Double win for Emota and XD FILM at The Drum B2B Awards 2026

Created in partnership with global engineering consultancy Arup, the experience received two accolades in The Drum’s B2B Creative Aces:

• Silver – Video Production
• Bronze – Content Experiential

The awards recognize the creative vision, production craft, and immersive content that transformed Arup’s 80th anniversary celebration into an experience focused on the future of our cities.

Bringing Arup’s 80th anniversary to life

For its 80th anniversary, Arup wanted to create more than a traditional corporate celebration. The ambition was to bring together influential business leaders, designers, and policymakers for an evening that would inspire meaningful conversations about the future.

At the heart of the experience was one defining question: How can we design a better future for our cities?

Working together, Emota and XD FILM developed an immersive experience at Lightroom in London’s King’s Cross, using the venue’s extraordinary four-story projection environment to create a cinematic journey that unfolded throughout the evening.

Rather than producing a series of standalone films, the team created a connected visual narrative combining immersive 360-degree film, motion graphics, animation, environmental media, and spatial sound.

From animated arrival environments and original audio stories to a cinematic opening sequence and bespoke visual worlds for each keynote speaker, every element was designed to work together. The evening culminated in a live spoken-word performance accompanied by animated illustrations, bringing the experience to an emotional close.

The result was an event where content didn’t simply support the program. It became an integral part of the experience itself.

Recognizing excellence in film and experiential content

The two awards recognize different aspects of the creativity and collaboration behind Arup at 80.

The Silver award for Video Production celebrates the technical and creative craft involved in producing cinematic content at an architectural scale. With a 27,000-pixel-wide canvas spanning Lightroom’s walls and floor, traditional approaches to filmmaking had to be reimagined to create a seamless, immersive experience.

The Bronze award for Content Experiential recognizes how film and content were used to shape the entire audience journey. Rather than simply delivering information, the creative approach brought together moving image, sound, animation, and live performance to connect guests with the ideas being explored throughout the evening.

Together, the awards highlight the potential of immersive film and experiential storytelling to transform how brands engage their audiences.

Celebrating creative collaboration

These two wins are fantastic recognition for the creativity, technical expertise, and collaboration behind Arup at 80.

A huge thank you to Arup for trusting Emota and XD FILM with such an important milestone, and congratulations to everyone involved in bringing the experience to life.

Explore the full Arup at 80 case study to discover more about the award-winning experience.