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Since opening its Fabrication Facility in the Malaysian state of Johor in 2019 to assist with its work on Singapore Zoo’s Mandai Wildlife Reserve, Pico Play, a global leader in the planning, design, development and construction of themed attractions and entertainment, has gone on to realise its potential to export prefabricated pieces across the world.

Demand for Pico Play’s prefabrication services has boomed in the past two years with its Johor Fabrication Facility working to realise the creative vision of clients around the world.

The handiwork of its 40 qualified welders, professional artists, sculptors and designers - supported by project managers, quality control officers and production supervisors - can also be seen in the soon-to-open Legoland Korea Resort; Aquatar water park in Doha, Qatar; Universal Studios Beijing; and VinWonders amusement park in Vietnam.

Pico Play is also currently working with SplashMania, Asia’s largest rainforest-themed waterpark, to create an engaging new themed environment.

SplashMania
Part of Malaysia’s Gamuda Cove commercial and entertainment precinct, set to be the nucleus of Southern Klang Valley, SplashMania, set to be as Asia’s largest rainforest-themed waterpark, that will offer big attractions, big ideas and, at its centre, will be a huge rock mountain, topped with a 45-metre ship.

This monolith is an innovative artificial rock structure, fabricated by Pico Play using a highly specialised glass-reinforced concrete (GRC) technique, being fabricated by the company’s skilled workers and craftspeople - who are currently planning, designing and creating this lifelike rock structure, ready for the park’s grand opening later this year.

Pico Play Director, Darren McLean said the Pico Play team based in Malaysia, Australia and Singapore is managing the waterpark’s overall theming, from its slide towers and drawcard attractions to its buildings and pavilions.

Noting that the proximity of the company’s Johor Fabrication Facility to Gamuda Cove and the vast pool of talent employed meant Pico Play could work seamlessly to bring both SplashMania’s overarching vision and its individual components to reality, McLean advises “one of the niche areas our Johor facility excels in is GRC, particularly as it applies to creating artificial rock environments

“We make the rocks out of a thin layer of glass-reinforced concrete so it looks like a real rock, the only difference is it’s much lighter.

“Our ability to operate and deliver on time throughout 2020 and the first half of 2021 - when COVID impacted manufacturing in most other countries - allowed us to demonstrate not just our skills and craft but the overall benefits of prefabrication.

“As a result, we had more enquiries from overseas projects looking for alternatives to fabricating on-site or in countries that did not have prefabrication facilities.”

“This enables Pico Play to offer a seamless and comprehensive end-to-end service, from design documentation and business planning, through to modelling and model-making, though to fabrication, then through to operational planning.”

The far-reaching benefits of prefabrication - assembling components at a manufacturing site and then transporting those structures, buildings or sub-assemblies to the construction site - extend beyond a single project.

In addition to providing clients with cost savings, more flexibility, faster construction times and fewer site disruptions, prefabrication is also a safer and more environmentally friendly process.

McLean notes “I think, above all else, quality control is the greatest benefit of prefabrication.

“If you tried to make the same thing on a construction site, you’d be at the mercy of delivery times, restricted by space and hampered by weather conditions and the constant comings and goings of workers and contractors - it’s an infinitely more difficult process.”

Fabrications
In addition to GRC, Pico Play’s Johor Fabrication Facility specialises in custom steel fabrication, Fibre-Reinforced Plastic (FRP) to produce fibreglass sculptures and characters and 5-Axis CNC milling to reproduce digital models in 3D.

The facility has a unique set-up with two adjacent factory units - connected by a central access point built into the shared internal wall - optimised for an efficient workflow. 

One tenancy offers a dedicated space for the accurate and precise work of welding, bending and meshing and the other offers a contained space to undertake the somewhat-messier process of GRC/FRP casting.

Factory Production Manager Wan Kamal Nazrin said teamwork was the key to consistently delivering world-class products, adding “we always brief all our workers before we commence any job so everyone knows what we’re working on, our targets and delivery time.

“Every worker is important in our facility and by applying that motto to our daily work, we inspire everyone to realise that their contribution to the company is bigger than they think.”

As the growing demand for Pico Play’s prefabrication services - and the success of its Johor Fabrication Facility model - shows no signs of abating, the company is looking to expand its offerings and capacity in 2022 and beyond.

Click here to contact Pico Play via their entry in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory.

Images: Pico Play's concept for SplashMania (top), its fabrications at Universal Studios Singapore (upper middle), its Johor Fabrication Facility (lower middle) and the Johor Fabrication Facility team (below).

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