Custom Gallery Panels for Art & Retail Displays in Montreal

Project Brief: Size, Mobility, Texture & Budget — at a glance

To design a gallery panel system that looks great, lasts, and adapts easily, we aligned with the client on six essentials:

• Panel size: 8 × 4 feet – big enough to showcase art, still friendly to doorways and elevators.
• Mobility: Frequent moves for rotating events – quick to set up, easy to shuffle between shows.
• Space planning: Extra panels for flexibility – swap layouts in minutes to suit each exhibit.
• Materials: Lightweight – kinder on staff and timelines, without sacrificing durability.
• Finish: Textured surface – complements stone and brick walls for a cohesive look.
• Budget: Keep costs lean – skip premium metal framing and invest where it matters most.

With goals set, we engineered a custom panel system tailored to the gallery’s footprint and visitor flow. For best practices in exhibition care, we referenced the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute.

Custom vs. Prefab Panels — What We Actually Built

Off-the-shelf kits didn’t fit—too heavy, too limiting, and not the right look. So We built a made-to-measure system: warm textured faces, matte hardware that disappears, and 8×4 modules that shift into new layouts in minutes. The budget stayed lean, install was low-impact and ceiling-friendly, and reinforced edges kept everything looking new show after show. If you want a display that works as hard as your programming, custom is the way to go.

For other real-world examples of adaptable partitions in cultural spaces, browse projects on Dezeen.

Build Method — fast, clean, and gallery-ready

We built this system to travel well and look good doing it. The core structure is 8×4 ft, 1-inch foam—lightweight, durable, and forgiving enough that tiny nail holes don’t linger. Each panel gets a warm textured wrap and reinforced edges, so lines stay crisp from opening night to teardowns.

For support, we repurposed height-adjustable poles (IKEA) to play nicely with ceilings from 8 to 15 feet. The hardware was painted matte black so it visually steps back and let’s the art do the talking. Result: a modular setup that shifts layouts in minutes and keeps pace with a gallery that loves to reinvent the room. For material selection ideas and modular construction insights, see Materials for Architecture.

Top 5 Reasons to Get Custom Gallery Panels

Custom gallery panels don’t just hold art—they hold the room together. They’re flexible, professional, and designed to evolve as fast as your programming. Here’s why going custom pays off:

• Instant glow-up: A cohesive look that flatters the art and the photos.
• Layout agility: Swap configurations between shows faster than a playlist change.
• Brand fit: Finishes and proportions that speak your language, not “generic gallery.”
• Better flow: Unified sightlines that allow for better circulation, so visitors feel led, not lost.
• Future-friendly: Reconfigure, re-skin, and reuse; built to adapt for years to come.

Bottom line: custom panels are a high-impact, reconfigurable backbone for galleries, retail, and events. For inspiration on wayfinding and labels, check out the American Alliance of Museums’ exhibition ideas.

Not every tool on the shelf is worth a spot in your precious toolbox. Skip the ones that slow you down, break too soon, or test your sanity more than your skills—the list below highlights a few worth avoiding.

Tous les outils sur la tablette ne méritent pas une place dans votre coffre. Évitez ceux qui vous ralentissent, qui cassent trop vite ou qui mettent plus à l’épreuve votre patience que vos compétences—la liste ci-dessous en présente quelques-uns à éviter.