Spotlight on: Wrapping Buildings, Unwrapping Costs
We’ve all walked past thousands of hoardings, but how often do they make us stop for a second look? Once a humble site fence, hoardings are now asked to do far more: promote brands, host art, soften construction’s impact on communities, and even deliver sustainability benefits.
What was once little more than plywood and paint has become a design feature in its own right. Hoardings today can dictate coordination between teams, slow or speed up programmes, and stretch logistics - with costs that reflect just how bold the concept is.
We’ve pulled together some of the most exciting recent examples, from Burberry’s dazzling New Bond Street façade to living walls and heritage wraps. Each approach carries its own budget, programme, and procurement implications that clients and consultants can’t afford to overlook.
Sotheby’s
FUNCTIONAL BUT IMPACTFUL
At their simplest, hoardings act as a safe perimeter, shielding the public from dust and debris. But even at this entry level, developers are being asked to do more.
In Sydney and Toronto, for example, plain timber boards aren’t acceptable anymore. Local authorities require developers to dedicate portions of hoardings to community art or historic imagery. London councils are also introducing stricter rules. Westminster now requires green walls on hoardings longer than 50m for certain developments.
For clients, this means factoring in not just compliance costs but also maintenance, permissions, and end-of-life considerations. Even a “basic” hoarding can carry programme risk if design approvals or plant supply delays come into play.
COMMUNITY & HERITAGE WRAPS
When working around culturally significant buildings, there’s a strong push to reduce visual impact. The US Supreme Court and Washington Monument both used printed scrims to depict the building beneath, ensuring continuity for tourists. London’s Banqueting House even peeled back its hoarding wrap design to reveal a playful “interior view.”
These heritage wraps often require detailed surveys, large-format printing, and specialist installation. They also need careful cost planning around weathering, durability, and permissions. The effect, though, is striking: they reduce disruption, enhance visitor experience, and show sensitivity to context.
GREEN HOARDINGS
Sustainability is reshaping temporary works, and hoardings are no exception. Vertical gardens and living walls bring nature into dense city centres, reduce noise, and even filter pollution.
Alistair Law’s Vertical Meadow system, for example, provides native wildflowers for biodiversity and can be moved from site to site, with irrigation systems reused between projects.
These green solutions carry premium costs for planting, irrigation, and ongoing maintenance, but they can also tick multiple boxes: planning approval, ESG targets, and local goodwill. From a cost consultancy perspective, the challenge is balancing initial spend with long-term reputational and environmental value.
BRAND STATEMENTS
At the very top end, hoardings become an architectural feature in their own right.
Take Burberry’s New Bond Street flagship, where a mirror-finish façade was installed during major refurbishment works. Spanning over 250m² and reaching eight metres in height, it combined over 1,000 vacuum-formed recyclable panels, integrated LED lighting, and illuminated logos.
Delivering something at this scale meant more than just boards and paint. It involved concept design, prototyping, CAD work, electrical integration, and carefully sequenced installation, all while keeping the site safe and accessible.
This kind of scheme sits well beyond “temporary works.” It’s a statement piece with its own design and procurement pathway, carrying major implications for programme, logistics, and cost.
BEYOND THE BOARDED FENCE
Plain boards no longer cut it for design-conscious developers or city authorities. Whether for compliance, sustainability, heritage, or brand presence, hoardings are becoming part of the public realm.
For cost consultants, that means early engagement is key: factoring in design ambition, maintenance, approvals, and programme risk from the outset.
