Tres Sheikh

design awards

	SILVER AWARD
	Category: Double Deck - Less Than $150 per Square Foot Exhibitor: Saudi Telecom Co. Design/ Fabrication: Winntech, Kansas City, MO, 816-241-4002, www.winntech.com Show: Gitex Saudi Arabia, 2009 Budget: $2 million Size: 160-by-108 feet (25,916 square feet, including second-story space) Cost/Square Foot: $77

ost people wouldn't associate a Saudi Arabian telecommunications company with adjectives such as "celebratory," "sophisticated," and "fun." Yet these are the same exact descriptors, among others, that Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) wanted its exhibit to communicate at the 2009 Gitex Saudi Arabia show.

"Saudi Telecom wanted us to create an architecturally sophisticated, strikingly beautiful, and surprising design," said Barrett Prelogar, CEO and founder of Winntech, the design firm tasked with creating STC's exhibit.

The resulting structure, which judges lauded as "a surprising yet effective 'Star Trek' meets 'The Love Boat' design," was inspired by STC's logo symbol, The Essence. Comprising seemingly out-of-focus splashes of yellow, orange, purple, and magenta, The Essence takes a sort of amorphous shape resembling a butterfly.

Similarly, the exhibit incorporated broad, sweeping strokes of the same striking colors against a stark-white background. The demo and lounge areas scattered throughout the open, ground-floor space featured amorphous forms and sweeping curves accented by the company's corporate hues. The same aesthetic was applied to the exhibit's main structure - a double-deck element housing a theater, meeting rooms, lounge, press room, and hospitality stations.

A whimsical lighting design throughout the space provided bands of bright yellow light in some areas, while petite pink polka dots of light peppered others. "The light is like a second level of information graphics," one judge said.

Featuring everything from curvaceous counters and swooping staircases to wide-open expanses dotted with orange-colored celestial orbs, STC's space-aged exhibit not only says "surprising and celebratory," it says "Silver Award winner" to boot. E

Linda Armstrong, senior writer; larmstrong@exhibitormagazine.com


			The Essence of STC The amorphous shape of Saudi Telecom Co.'s logo, The Essence, continued throughout the space in everything from the oval openings in the exhibit's central structure to the sweeping staircase leading to the upper deck. While the exterior and upper levels of the exhibit communicated the brand's sophistication, the interior lower level offered functional demonstration stations, cozy lounge areas, and information desks.