lord mayors parade lead float

At the start of 2023, after many design meetings with our client, the final concept for the lead float in the Lord Mayors Parade 2023 was confirmed. We were very honoured to build and be involved in the design of this lead float as it was to take centre stage at the parade, in the City of London, on the 11th November 2023.

Working with our client, Response Multimedia, the design brief was to associate the float with the City of London. It was decided that using the buildings of the City would create immediate visual impact in addition a large slowly revolving globe of the world, with spot detail lights on the ‘city’s of’ representing the World Traders livery company.

Final Design Concept

Acrylic Buildings

Four of the most iconic buildings of the City of London had to be recreated - The Gherkin, The Scalpel, The Microphone and The Cheese Grater. The buildings needed to be transparent to allow light through for the central spinning globe and this added an extra level of complexity to the project. The amount of thought, experimentation and attention to detail that went into the process from the team was amazing, such patience and tenacity throughout and this technique is now a service uniquely offered here at Mi.

Lots of research into ensuring that structures were recreated successfully with all the unique architectural angles and joints of the buildings, whilst ensuring the constructions were strong and buildable with the resources available. If you look at the set you can see the replication of the curves on The Microphone with it’s unique curves going in 3 different directions, or the jointing rose at the top of The Gherkin - a great piece of work and design.

The Globe

Standing at 2.1 m diameter and wrapped with a scaled image of the world, the globe was to rotate slowly throughout the parade. The World Traders requested spot lights on 7 cities across the world that remained lit at all times.

Tower Bridge

To avoid it looking like a toy replica, we focused on using high-quality materials that not only resembled the original building materials but also have the realistic appearance that was needed.  This meant using premium finishes that accurately match the colour and textures of the real structure and ensuring close attention was kept to scale and proportion, ensuring that every element was properly sized and aligned. 

Advanced technology techniques were incorporated to enhance the authenticity of the replica, including 3d printing to recreate the intricate architectural details and professional grade light effects to mimic the buildings unique illumination.

From the master craftsmanship with the build to the beautiful scenic art Mi delivered on the next level with the scenic artists playing a crucial role in making the replica truly special. They meticulously hand-painted each surface, paying close attention to shading, highlights and weather effects to add depth and realism.  

By combining expert craftmanship, attention to detail, advanced technology, and skilled scenic artistry we were able to recreate one of the most iconic buildings in the world without it appearing like a toy replica.  The end result is a stunning and highly realistic representation that captures the essence and grandeur of the original structure.

The draw bridges formed a frame for the screens which were installed by Response Multimedia.

The Prebuild

We are privileged to have the space here to do a full prebuild of the float, to ensure everything was correct and any unforeseen problems could be ironed out before full assembly of the float on the streets of London.

Frist job - assembling the sub deck, which fitted to the trailer, allowing space for the revolving mechanisms and cable management. This fitted first time with no adjustments and was followed by the erection of Tower Bridge. Next a hole had to be cut into the deck for the revolving globe and the electrics and cables followed by the lights for the clear structure and finally the stunning acrylic buildings fitted over the top.

The Day Before the Parade

On a warm day we arrived at the rendezvous for the float build ready for the big day, once complete the float would remain here with many others until the next day. The quantity of logistics and paperwork to enable this to happen for everyone involved in the parade was astounding, to ensure the correct vehicles and artists were in the right place for the next day and to ensure the safety of all throughout the parade day.

Lord Mayors Parade

After nearly a year following the initial enquiry, the big day had finally arrived. A great carnival atmosphere greeted us as we arrived on site to see all of the floats and people rehearsing their various acts for the journey around the route.

The float was incredibly well received by everyone who saw it which was great and made the whole team feel very proud of all the hard work and planning that went in to make it such a great success

All that remains is to wish Michael Mainelli the best of luck with his term in office and thank you for inviting us to lunch with a tour of the plate room.

www.responsemultimedia.co.uk

www.world-traders.org

www.stagefreight.com