GSA Rural Lab: Bespoke Acrylic Panels for a Research Hub

When the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) needed a specialist print partner for their new Rural Lab centre in Scotland’s Highlands, they turned to Wallace Print for expertise in bespoke acrylic printing. With more than 100 unique panels required, the project demanded precision engineering, deep material knowledge, and close creative collaboration.

The Rural Lab, part of GSA’s Highlands & Islands campus near Forres, serves as a hub for research, innovation, and enterprise supporting rural creative economies. Wallace Print’s role was to translate the Lab’s design vision into a tactile, visually engaging installation — one that reflected the centre’s blend of creativity, science, and sustainability.

About the Client

The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is one of the UK’s most respected institutions for design, fine art, and architecture. Known for nurturing generations of artists and innovators, GSA continually invests in research spaces that merge creativity with social and economic purpose.

The Rural Lab forms part of GSA’s Highlands and Islands Creative Economy programme, established to explore how creative practice can sustain and revitalise rural communities. Located in the Scottish Highlands, the facility acts as both a research environment and an innovation incubator for creative businesses, educators, and local stakeholders.

For this flagship development, GSA wanted to create a physical environment that embodied its values — innovation, inclusivity, and collaboration — through purposeful design and storytelling. Wallace Print was brought in to realise the visual component: over 100 custom-printed acrylic panels forming a cohesive, multifunctional display throughout the space.

The Brief / Challenge

The client initially approached Wallace Print to explore direct-to-acrylic printing. Having produced a similar display previously, GSA sought a new partner who could deliver higher accuracy, a cleaner finish, and greater technical flexibility.

The scope presented both creative and logistical challenges:

• Over 110 mixed-size panels printed on 3 mm clear extruded acrylic
• Double-hit CMYK with spot/flood white applications
• Router cutting for exact shaping
• One side requires a matt writable finish for workshop use

Our first step was a detailed consultation to identify performance issues from past installations, including ink adhesion, surface durability, and the risk of micro-scratching during transit. Acrylic is notoriously sensitive to heat, static, and handling marks, so every phase from file prep to packaging had to be meticulously planned.

Through our Artwork Setup & File Checks service, we analysed GSA’s artwork files to ensure colour integrity, vector clarity, and white-layer mapping. This early stage of collaboration laid the foundation for a seamless production workflow.

Our Solution

To guarantee precision from the outset, we ran a comprehensive testing phase at our Kent facility. Using our advanced Direct to Media Printing technology, which enables direct application of ink to rigid materials such as acrylic, we produced test samples for GSA’s approval.

These prototypes showcased the benefits of our UV Flat Bed Digital Printing platform — exceptional colour density, fine detail, and durable adhesion without the need for lamination.

The most complex aspect involved creating a dual-function surface: printable on one side, writable on the other. Our production specialists adjusted the print sequence to apply a matt dry-wipe coating on one face while layering flood white and spot white on the reverse to enhance legibility and contrast.

Production workflow:

• Double-hit CMYK printing for saturated, consistent colour across all panels.
• Flood white underlay for image opacity on clear substrates.
• Spot white control for selective highlighting of text and key visuals.
• Router and plotter cutting through our Print Finishing and Plotter Cutting departments to ensure perfectly square edges and safe handling.
• Final inspection under our ISO-calibrated lighting environment to verify surface quality and uniformity.

To handle the 600-mile logistics challenge from Kent to the Scottish Highlands, our Trade Printing and delivery coordination teams developed a custom packing plan. Panels were interleaved with protective film, individually wrapped, and palletised to prevent static and scuffing during transport.

The Results

The finished panels were installed flawlessly at GSA’s Rural Lab, creating a modular display that embodied the institution’s vision for innovation and sustainability. The combination of text, photography, writable surfaces, and layered colour made each acrylic panel both functional and visually striking.

Students and researchers now use the writable panels during workshops — proof that the dry-wipe surface met the practical demands of an educational environment while maintaining aesthetic integrity. The layered print method allowed graphics to “float” within the acrylic, giving a dimensional depth when viewed under the lab’s natural and artificial lighting.

The project attracted positive attention within academic circles and design press following its unveiling. Beyond print execution, the collaboration demonstrated how bespoke material experimentation — backed by Wallace Print’s in-house control of Print Installation and finishing — can bring creative concepts to life on unconventional surfaces.

The Rural Lab installation stands as a testament to what happens when artistic ambition meets manufacturing precision: an environment that informs, inspires, and evolves with its users.

“Wallace Print quickly understood our needs and guided us through every stage of production. The test samples gave us total confidence in the finish, and the final installation was exceptional. The panels look stunning and are already being used across the Rural Lab. We’re looking forward to working with Wallace Print again.”

Why Wallace Print?

Wallace Print has decades of experience managing technically complex, large format print projects — particularly those requiring bespoke materials and high-precision finishing. Our fully in-house operation provides end-to-end control across printing, cutting, and packaging, ensuring complete visibility and accountability from proof to installation.

For institutions like the Glasgow School of Art, where creative expression meets research innovation, Wallace Print delivers a rare combination of technical skill, material understanding, and collaborative transparency.