Custom Fabrication
IF YOU CAN SKETCH IT, WE CAN BUILD IT
At NPARALLEL + Atomic Props, custom fabrication happens entirely in-house: wood, metal, foam, fiberglass, paint, and graphics, all under one roof in a 160,000-square-foot shop at Northern Stacks, just north of Minneapolis. Your project gets built by a team with more than 60 years of combined fabrication expertise, from first drawing to final install.
From intricate trade show centerpieces to massive outdoor installations, our fabricators combine traditional craftsmanship with the equipment and space to build at scale.
No catalogs. No handoffs into the void. No crossed fingers.
WHAT IS CUSTOM FABRICATION?
Custom fabrication is the process of designing, engineering, and building a physical object or environment that doesn’t exist anywhere else.
It’s the opposite of buying something off a shelf. Every material, dimension, and finish gets chosen for your specific project, then built by hand and machine in a working fabrication shop, not assembled from stock parts.
INSIDE THE SHOP
The shop is organized by process: six dedicated zones, each handling one stage of the build, so your project moves between specialists without ever leaving the building.
Wood Shop
METAL AREA
FOAM AREA
FIBERGLASS SHOP
PAINTING + FINISHING
GRAPHIC PRODUCTION
Everything comes together in a 28,000-square-foot Assembly Area, where we build full-scale mockups to test fit and function before anything ships from our 88,400-square-foot climate-controlled warehouse.
Want to see it in person? If you’re in the Twin Cities, we’ll walk you through the floor and introduce you to the team building your project.
WHAT MATERIALS DO WE WORK WITH?
We fabricate with whatever material the project actually calls for: lightweight acrylic and polycarbonate for illuminated signage, structural steel and aluminum for load-bearing frames, and foam and fiberglass for large-scale sculptural work that needs to survive outdoors.
ACRYLIC
ALUMINUM
STEEL
FOAM
FIBERGLASS
POLYCARBONATE
SILICONE
WOOD
VINYL
PAINTS & PROTECTIVE FINISHES
Each material gets chosen for how it needs to perform: indoors or out, load-bearing or lightweight, permanent or built to reuse for the next show.
FABRICATION TECHNIQUES
Most builds combine several techniques in a single piece: a CNC-cut frame, a hand-sculpted form, a vacuum-formed shell, a painted finish. These are the eight our fabricators reach for most, with a deeper breakdown in our guide to fabrication techniques.
SCULPTING + SHAPING
Hand work for the organic forms machines struggle with: characters, contours, and surfaces that need a sculptor’s eye
CNC MACHINING
Computer-controlled cutting for tight tolerances and exact repeatability, from routed logos to structural parts
FOAM CARVING
Lightweight foam shaped by hot wire and by hand, the starting point for most large-scale sculptural pieces
VACUUM FORMING
Plastic sheets heated and formed over custom molds, an efficient way to produce complex shapes in multiples
MOLD MAKING
Reusable molds for repeatable parts, so piece twenty matches piece one
WELDING
MIG and TIG joining for structures that have to hold weight and still look clean up close
CUSTOM LIGHTING
Illumination built into the piece itself, not bolted on after the fact
INDUSTRIAL FINISHING
Paint, coatings, and surface treatments matched to your brand colors and rated for wherever the piece has to live
OUR FABRICATION PROCESS
Every project moves through the same four stages, whether it’s a small prop or a multi-story installation: design and engineering, prototyping, production, and finishing.
01
DESIGN + ENGINEERING
We start with your concept and your constraints: booth dimensions, shipping weight, budget, timeline. Our team develops the engineering drawings that make sure what looks right on screen actually stands up in the shop.
02
PROTOTYPING + TESTING
For complex builds, we test fit and function before committing to final materials. That’s what the Assembly Area is for: full-scale mockups that catch problems on our floor instead of yours.
03
PRODUCTION
This is where the shop’s zones run in parallel. The same build might be in the wood shop, the metal area, and the paint booth in the same week, drawing on whichever of the techniques above the project calls for.
04
FINISHING + DELIVERY
Final assembly, quality checks, and packing happen before anything leaves the building. We handle logistics and on-site installation, whether that’s across town or across the country.
CUSTOM FABRICATION SERVICES
The work shows up differently depending on where your brand needs to show up: a booth on a trade show floor, an activation at a live event, a billboard on a highway, or a prop built for a single campaign, the kind of work our custom props team also handles.
CUSTOM TRADE SHOW EXHIBITS
Exhibits designed and engineered for the realities of the show floor: your booth dimensions, your install window, and a build that can tour to the next show after this one.
IMMERSIVE INSTALLATION COMPONENTS
From 20-foot interactive sculptures to architectural interiors, we fabricate the physical pieces an immersive experience is built from.
3D OOH ADVERTISING ELEMENTS
Dimensional builds for billboards and outdoor placements, fabricated from materials that hold up to weather, sun, and time.
CUSTOM PROPS + REPLICAS
Whether you need a life-size airplane replica or a functioning 20-foot sprinkler, our team makes the impossible tangible.
WHY BRANDS CHOOSE NPARALLEL + ATOMIC PROPS FOR FABRICATION
Keeping design, engineering, and fabrication under one roof means fewer handoffs, closer collaboration, and more control over the finished result. Here’s what that means for your project.
FASTER TIMELINES
When the wood shop, metal shop, and paint booth are down the same hallway instead of three separate vendors, a design change doesn’t cost you a week of email. It costs a conversation.
BETTER QUALITY CONTROL
The same team that engineers your project also builds it, so nothing gets lost in translation between a designer’s file and a fabricator’s saw.
MORE CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING
When a material doesn’t work the way a drawing assumed, our fabricators solve it on the floor, not in a change-order meeting.
YOU GET WHAT YOU APPROVED
Full-scale mockups in our Assembly Area mean the booth you sign off on in a rendering is the booth that shows up at your show.
Our Work
CUSTOM FABRICATION AND PROPS WE'VE BUILT
These three projects show the range: a mobile game brought to life in 3D, an AR-powered fan experience, and an immersive activation built from the ground up. All three left this shop.
Clash of clans: 3D Prop Experience
See how we brought the game’s world to life with larger-than-life characters and structures in New York City, Los Angeles, and London.
FINAL FANTASY: AR Technology
We fabricated a 16-foot tall Titan replica, transforming the space into an unforgettable blend of physical craftsmanship and cutting-edge augmented reality technology.
TROLLS: Immersive fan experience
Our team crafted over 100 custom props, transforming a 13,000-square-foot space into the “Perfect Day” fan experience that catered to families and allowed kids to feel like they were Trolls in the movie.
Frequently Asked Questions
DO YOU BUILD EVERYTHING IN-HOUSE?
Yes. Wood, metal, foam, fiberglass, painting and finishing, and graphic production all happen inside the same 160,000-square-foot building, so nothing gets outsourced or handed between vendors mid-project.
WHAT MATERIALS CAN YOU FABRICATE WITH?
Acrylic, aluminum, steel, foam, fiberglass, polycarbonate, silicone, wood, vinyl, and a full range of paints and finishes, chosen based on whether the piece needs to be indoors or out, load-bearing or lightweight, permanent or reusable. See our full materials guide for specifics on each.
CAN I TOUR THE FABRICATION SHOP?
Yes. If you’re in the Twin Cities, or planning to be, we offer shop tours so you can walk the floor and meet the team building your project before you commit to anything.
WHAT KINDS OF BRANDS DO YOU FABRICATE FOR?
Our case studies include work for brands like Clash of Clans, Final Fantasy, and Trolls, spanning gaming, entertainment, and consumer brand activations. See our full case studies for the range.
FROM THE BLOG: IMMERSIVE INSIGHTS
Want more detail than a single page can hold? Our blog breaks down the specific materials and step-by-step techniques our fabricators use on almost every project.
From Acrylic to Zinc: A Guide to Custom Fabrication Materials
In experiential marketing, creating eye-catching and memorable experiences displays is key. Custom fabrications help capture audience attention, encourage brand engagement and drive results.
Custom Fabrication Techniques: Transforming Concepts into Immersive Experiences
The ability to transform creative concepts into physical reality can be the difference between a forgettable moment and an unforgettable brand experience.
Oversized Props, Giant Impact: Why Scale Matters in Experiential Design
Oversized props aren’t a novelty act. When they’re engineered right, they’re one of the most flexible, most reused, and most budget-efficient assets a brand can invest in.
READY TO BUILD SOMETHING?
Whether it’s experiential fabrication for a one-off brand activation or a trade show exhibit you’ll tour for years, it gets built in the same shop, by the same team.
SKETCH IT, DESCRIBE IT, OR JUST TELL US THE PROBLEM YOU’RE SOLVING.
We’ll tell you if it’s possible. (Short answer: probably.)