P&P Projects, a provider of turnkey design-build services for themed entertainment & leisure experiences, has announced that two projects that it has worked on have been recognised with a Thea Award from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), a non-profit representing compelling places and experiences worldwide.
During the awards announcement at IAAPA Expo in Orlando last week, where the firm was also exhibiting, both Jurassic World Adventure at Universal Studios Beijing and Underlandet at Liseberg received a Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Creating Jurassic World Adventure
P&P Projects provided turnkey services for the two attractions. For instance, for Jurassic World Adventure, the team worked closely in collaboration with Universal Creative to transform the initial plan for the attraction into the final experience concept.
Talking about the process, Philipp van Stratum, CEO of P&P Projects, says: “We started off with a fantastic co-creation, which resulted in a powerful concept to move forward with.”
The firm then extensively adapted the defined concept into a creatively and technically engineered package, followed by full-scale production of the show sets and theming elements in the attraction’s queue and the ride itself. For this project, P&P worked with partners like Framestore, the visual effects specialist, as well as Creature Technology Co. and Animax Designs, a specialist in the creation of animatronics and interactive characters.
The company’s show sets were carefully coordinated to seamlessly blend with elements such as media and animatronics.
Eppo Zeegers is a project manager at P&P Projects. Reflecting on the creative development of the dark ride, he says:
“It was very exciting to be trusted with a world-renowned IP and to bring this to life in a new outing of an attraction. We were proud to work on this with Universal Creative – a party that does not compromise on quality in the realization of a concept. For us, this meant we could do exactly what P&P Projects is good at: to provide extremely detailed work as we tell stories through our show sets and theming elements.”
Next-level detailing
Van Stratum also notes that this project allowed the P&P Projects team to flourish in making the ride experience and immersive aspects as high-quality and as believable as possible.:
“We created a layer of detailing that is next-level. It’s similar to carefully crafted aspects you notice in a movie set when you look closely. These evoke a certain atmosphere and tell a story. In the ride, this adds that extra layer of ‘experience’ that helps make it so captivating. We can safely say the attraction that Universal delivered operates on a world-class stage.”
On some of the challenges associated with the project, he adds:
“We produced our show sets and theming elements ‘prefab’, including an extensive portion of concrete works. This allows for a quick and smooth installation process on-site as all initial construction works are conducted in-house beforehand. This is likely the largest prefabricated scope of concrete show sets ever produced this way in our industry.”
Zeegers adds: “These elements were made to literally set the scene in the ride’s large-scale environment – interacting and complementing life-sized dinosaurs. Despite their enormous size, our products had to be easily deconstructable before transport, as well as easily constructible on-site – all the while allowing all parts to fit together seamlessly.”
An immersive experience
The company has more than three decades of turnkey expertise in the industry, meaning it was able to apply its speciality in both design and production during this project.
“We took extra care in ensuring ALL aspects of our elements supported the overall story. This accounts for their production, their construction, their integration, and so on,” Zeegers explains. The attraction’s show sets and theming elements are hugely detailed and were brought together with their surrounding show elements very carefully. “This cements the attraction’s truly immersive quality.”
Zeegers also talks about the importance of thinking ahead: “We continuously maintain a problem-solving perspective throughout our projects. We anticipate challenges early on and address them head-on as we think with our clients about potential solutions.”
One key quality of Jurassic World Adventure is that it does not need experience-enhancing add-ons, such as 3D glasses. It uses detailed show sets, next-level animatronics and special effects, all in a seamless blend with media elements for a captivating experience.
Van Stratum adds: “There’s quite a lot of modern dark rides in which media plays the pivotal role, and show sets are complementary. In this attraction, media is complementary to the physical and the tangible. It adds depth and broadens the scenes in a careful blend with the physical show elements. This leaves a fitting opportunity for the show sets to fulfil their purpose as immersive assets to the experience.”
Zeegers says: “This attraction truly immerses you on all fronts, placing you into the middle of the action. Instead of being brought along on a story centered around other characters, you are put central stage in the world of this beloved film franchise.”
A unique, award-winning attraction
The team says it is honoured to be part of this award-winning project.
Van Stratum and Zeegers agree that: “We were blessed with great collaboration and trust between all involved parties, each delivering true quality work. This has made it possible to realize this project – which was already unique in its initial concept – into an experience that still manages to rise above expectations.
“We were confident a new bar for themed entertainment had been set by Jurassic World Adventure, and we are proud to see this recognized with the award. We look forward to a future of new developments following suit to this amazing attraction.”
P&P Projects was established in 1989 and, from its state-of-the-art production facilities in the Netherlands, the firm offers a wide range of capabilities from concept development and design, to complete production and installation.
