For many print businesses it marks the culmination of a journey that commenced in 2008, when the London Delivery Authority put a number of four-year print jobs out to tender. These jobs ranged from the production of mundane branded stationery through to marketing collateral. But the biggest job of the lot was, until last week, kept – literally – under wraps. After months of uncertainty about the viability of the project, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) finally announced that a proposed wrap encircling the Olympic Stadium would be sponsored and fabricated by worldwide Olympic partner Dow Chemical.

The wrap's figures make for impressive reading. It will consist of 336 panels that are each approximately 25m high and 2.5m wide and has a price-tag of around £7m (the exact specifications have yet to be released but in the original plan the wrap had an estimated length of 900m).

 

As well as being one of the biggest and most expensive pieces of wide-format print ever produced in the UK it also looks like being one of the greenest. The wrap will be printed on a 'green' fabric made by Dow's Performance Plastics Division – the fabric is made from post-industrial recycled content and resins. Dow claims it's 35% lighter and has a lower carbon footprint than conventional materials. And in keeping with the organising committee's vision of creating a sustainable Olympic Games, the wrap will be reused after the Games end.

 

When it's put in place the wrap will form the visual centre-piece of the Olympic park, according to LOCOG. Only one question still remains – who is going to print it? As yet the design for the wrap hasn't been finalised but the kudos of winning such a high-profile contract will provide a windfall for one lucky wide-format printer. It's a Herculean job that's worthy of a gold medal in its own right.