Recreating the Urban Canvas: How Embrace Building Wraps Turn Construction Sites into Storytelling Platforms

By Marcus Timson

This article is inspired by a FuturePrint podcast interview with Greg Forster of Embrace Building Wraps, a double award winner of the Kavalan Green Leader Awards.

In the often grey, chaotic landscape of urban construction, there are increasingly standout bursts of visual poetry. A façade wrapped in rich colours and compelling design might, at first glance, appear to be public art. But on closer inspection, it reveals a confluence of marketing, engineering, design and print—courtesy of Embrace Building Wraps, a specialist British company that is redefining the visual vocabulary of scaffolding.

At its helm is Greg Forster, a man whose enthusiasm for vast printed canvases is matched only by his fondness for logistical complexity. “We like a challenge,” he says, understatedly. What began as a speculative moment outside a pub—eyeing a tattered hoarding and pondering its latent marketing potential—has evolved into one of the UK's most innovative project management businesses within large‑format visual display.

Mr Forster’s career arc is itself a study in the evolving nature of outdoor media. Having cut his teeth selling advertising space at JCDecaux and Clear Channel in the pre‑digital boom years, he shifted focus in 2013 to launch Embrace Building Wraps. The core idea was simple: rather than plaster billboards with promotions, why not transform entire construction sites into premium advertising platforms or community‑facing installations?

The Art of Wrapping

Embrace’s offering extends far beyond vinyl on walls. It delivers full‑service project management—from creative design and planning permission to installation, maintenance and removal. The process often involves engineering offset frames, coordinating with contractors, and appeasing both city planners and sustainability auditors. “It’s cat herding,” admits Mr Forster. “We’re the fulcrum on a seesaw, balancing developers, creative agencies, contractors and installation teams on either end.”

This model has found resonance with clients seeking more than visual appeal. IKEA’s headline‑grabbing Oxford Street installation in the West End of London—a 2,500 m² wrap featuring a 3D replica of its iconic blue Frakta bag, complete with engineered 32‑metre handles—was not merely a stunt. It was a masterclass in print, project management and sustainability. Printed onto Kavalan PVC‑free material and reinforced with custom blue‑coated fixings to hide structural components, the wrap withstood eight months of variable London weather while drawing widespread media acclaim. The visual impact was clear; so too was the underlying message of brand and environmental harmony.

Another highlight came in the form of a riotously colourful wrap at The Sandhurst Block at the old barracks in Bordon, Hampshire, now being converted into residential housing. Here, Embrace blended creativity with architectural camouflage. Multiple designs filled window voids, wrapped steel‑framed wings, and lit up the site with vibrant, printed aluminium panels. The installation served both an aesthetic and marketing function: disguise the disruption while generating visual buzz.

The Print Behind the Prestige

Despite Forster’s advertising pedigree, he is quick to acknowledge that none of it would be possible without print. “Without it, we wouldn’t have a business,” he states. Embrace relies on a network of specialist large‑format print partners who must deliver precision and consistency—failure is simply not an option. A single miscalculation in resolution, colour or dimension could mean reprinting and reinstalling structures larger than the average London townhouse, a cost borne not just in money but in reputation.

Sustainability underpins these operations, not as a bolt‑on, but as an integrated business philosophy. Embrace was the first UK‐based installer to use Kavalan’s Sunlight range, a PVC‐free material that ticks all the right boxes: fire resistance, durability, and sustainability. Beyond materials, the firm funds reforestation projects and collaborates with local artisans and farmers to repurpose spent wraps—as pond liners, geotextiles, or even artisanal bags.

Embrace’s credentials hold up to scrutiny. Since 2020, it has funded the planting of over 17,000 trees through its partnership with Ecologi and supports 51 carbon offset projects globally, ranging from hydroelectricity in Uganda to landfill gas conversion in Turkey.

Complexity as a Calling

What sets Embrace apart is its appetite for solving complex creative installation challenges. Whether illuminating 3D logos on a Mayfair scaffold or installing a record breaking 8,500 m² wrap across the Selfridges site in Birmingham, the company thrives on technical ambition. Projects are typically festooned with engineering calculations, structural safety certificates, storm‑resistance plans, and a constant stream of regulatory paperwork. “Every day is a school day,” Forster says.

Indeed, Britain’s unpredictable weather adds yet another layer of uncertainty. “Despite all the planning in the world,” he adds, “Mother Nature can be a cruel mistress.” Safety and contingency planning are non‐negotiable, especially when the installations behave like giant sails in high winds. With the Met Office naming more storms each year, engineering for longevity is essential, even if the wrap is technically a short‑term install.

Culture and Continuity

There is also, one suspects, a culture at play. Many of Embrace’s collaborators—printers, scaffolders, structural engineers—have collaborated with the company or with Mr Forster himself for decades. Trust, mutual accountability and prompt invoice payments are part of the ecosystem that keeps complex projects from unravelling.

The company’s internal culture is equally pragmatic. “Creeping excellence,” as Forster calls it, is a defining feature: each project nudging the team towards better coordination, smarter solutions, and higher‑quality delivery. The reward is not just winning awards—though there are many—but a consistent stream of new and repeat business, often secured by word of mouth due to outstanding delivery.

Looking Ahead

Looking to the future, Embrace is cautiously expanding its technology stack. Artificial intelligence and 3D visualisation software are on the radar, particularly for the creative pre‑visualisation phase. And with new non‑PVC materials in early testing, further reductions in environmental impact may be within reach. “These things take time,” Forster says. “But we are in it for the long game.”

There are also murmurs of major upcoming work at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix—though NDAs mean specifics remain under ‘wraps’, for now :)

Building a Legacy

If the mission of Embrace is, in Forster’s words, to “conceal, enhance, entertain or advertise,” its impact goes further. It transforms liminal urban spaces—half‑built, half‑forgotten—into moments of visual surprise, branded storytelling, and even civic pride. More importantly, it does so while maintaining an unwavering commitment to safety, quality, and the environment.

In a world where disruption is the default state of the urban landscape, perhaps it is no bad thing that someone is thinking creatively—and responsibly—about what we see while we wait for the scaffolding to come down.