For Winter City 2025 at Expo City Dubai, Evolution was commissioned to design and build a large-scale winter wonderland across a sequence of themed activations and custom environments.

The creative opportunity was to make the site feel like one unfolding seasonal story rather than a collection of unrelated Christmas installations. Each zone required its own atmosphere and activity, but the transitions needed to keep families moving through a recognisable Winter City world.

Evolution developed the environment around progression and discovery, using bespoke scenic construction, furniture, décor and props to give every destination a distinct role within the wider visitor journey.

The Challenge

Seasonal attractions must work for visitors of different ages and attention spans. The experience needed highly legible destinations, moments of anticipation and enough variety to encourage exploration across the site.

Custom structures also had to meet the practical demands of a live public destination. Durability, access, circulation and operational use needed to be resolved without reducing the visual richness of the winter environments.

The Solution

Evolution designed and constructed Sugar Plum Land, Toyland, North Pole Bakery, Letters to Santa, the North Pole Information Center, a Disney screening area and Santa’s Grotto as separate chapters within one journey.

Every structure was purpose-built around its creative and operational requirement. Bespoke scenic fabrication allowed the environments to feel specific to their activity rather than adapted from generic seasonal stock.

Furniture, decorative details and themed props extended the visual language into guest seating, activity areas and smaller touchpoints across the site. This maintained continuity even as the colour, character and purpose of each zone changed.

Layouts were planned around smooth circulation and clear thematic transitions, helping families understand where to move next while preserving the sense of surprise between destinations.

Delivery Highlights

• Large-scale seasonal destination at Expo City Dubai.
• Multiple themed zones designed as one connected visitor journey.
• Sugar Plum Land, Toyland and North Pole Bakery environments.
• Letters to Santa and North Pole Information Center.
• Disney screening area and Santa’s Grotto.
• Fully bespoke scenic structures built for creative and operational use.
• Complete furniture, décor and themed-prop package.

Outcome

Winter City gave families a clear reason to move through the full destination. Each zone offered a different form of participation, but the scenic detail and transitions kept the experience connected from the first arrival to Santa’s Grotto.

The completed site felt designed as a seasonal world rather than dressed for a season, with custom environments supporting both imaginative storytelling and day-to-day public operation.

Project Ecosystem

Client:

Expo City / Energie

Evolution Events: Led the seasonal concept, visitor-journey planning, activity coordination, site delivery and live operational integration.

Evolution Scenic: Designed and fabricated the complete themed-zone package, custom structures, décor and physical story environments.

Evolution Furniture: Supplied the confirmed furniture and supporting guest settings across the Winter City zones.

Additional Support:

Evolution Technical - Evolution Site Services

In December 2021, Expo 2020 Dubai introduced Xmas at Expo 2020 as part of its festive visitor programme.

Evolution delivered the project as a large-scale Christmas environment, combining scenic build, seasonal design, theming and vendor management across the live Expo site.

The creative opportunity was to establish a recognisable festive atmosphere within an operating global Expo, ensuring that seasonal storytelling felt integrated with the wider visitor experience rather than appearing as a temporary layer added to the site.

The Challenge

The environment needed to work for a diverse international public while remaining appropriate to the scale, architecture and daily operating conditions of Expo 2020 Dubai.

Vendor activity, scenic installation and themed elements also had to be coordinated within a live destination. The experience could not interrupt pavilion access or reveal the complexity required to install and maintain it.

The Solution

Evolution connected the scenic build and theming through one seasonal design direction, allowing separate features to contribute to a shared festive atmosphere across the visitor environment.

Physical elements were planned around public circulation and dwell, giving families and visitors recognisable points of interest while maintaining clear movement through the operating Expo site.

Vendor management formed part of the creative delivery process. Installation responsibilities, finishes and handovers were coordinated so the completed environment felt consistent despite involving multiple contributors.

Live-site planning aligned scenic works with access controls and operating requirements, helping the seasonal experience remain visually complete while the wider destination continued to function.

Delivery Highlights

• Festive visitor environment delivered at Expo 2020 Dubai in December 2021.
• Full scenic build, design and seasonal theming.
• Large-scale Christmas environment for Expo visitors.
• Central management of multiple vendors and installations.
• Planning around public circulation and live-site operation.
• Integrated seasonal identity across the completed environment.

Outcome

Xmas at Expo 2020 gave the global destination a clearly recognisable festive chapter. Visitors encountered a coherent seasonal environment rather than a collection of unrelated Christmas features.

The consistency of the public experience came from connecting design, scenic delivery, vendor management and live-site coordination within one programme.

Project Ecosystem

Client:

EXPO 2020

Evolution Events: Led seasonal design coordination, vendor management, visitor-experience planning, live-site delivery and overall project management.

Evolution Scenic: Delivered the confirmed full scenic build, themed environments and installed seasonal features.

Evolution Technical: Provided full AVL solutions around the full installation blending seamlessly into the environment.

Additional Project Support:

Evolution Furniture - Evolution Site Services

The UAE’s 50th National Day celebration at Hatta used the landscape of Hatta Dam as the setting for a performance tracing the nation’s progress and achievements.

Evolution collaborated with LarMac Projects ME Limited to create 100 telescopic lightboxes based on iconic UAE buildings. Together, the structures formed a scenic narrative of national development rather than a conventional architectural backdrop.

The creative concept relied on movement, scale and illumination. Each structure needed to rise from the stage, maintain the recognisable proportions of its architectural reference and perform as part of a synchronised landscape of light that remained legible across the dam.

The Challenge

Every building required its own visual identity while operating as part of one mechanical system. Taller structures needed up to four telescoping tiers, custom lifting mechanisms and sufficient stability for live performers working nearby.

The mountainous setting introduced high winds, rain and humidity. The scenic elements also had to retract into the stage floor and operate reliably within a live performance where timing and synchronisation were critical.

The Solution

Evolution designed, supplied, installed and operated 100 custom lightboxes, each modelled on an iconic UAE building and adjusted to retain relative scale differences within the stage composition.

Heavy-duty industrial tracks and telescopic tower mechanisms allowed the structures to emerge and retract. Multi-tier designs were engineered for taller buildings, translating the varied national skyline into a workable kinetic system.

Independently controlled LEDs created dimensional lighting across each replica. All 100 elements were connected through a single electrical control circuit, allowing colour and sequence changes to be synchronised from a command position approximately 30 metres away.

Structural design, testing and live operation were developed around weather exposure, performer safety and the precision required for the buildings to rise as part of the choreography.

Delivery Highlights

• One hundred custom telescopic replicas of iconic UAE buildings.
• Scenic sequence staged on an artificial pool at the edge of Hatta Dam.
• Up to four telescoping tiers for the tallest building structures.
• Custom lifting mechanisms and heavy-duty industrial tracks.
• Independently controlled LED lighting within every lightbox.
• Synchronised control through one electrical circuit from 30 metres away.
• Engineering for high winds, rain, humidity and live performer safety.

Outcome

The buildings transformed national progress into a live visual event. As the illuminated skyline emerged from the stage, architecture became a moving timeline rather than a static symbol.

The precision of the mechanical and lighting systems allowed 100 individual structures to read as one national image, creating a powerful centrepiece within the Hatta landscape.

Project Ecosystem

Client:

UAE Governement / LarMac Projects ME Limited

Evolution Events: Led project coordination with LarMac Projects ME Limited, production planning, installation sequencing and live scenic operation.

Evolution Scenic: Designed, engineered, fabricated, installed and operated the 100 telescopic building lightboxes and lifting structures.

Evolution Technical: Delivered the LED integration, electrical control, synchronised colour sequences and technical operation of the kinetic skyline.