May 7, 2008 11:21 pm US/Central
Good Question: How Does Building Wrap Stick?
(WCCO)
Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis was built in 1974, but it's certainly not showing its age from the outside. That's because the Orchestra freshened up its image with a striking graphical overlay, featuring images of the conductor and musicians.
But how does the image stick to the building in Minnesota's crazy weather conditions?
"We put it through some rally rugged tests," said Tim Boxeth, Product Marketing Manager of Digital Printing Media for Maplewood-based 3M.
According to the Minnesota Orchestra, more than 25,000 square feet of the building is covered using two 3M products. One is an opaque window overlay, another is called "3M™ Scotchcal™ Perforated Window Graphic."
"Is that essentially a series of giant stickers," asked WCCO-TV reporter Jason DeRusha.
"Yeah, essentially. Its large panels, so the material comes in wide rolls," said Boxeth. "What you're trying to do is achieve is a really good looking image, something with the photorealistic quality of a photo."
The overlays are printed on special giant printers and the stickers that go over windows are 50 percent image and 50 percent perforation. That's so you can still see out the windows from the inside of Orchestra Hall. The panels are printed and installed by a St. Paul company, Vomela.
The panels have an expected life span of at least three years.
"If you just put a standard photograph outside you know what happens to that. It starts to fade. That's why it's important you use durable inks," said Boxeth.
The material is tested in an artificial weathering facility at 3M's corporate headquarters. It's blasted with UV rays, snow, rain and anything it could face in a Minnesota winter.
"The film on the windows is the same that you're seeing on bus windows," said Boxeth.
The material isn't as sticky as you might expect, at least not at first. That's by design.
"When they're installing, they may position it but realize they got it wrong. This allows them to snap it up and reposition it," said Boxeth.
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