The company has developed the exhibit in association with event management company Iluka and Schmidhuber, the designer of the 600 square metre Pavilion where the exhibit is featured. The Pavilion is a giant, semi-open tensile structure that has been constructed using recyclable materials and covered in a perforated mesh. Located next to the main athletics stadium, the pavilion opened at the time of the opening ceremony of the Olympics and will be on display through the Paralympics 2012.

The exhibit showcases and celebrates EDF’s involvement with London 2012 as an official partner and electricity supplier for the two sporting events. The exhibit has an over-arching theme, which stresses the importance of electricity in our everyday lives. MET has used several exhibits and graphics to make people aware of the importance of electricity at a human level, and used it as the organising principle behind the exhibit.

The approach area outside the Pavilion features four huge-scale totems. One of them features a welcome message, while another is a greeting from a young girl who is to become the ‘host’ of the indoor experience. The final two totems feature two athletes from the games. The visitors have to follow the instructions on how to download and use a special augmented-reality phone app for taking a real-time, highly-realistic photo with the athlete, which appears to show the athlete walking out of the totem towards the visitor. The app has more such features that can be used within the interior experience, such as holding the phone up to images which come to life and play videos.

Inside, the visitors can watch a short film commissioned by EDF, which runs on a timed-entry loop on a semi-circular, 140 degree wraparound screen. The centre point of the Pavilion is a massive, 60m-long ribbon structure, made of a steel and tensile sub-frame with a digitally-printed fabric cladding that has a story on its either side. The ribbon is shaped like EDF’s branding for the Olympics, representing the flow of electricity. The ribbon also dramatically sweeps up to the 6m-high ceiling at the far end to the area, which features the second major internal feature of the Pavilion – the interactive area.

The two-sided ribbon narrative recounts a human electrical consumption on a 24-hour timeline during an Olympic day. The storyline covers home life, work, industry, transport and leisure, with a parallel story of electrical consumption and while simultaneously educating about sustainable living and conserving electricity. The graphic wall also features pools of directional sound relating to the information, which streams constantly as visitors walk beneath. The exhibit also has a line of integrated LED lights, which illuminates the pattern and line of consumption during the depicted day.

The facade side of the ribbon offers information on EDF, demonstrating the company’s innovative approach to meeting consumer demand; the company’s leading role in outreach work and community-based projects as well as the company’s Sustainable Design Challenge.

The interactive area features a giant funnel structure, which reached up to the ceiling, forming central core of the space. The area is bordered by the high-twisting ribbon while graphics have been placed on the outside of the interactive area that can be brought to life using the augmented reality app.

The funnel is made of steel, with strips of RBG LED lights cladding, which creates a 3D video screen and responds to action around it, creating a lighting effect that is controlled by the visitors. The backside of the funnel has an educational message that centres on the concept of ‘generation mix’, which included a mix of nuclear processes, fossil fuels and alternative energy sources that the company uses to fuel power requirements. The funnel is surrounded by a number of fun interactives, from pedal-power to a dancefloor that generates electricity.

EDF is the official partner and electricity supplier of London 2012.