Barfoot & Thompson is New Zealand’s largest privately owned real estate company, founded in 1923. With over 95 branches throughout Auckland and Northland, one-in-three properties every day are sold by B&T.
With strong community values, Barfoot & Thompson believe It’s important to make the place we live a better place to live. They support everything from sports to arts and cultural events across Auckland and Northland.
As part of Barfoot & Thompson’s commitment to bettering the community, they were proud sponsors of the 2022 Auckland Marathon. As part of their sponsorship, B&T decided to work with Giant Inflatables to produce an Inflatable Misting Tunnel to place at the finish of the marathon, which would cool participants as they finished their run.
The brief was to create a misting tunnel in the shape of a house in-line with their branding to fit a strict three-meter x five-meter constraint. Much of the design was to be left with the Giant Inflatables creative team, using assets and guidelines provided by Barfoot & Thompson’s marketing department.
The three-meter x five-meter deep Misting tunnel was created using a frame-and-skin construction. The frame, which was made from 650mm diameter tubes, was arranged to look like a house. The tubes were shrouded in a digitally printed skin designed to look like the cladding and roof of a house, completing a brand-consistent look.
Finally, 18m of detachable misting hose was added to provide the cooling aspect for participants, with dozens of misting nozzles directed to create a gentle full-body cooling effect.
Two main designs were considered from the project’s outset: The frame-and-skin and supercell design.
The supercell structure would feature air-filled walls and a roof, with the internal structure of the walls naturally creating a cladding look for the structure.
The frame-and-skin design, however, was favoured for its lightweight construction and cost-effectiveness compared to the supercell design.
The Giant Inflatables creative team also decided to include windows in the side walls of the Misting Tunnel to give extra natural light and make the space feel larger, avoiding any feeling of claustrophobia when walking through the space.
Additionally, the tunnel was designed to be front-to-back symmetrical with inflation points on both sides, allowing for the unit to be unpacked and setup in any orientation, saving time during the bump-in process and allowing for better access from power and water sources to inflation points and misting system connections.
The Barfoot & Thompson Misting tunnel was an immediate hit with participants, with the tunnel described as a “much-needed relief” and “a welcome reward” by finishers of the marathon. B&T was all smiles when debriefing the Giant Inflatables team after an “effortless and intuitive” setup followed by an “overwhelmingly positive response” from the internal Barfoot & Thompson marketing department. As ongoing sponsors of this event and many other sporting events throughout the year, Barfoot & Thompson uses their new assets often.
Giant Inflatables has been producing inflatable brand activation products, sports inflatables and jumping castles since 1997.
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