street’ lights either side of the sign are 200cm wide each
Each year we have the budget to add a little more, so the large meridian lights and drape lights were good to go. It just needed a change of coloured baubles, some white flashing stars & lights in the mix of warm white lights to add to the orange, gold & silver theme.
I’m often asked whether maths is a requirement for display. Most definitely YES! When you look at the variety of trees, number of garlands, and different coloured baubles, scale up or down & remembering VAT, carriage, scissor lift hire, hotel expenses & labour too – a budget needs to be kept. And working at height, on boards so the lifts don’t crack the tiles and through the night, logistics is key too. INSTAGRAM
The final switch of the building’s lights to orange, along with the flashing stars just hanging above really added the finishing touches the WOW! that I’d had in my mind from the very beginning. And of course I always teach students to shout about what they’ve done – so when I saw a lovely Instagram post from a total stranger I had all the thanks I needed.
