How we built Vancouver's Folklore Cabin

Vancouver's Folklore Cabin was a temporary scenic build for fan photos at Bentall Centre during Taylor Swift's final Eras Tour weekend. We built the structure in our shop in about three days, took it downtown in one of our work trucks, and placed it at 505 Burrard Street for December 6 to 8, 2024. It was separate from the cabin used onstage inside BC Place, and it is no longer on display.

The finished cabin gave fans a place to take photos and a way to support BC Children's Hospital Foundation.

Vancouver Is Awesome reported that Tatiana Correa organized the installation after hearing how the city planned to mark the end of the Eras Tour. Destination Vancouver connected her with Bentall Centre, and donors and volunteers helped bring the idea together.

Our part was to fabricate the structure and get it to the site on time. Just Plants handled the greenery.

The concert dates fixed the deadline. The cabin also had to look familiar as soon as fans saw the roofline and oversized Folklore lettering.

The display was 16 feet wide, 4 feet deep, and 7 feet 6 inches tall on a platform. It was made for photographs rather than as a walk-in cabin, so visitors stood in front of it instead of climbing inside or onto the structure.

The open wood frame established the shape. Evergreen greenery followed the sloped roofline, and large Folklore letters ran across the front. Because so much of the frame remained visible, the proportions had to do most of the work.

The shop build took about three days. The workshop photo shows the greenery going onto the roof in our shop, while the frame and roofline are still easy to read.

Once the shop build was ready, we loaded the cabin into one of our work trucks and drove it to Bentall Centre. The final placement was straightforward.

For similar projects, the reference, overall size, deadline and site access are usually enough to start a useful conversation.

The cabin stood at Bentall Centre, 505 Burrard Street, during the December 6 to 8 concert weekend. It was available as a photo stop during the day and after dark. A QR code beside it directed visitors to the BC Children's Hospital Foundation fundraiser.

According to Charlemain Productions, the activation raised close to $25,000 for BC Children's Hospital Foundation.

The cabin was temporary and is no longer at Bentall Centre. Photographs of the shop build and finished installation remain in the Folklore Cabin - Taylor Swift project gallery.