Skinny The Dinosaur – Heathrow T5
Complex rigging installation for an iconic, large-scale brand experience.
The engineering and installation behind “Skinny the Diplodocus,” a 13-metre dinosaur skeleton cast suspended above the check-in hall at Heathrow Terminal 5.
The Client Challenge
Ahead of a sale by French auction house Aguttes, Heathrow needed a 13-metre, 155-million-year-old diplodocus skeleton cast suspended safely above a live, fully operational check-in hall, in full view of the millions of passengers travelling through Terminal 5 that Easter.
Edge Retail’s Integrated Solution
Working within a live check-in environment surrounded by British Airways desks and constant passenger traffic, we engineered and installed the mounting and suspension for the cast, securing it on a red plinth beneath the terminal’s curved roof with “Say Hello to Skinny the Diplodocus” information panels and Aguttes and Heathrow branded hoarding around its base.
Impact and Results
Skinny became a genuine talking point for the estimated 4.5 million passengers passing through Heathrow that Easter, with Heathrow’s own Chief Commercial Officer Ross Baker citing it as a stand-out welcome for travelling families — delivered without disrupting a single check-in desk below it.
