Vibrant atmosphere at National Grid offices courtesy of Lintec's Vitrocolour film

Two of the UK’s National Grid’s buildings, located in Leicestershire, have seen an overhaul that brought a fresh and vibrant atmosphere to employees. A combination of printed wall mounted panels and digitally printed window film on glass partitions, ensures a variety of images that reflect the values and objectives of National Grid now adorn open spaces.

Workplace enhancement specialists, Penacom, recently completed the project at the two sites, which was designed not only to fit in and comply with the company’s corporate guidelines, but also to inspire employees and offer a more productive working environment. The images consisted of traditional seasonal landscapes, Formula One action photographs, various technologies and employees in their everyday workplace environments â€" both on- and offsite.

Darryl Easton, Project Manager at Penacom, says, “Our design team did a brilliant job at putting together the images that were supplied by National Grid’s communications department to create various themes in the different parts of the offices, while keeping to the corporate identity. Various window graphics, which turned normal everyday glass partitions into vibrant, inspiring working environments, made out a big part of the installation and we are pleased with the opportunities it gave us in fulfilling our brief.”

Turning glaze into canvas

Glazing enhancement opens up a whole new spectrum of cost effective and flexible possibilities for architectural design and corporate branding, which is continually expanding with new products that allow more innovative privacy designs and better vibrancy of images on glass.

Coral Design & Display played an integral part in the design, printing and installation of the window graphics at National Grid sites. Commercial Director Mark Ward explains, “For National Grid’s project, we produced a series of large format prints to which the designs required both CMYK and an inline white ink, as this process enabled us to produce mirror images on both sides of the glass ensuring that the window graphics stood out visually, whilst at the same time allowing a degree of translucency to let ambient light filter through. So, in order to produce the best possible job we had to ensure that we use a premium quality film, as the film you’re printing on plays a huge role in the level of print you can deliver. ”

So, when it came to choosing the film, Mark didn’t have to think twice before choosing Lintec Graphic Film’s Vitrocolour® non-PVC process colour film.  “Vitrocolour is simply the best media for us to print to. Unlike self-adhesive vinyl, the optically clear polyester window film enables us to print with great definition, while the UV ink we use has excellent adhesion to the film. In addition, the film doesn’t stretch or shrink like PVC material, making it much easier to fit, and as it doesn’t leave a residue when it is removed, it greatly reduces the time required to take down and removes the need for using industrial solvent cleaners or abrasives scrapers.”

He continues, “The film’s hard, anti-scratch coating means that it offers greater resistance to both mechanical scratching during installation and afterwards when being cleaned, which eliminates any haze effects. The glass-like see-through quality that Vitrocolour enables us to achieve in non-printed areas is second to none.”

Brilliant results

The new vibrant designs made a significant impact on the office environments as soon as it was installed. “We’ve had a great deal of positive feedback after the installation - the new office surroundings allow employees to immerse themselves completely through the dynamic working environment” comments Darryl. “This can only be achieved by delivering a high quality job â€" something we’re continually priding ourselves on.”

Mark adds, “Lintec Graphic Films’ premium Vitrocolour film has allowed us to easily achieve the best quality installation on the window graphics â€" something we would otherwise not have been able to achieve so easily.”