Our challenge was to design environments to help communicate the story of the Milan-Cortina Olympic games to the American audience for NBC Sports with the best functionality and desired branding.

Primate Studio was hired by HD Studio specifically for research on all studios, to design Studio A for primary coverage, and produce production ready files. In this case, the director and agency requested a design inspired by local architecture with the degree of contemporary interpretation of design determined by studio and intended audience.

Research was conducted to determine the proper balance to strike in each studio in regards to historic verses contemporary interpretation.

Studio A, intended for the evening, prime-time coverage, was inspired by Milan’s oldest active shopping arcade, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, and Milano Centrale railway station. Special attention was placed on integrated lighting, camera shots, technology integration, and branding.

New innovations include the highest level of integrated lighting yet in a olympics studio and a parallax effect achieved with a camera-tracked Unreal Engine environment, turning a backdrop in a perspective-shifting “window.”

Project: Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics Studio A & Studio 3 Gold Zone

Client: NBC Sports

Agency: HD Studio

Design: Paul Benson, Bryan Higgason, Sid Wichienkuer

Scenic Fabricator: Black Walnut

Lighting: Lighting Design Group

• Designed broadcasting environments helped deliver 23.5 Million Viewers, up 96% from Beijing.

• The variety of broadcasting environments delivered 16.7 Billion Minutes of Streaming on NBCU Platforms– More than Double Combined Total of All Prior Winter Games.

• NBCU Delivers Strongest Advertising Revenue in Winter Games History.

• NBC-Owned and Affiliated Stations Ranked #1 in All 56 Metered Markets for the Month.

• Peacock Achieves Biggest Month Ever.

• Most-Watched Winter Games since 2014.

• Nearly 21 Million Viewers Watched NBCUniversal’s Coverage of USA-Canada Olympic Men’s Gold Medal Hockey Game, Peaking at 26 Million for Game-Winning Goal on NBC & Peacock.