Applications
Stadiums and arenas use print everywhere: hospitality suites, players’ corridors, concourses, reception areas and the outside of the building. The challenge is rarely a lack of ideas. It is finding short windows in a busy season to install, then keeping the graphics looking sharp through match days, cleaning and crowds. This page covers how Landor’s Phototex fabric and liquid coatings are used across those different zones.
Designer Conrad Davies has produced imagery inside the stadium of one of Europe’s biggest football clubs for over 20 years. His point about stadium work is a practical one: there are limited windows within a season to create or update facilities, and installers have to work around staff and events.
That is why he turned to Landor Phototex self-adhesive fabric for the interiors of corporate boxes and suites. It needs no glue or paste, can be repositioned during fitting, and can even be installed when a suite is already dressed for an event. For one project, transforming 27 corporate boxes at Hull City FC, he told the client it would take only 5 working days to fit them all.
The Manchester United Academy at Carrington was Conrad’s largest project, with floor-to-ceiling designs along the corridors. Matching drops across large areas without visible joins was a key requirement. At the Leeds Rugby League stadium, his ‘Golden Experience’ under the North Stand led on to further work, including a ‘Golden Decade’ display in the stadium reception area.
Long corridor runs like these are touched, brushed by kit bags and cleaned regularly. Landor’s Wallpaper Matt liquid laminate is designed for inkjet-printed wallcoverings, especially Phototex. For the best protection and a wipe-clean surface, Landor recommends installing the wallcovering first and then hand-applying the coating over the finished wall. Satin and gloss versions are available where a richer look is wanted.
Concourses, stairways and turnstile areas see the heaviest footfall in the building. Here the choice of finish affects how well the graphic copes with contact:
Landor’s guidance on graphics in high-traffic areas is that a coated print can typically last around twice as long as an unprotected print in the same environment. In hospitality suites and food areas with high-touch surfaces, ColourShield Safetouch anti-microbial coatings, tested to ISO 22196, are an additional option. They are designed to supplement normal cleaning, not replace it.
External signage, flex-face branding and banners around a stadium face rain, UV light, pollution and handling. Corporate signage is often installed at height, with cranes and specialist labour, so replacing a faded sign early is expensive. Landor notes that almost all corporate and flex-face signage is coated before installation, and that this can be done in-house by hand without specialised machines.
Areas around a ground can also attract graffiti. Landor’s anti-graffiti coating is a two-part water-based gloss coating designed so that many paints and markers can be cleaned off without damaging the print beneath. It is applied as a single top coat.
Stadium print programmes mix short-term and long-term work. A temporary display for a single event may not need protection at all if the environment is benign, while a permanent corridor scheme or exterior sign almost always benefits from a coating. Deciding this zone by zone keeps cost in proportion to value. For anything long-term, coat a sample of the actual print, check it under the venue’s lighting and run it through the cleaning products the facilities team uses.
Yes. Phototex is designed to be removable and repositionable without leaving residue, which suits sponsor and seasonal changes in hospitality areas.
For Wallpaper Matt over wallcoverings, Landor recommends installing first, then hand-applying the coating over the finished wall for the best protection and a wipe-clean surface.
Satin is a good compromise: it reduces glare compared with gloss while still giving good abrasion resistance. Matt is the lowest-reflection option.
No. They are intended to supplement routine cleaning and hygiene procedures in high-touch areas, not to replace them.
Call +44 1252 624411 or email info@liquid-lamination.co.uk for advice, samples and pricing.
