Featured Project: Projection Artworks and Christie Light Up Concorde Display

Cypress, California-based audio-visual company Christie teams up with London’s Projection Artworks to bring a unique visual treatment to the Alpha Foxtrot, the last Concorde supersonic jet ever built.

The jet is on display at a specially constructed, 2,200-square-foot hangar at Aerospace Bristol in England, a museum complex that is the final home of the last Concorde.

More than 150,000 visitors went through the doors within the first 10 months of the attraction’s  opening and the exhibit continues to earn five-star reviews on several travel websites and social media.

Using four Christie D13WU-HS 1DLP laser projectors, Projection Artworks uses the plane itself as a unique storytelling projection mapping canvas. Using custom content that fuses iconic footage wi?th exclusive interviews and graphical effects mapped on the right-hand side of the front fuselage, visitors embark on a 12-minute journey through the Concorde’s storied past, from its design to the technical intricacies of the engine. The presentation also highlights celebrities who flew on the Concorde, as well as flight paths and x-ray images. The visuals are combined with an audio track that features commentary from engineers, pilots and stewards who worked aboard the vessel.

During its short-lived heyday the Concorde flew at twice the speed of sound at an altitude of 60,000′.

“We created three chapters of content for the animation with the first being the making of Concorde,” says Gavin MacArthur, creative director for Projection Artworks. “Our aim was to capture the history and challenge of the project and the massive engineering undertaking involved. The second chapter was technical design. The third and final chapter centered on the emotional connection of those involved. From the pilots, engineers, and the people that built them, everyone (involved) has an emotional connection to this project. In this hangar, Concorde is the one standalone plane-it is the hero and our creative is the focus of that.”

Finally, as Projection Artworks notes in the case study on its website: “‘There have been more US astronauts than BA Concorde pilots,’ says a sign at the entrance to Aerospace Bristol. And while this says so much about the uniqueness of Concorde, the experience we created was equally so. Illuminating Concorde, both literally and metaphorically, while showcasing its remarkable role in aviation history, this is an educational, highly emotive experience for anyone interested in the art of flying.”