Spreading Sustainable Cheer with Sheffield Children’s Hospital

After speaking to the team at Sheffield Children’s Hospital about how they thought we here at Imageco could best help their young patients, we determined that the 3D installation needed to be: visually interesting for small and older children alike, interactive and tactile to provide stimulation for patients, able to be wiped clean of bodily fluids to ensure patient safety, and able to be fully recycled at its end-of-life. Please note: this project was undertaken on a pro-bono basis by the team at Imageco. The creative design, printing, and installation were undertaken by Imageco, with the materials being donated by Antalis.

To achieve this 3D installation in time for Christmas, we enlisted the help of our in-house cardboard engineers to use their expertise to craft a magical scene out of our coveted Xanita board. Xanita is made out of a fibreboard sandwiched between two printable white craft liners. Taking advantage of its easily printable nature allowed us to create a design that featured Sheffield Children’s Hospital’s mascot, Theo, skipping through a vivid blue frosty landscape alongside a friendly stag. In addition to this, Xanita Board is 75% lighter than MDF and features a higher crush strength than traditional weaker honeycomb board structures, making it perfect for 3D installations that are destined to be handled by hundreds of tiny hands. Due to the long-wearing strength of Xanita Board, the 3D Winter Wonderland Installation was able to be enjoyed by the young patients throughout the festive season.

To ensure that this 3D installation met the Sheffield Children’s Hospital’s Green Plan, we knew that it needed to be fully recyclable once it had come to the end of its life. Thankfully, as a non-hazardous, raw material gathered from natural resources, Xanita Board is fully recyclable. Making it the perfect material for any project that is in need of a green boost. Now, once the festive season calls to a close and their young patients have enjoyed the Winter Wonderland to their heart’s content, Sheffield Children’s Hospital can recycle their stunning 3D Installation using their council recycling scheme. Making space for future seasonal installations used in the upcoming new year.