Event & Media Structures LTD and Fabox UK designed and built NASC Village for ScaffEx 26, creating a traditional English village setting within Manchester Central. The installation brought together NASC’s services and membership areas, informal seating and its own pub, The Black Hat Arms.
Invited back by NASC for a second year, the team took on the design, sourcing and installation of a space filled with custom features. Matt Bowler helped shape the concept and coordinated the project.
The challenge: making the village feel convincing
The brief called for the character of an old English village, with practical spaces for an industry exhibition. Visitors needed somewhere to meet the NASC team, learn about membership benefits and catch up with colleagues.
Achieving that setting depended on the details working together. The paths, signs, furniture, planting and pub all needed a consistent style. Short sourcing lead times added another challenge: the team had to find traditional items while developing and producing the custom elements that would make the village specific to NASC.
Connecting the village
A winding cobblestone-effect path connected the village’s meeting and seating areas. EMS designed the artwork for the custom vinyl flooring, which Rob at Bobcat Digital printed. Artificial grass, timber decking and picket fencing defined the surrounding spaces.
Pergolas and fabric canopies created covered seating areas, with picnic benches, circular tree benches and lounge furniture offering different places to sit. Festoon lights, traditional street lamps and coach lights helped establish the village atmosphere. Live and faux planting added borders, hanging displays and flowers around the entrance and seating areas.
Traditional fingerpost signs directed visitors towards NASC’s services and The Black Hat Arms, making wayfinding part of the village design.
Turning a Fabox Cube into The Black Hat Arms
The Black Hat Arms gave the village a recognisable meeting point. A Fabox Cube formed the pub structure, with stone-effect exterior finishes, a custom fascia and a traditional hanging sign mounted on decorative ironwork.
Inside, printed theatrical wall scenes covered the interior. The artwork depicted dark timber panelling, bottle shelves, framed pictures, pub mirrors and a dartboard, creating the appearance of an established English pub within the modular unit.
The black-and-gold pub signage featured a hard-hat illustration, connecting the traditional styling to the scaffolding industry. Outside, oak barrels served as tables and timber seating completed the beer garden.
Custom details with a sense of humour
EMS designed a village noticeboard, CNC cut by Bobcat Digital, and filled it with playful notices. A traditional village boundary sign welcomed visitors on one side and announced their departure on the other, complete with “Please drive carefully”. Its illustrated village scene incorporated scaffolding, while “Twinned with safety since 1945” added another NASC reference.
The pub window featured two familiar faces peering through decorative glass-effect artwork. A fictional, 1980s-style Pubwatch poster added more personalised humour, and EMS designed and 3D printed custom ScaffEx beer tokens.
A sign reading “It takes a village to raise a scaffold” brought the village theme and the scaffold industry together.
Sourcing and assembling the complete setting
Alongside the custom production, the team sourced a real old red telephone box, a traditional red post box, picnic benches, oak barrels and a mix of live and faux plants within short lead times.
A garden shed, planted wheelbarrow, window boxes and smaller decorative touches helped complete the setting. Each item had to fit the design and be ready for installation alongside the structures, flooring, lighting and furniture.
On site, the EMS team assembled the pergolas and canopies, fitted the pub finishes and brought the planting, signs and seating into place. The build photographs show the coordination involved in combining these elements within the exhibition hall.
The finished village
NASC Village provided a setting for NASC to present its services and welcome members. Finished photographs and walkthrough footage show visitors using the covered seating, meeting around the decked areas and gathering at The Black Hat Arms.
The project combined modular structures, custom artwork, fabrication, sourcing and installation in one coordinated build. For Event & Media Structures LTD and Fabox UK, it demonstrates how a detailed creative brief can be delivered as a practical event space, with the same attention given to the main structures and the smallest scenic touches.
Planning a themed event or exhibition space?
Event & Media Structures LTD works with brands, agencies and production teams on temporary event structures, modular builds and custom installations.
Tell us what you have in mind: info@event-structures.co.uk or +44 (0)1908 224702.
