Custom Scenic Fabrication & LED Rigging for NEXT Net Health
How we engineered proprietary ground-supported truss to flawlessly marry heavy LED walls with custom architectural scenic pieces.
Marrying Custom Scenic with Heavy LED Technology
When corporate planners want to elevate a general session from a "standard meeting" into an immersive environment, off-the-shelf pipe and drape isn't enough.
For the NEXT Net Health Conference hosted at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa, the client came to us with a highly specific inspiration board. Their vision featured massive, custom-sized LED displays wrapped flawlessly in staggered, illuminated architectural columns.
As a premier event production company in Scottsdale and Phoenix, we didn’t just need to supply the screens—we had to engineer the physical environment to make the technology look like it was built into the architecture of the room.
The challenge wasn't just aesthetic; it was a matter of structural engineering. We had to design a proprietary rigging system that safely supported both the heavy video tech and the lightweight scenic elements, aligning them to the exact millimeter.
Pre-Production, 3D Rendering, and AI Animation
Before a single piece of aluminum was cut in our warehouse, we moved into the pre-production phase.
We took the client's mood board and built a precise, scaled 3D render of the Arizona Grand Resort ballroom. To help the client truly visualize the final product, we took our structural render and utilized AI to bring it to life with simulated lighting and screen content.
This crucial step ensured that sightlines were perfect for all 300 attendees and that our fabrication team had exact measurements for the build before we ever stepped foot on the property.
The Technical Build and Structural Engineering
To achieve the seamless "built-in" look the client wanted, our fabrication and rigging teams utilized a highly specialized ground-supported truss system.
- Ground-Supported Box Truss We built a heavy-duty aluminum truss superstructure behind the stage rental. This provided the primary weight-bearing skeleton for the entire backdrop.
- Flying the LED Walls The custom-sized LED video walls were rigged and "flown" directly from the truss structure, ensuring they were perfectly level, stable, and safe.
- Custom Scenic Fabrication We fabricated the staggered vertical screen surrounds using custom-cut aluminum tubing to keep the weight manageable.
- Textile Integration The aluminum frames were clad in specialty Milan fabric and backed with rigid plastic sheeting to ensure the fabric remained perfectly taut and opaque when hit with stage wash lighting.
- The Proprietary Rigging System Instead of building separate ground supports for the scenic pieces, we engineered a proprietary mounting system to rig the scenic directly to the same truss holding the LED walls. The LED screens and the architectural fabric columns shared the exact same plane, resulting in a flawless, flush wall with zero visible hardware.
A Flawless Execution Inside and Out
By designing the system from the ground up, we gave NEXT Net Health a bespoke, broadcast-quality backdrop that looked like a permanent architectural installation.
Expanding the Footprint: "Island Green"
A great conference doesn't end when the general session closes. As part of the full resort takeover, the client wanted to transform the Arizona Grand Resort's outdoor spaces for their evening networking events.
Working off their inspiration board, we designed and implemented the "Island Green" activation. While less structurally complex than the main stage, it required a keen eye for atmospheric design. We deployed warm overhead string lighting to establish the canopy, and populated the lawn with glowing, battery-operated LED pillars and ambient orb lights.
This created a highly photogenic, modern lounge environment that perfectly matched the branding of the indoor corporate event production sessions.
The Centric Difference
Anybody can rent a screen, but seamlessly integrating technology into custom fabricated scenic environments requires a dedicated team of riggers, carpenters, and AV engineers.
