Roto, a leading planning & design-build firm, has today announced it will acquire an Orlando-based custom fabrication studio.
Together the two companies will expand design-build and production offerings for themed entertainment and attractions projects worldwide. Museums, restaurants, hotels, zoos and aquariums are typical examples of clients, looking to provide quality brand destinations.
The firms’ joint projects include the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration in Alabama, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science’s Space Odyssey exhibition, and a $100 million immersive visitor experience at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Wyoming.
Brilliant Creative Fabrication will continue to operate as a wholly-owned, independent affiliate led by industry veterans David Piper and Leo English. The agreement will also see Roto utilise a new satellite design studio in Orlando.
The newly acquired firm is renowned for constructing themed environments for a number of clients. Industry names featuring in its portfolio include Walt Disney Imagineering, Universal Resorts, Miami Children’s Museum and Aloft Hotels. With a team of over 50 artists, engineers, builders, and craftspeople, the company utilises a 50,000-square-feet manufacturing space.
Roto completed over 20 projects in the past two years, including museums, science centres, zoos, art galleries, branded destinations, an aquarium and a theme park project. More than 75 employees work for Roto, based at its 60,000-square-feet Dublin, Ohio facility, alongside remote offices in Boston and Charlotte.
In utilising Roto’s expertise in strategic planning, design, media, and engineering with Brilliant Creative Fabrications’ custom fabrication capabilities, Roto and Brilliant will be able to generate costings and schedules ahead of time, to help ensure that projects finish both on time and within budget.
Enhanced capabilities
Roto was founded by Joseph Wisne in 2004, who was recently named in the blooloop 50 Museum Influencer list of 2021.
Wisne, CEO and president says that the partnership will enable both firms to offer stronger design-build accountability to clients; “David and Leo have built one of the industry’s most respected companies by melding old-school craftsmanship with state-of-the-art technology.
“This partnership will enable both Brilliant and Roto to become even more brilliant. We are looking forward to providing enhanced capabilities to projects worldwide and creating experiences that engage and inspire visitors.”
Brilliant partner Piper adds “Brilliant’s collaboration with Roto has resulted in creating fantastic visitor experiences. Our complimentary disciplines and similar cultures of excellence are exciting, and the results speak for themselves.”
Roto will be at IAAPA Expo this week, showcasing projects at booth #669. The event takes place in Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center on 16 – 19 November.
Earlier this year, the company explained more about their work with the new National Museum of Military Vehicles (NMMV) a major visitor experience project in the US.
