Battersea Power Station Cinema

Following ‘The Cinema at Selfridges’ for the same client, FDA were invited to design a new cinema in the highly prestigious and iconic Battersea Power Station redevelopment on the river Thames.

Intended to be central to the development’s cultural strategy, the 2-screen cinema is bespoke and luxurious, even offering private viewing ‘Loges’, similar to a theatre box, for the most intimate experience as well as general seating.

The customer experience is of a rich and textured environment. Lighting is soft, low and warm, shadows are deep, and harshness avoided.

Designed in collaboration with ARC Cinema Solutions and Dolby Cinema, for the larger of the two screens, every viewing and listening angle was first modelled and detailing exacted to ensure the best audience experience.

Every possible distraction from the screen was rigorously designed out, even the speakers are carefully concealed behind fabric, giving no clues of where the immense and dizzying sound comes from so nothing can diminish the audience’s sense of immersion.

Watergate Bay, RNLI Station & Restaurant

Design by FDArchitecture; Design for Boutique Hotelier in a sensitive site. Our Client, popular a family run boutique hotel, in a spectacular Cornish setting was keen to diversify their offer for guests and visitors alike with a new restaurant offer.

The site, as it stood, was incredibly restricted, little more that 2m deep at its deepest, located on a sea wall and sandwiched between the beach and cliff. This had was occupied with the local RNLI station, which at that point was a pair of simple garden sheds.

The concept was to redevelop the site, retaining use by the RNLI by providing them with more substantial and specialised facilities and then utilise the new structure as a platform for a restaurant above which would be afforded unrivalled views across the beach and to the Atlantic Ocean.

To this point, this was bar far the most challenging site FDA have had to consider, with extremely limited options for the construction method and time, building arrangement and the potential threats to it from its environment.

THIRD SPACE

Design by Universal Design Studio, FDArchitecure were appointed as Executive Architects to assist delivering this project which completed in early 2020.

Third Space Islington Square is a newly built club featuring the very best fitness amenities across newly developed transformation of the former North London Royal Mail centre. One of London’s most luxurious fitness clubs opened at the Islington Square offering a collection of boutique-like training spaces under one roof.

Club is located at lower ground floor level across 70,000 ft/Sq below prestigious residential apartments, with its entire external shell all cast in waterproof PUDLO concrete. From very initial stages of the project main challenge was to ensure suitable architectural details to guarantee full waterproofing and acoustic properties to newly developed area.

TS Islington is the first Family Club unveiled by Third Space. ‘Little Space’ – a kid’s club with dedicated kids’ training pool, sports hall, dance studio, climbing areas, café and crèche. Other facilities include a gymnasium floor, training space, two swimming pools (a 20 metre adult pool and children’s/family pool), fitness studios, spa with steam room and sauna facilities, restaurant and meditation rooms.

SELFRIDGES CINEMA

The Cinema at Selfridges is the result of an exclusive partnership with one of London film fans’ favourite independent boutique cinema, the Olympic Studios, which has much loved locations both in Barnes and Battersea. Selfridges is the first department store in the world to install a permanent cinema.

Designed by Selfridges in-house team and FDArchitecture, it’s got three screens in total: a 70-seat main screen, a second 59-seater, and a third 28-seater, and they’re all filled with curved rows of lush, reclining Norwegian seats.

Luxury aside, the thing that makes the Olympic-operated screens great is the sound. The three-screen facility is fitted with the latest state-of-the-art sound and vision technology.

Funky bar and snack areas serve cocktails and food on demand underpinning it all for pre/post drinks.

The outside entrance on Duke Street, which has been the focus of a £300m investment and masterplan based on the never-realised ambition of its US founder Harry Gordon Selfridge to create a unified block within the Oxford Street, Orchard Street, Wigmore Street and Duke Street quadrant.

Volkswagen Flagship Showroom Concept

Concept Design by FDArchitecture; Volkswagen well understand that the experience of their customer begins well before they ever drive one of their cars and exists well beyond then in the realms of memory and imagination as well as the day to day.

For a car manufacturer, time spent in the showroom can be pivotal in telling their story and providing their customers with the certainty and desire to buy into the brand.

However, Volkswagen Group (UK) considered their existing offer to lack the same potency and strength as their products so, following several successful projects with a focus on ‘customer experience’, FDArchitecture were invited by VWG (UK) to provide concept designs for their flagship West London showroom.

Our concept was to take the customer on a figurative journey which began with the arrival and ended with the hand-over of keys to a new car, and on this journey each customer is gently reminded of the depth and history of the brand, it’s permeation into the popular imagination and universally held, often warm, memories of what the brand represented. FDA sought to subtly underline that vibrancy and vitality the brand then processed and draw this from past, through present and well into the future where customers were invited to enjoy how VW envisaged that future might be.

FRACTAL WALL

INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS & RESORTS

In 2012 FDArchitecture were appointed by the Singapore office of the world’s largest hotel operator – InterContinental Hotels and resorts. The appointment of FDA on this concepts based project was chosen because of our experience of working with luxury brands and with the airline business on premium products. FDA worked with IHG in the development of 4 standalone design concepts specific to the IHG resorts including the development of a VIP service and Clubhouse complex within a 5 star resort. Specific design guides were produced for each of the concepts. These needed to be non-prescriptive design guides, setting-out the concepts for both hotel owners and designers around the world. The illustrations seen in these images are a selection of CGI imagery from made-up resorts developed by FDA to demonstrate how the concept within the guide may manifest itself in design and was the final step in the production process for us.

INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS & RESORTS

In 2012 FDArchitecture were appointed by the Singapore office of the world’s largest hotel operator – InterContinental Hotels and resorts. The appointment of FDA on this concepts based project was chosen because of our experience of working with luxury brands and with the airline business on premium products.

FDA worked with IHG in the development of 4 standalone design concepts specific to the IHG resorts including the development of a VIP service and Clubhouse complex within a 5 star resort.

Specific design guides were produced for each of the concepts. These needed to be non-prescriptive design guides, setting-out the concepts for both hotel owners and designers around the world. The illustrations seen in these images are a selection of CGI imagery from made-up resorts developed by FDA to demonstrate how the concept within the guide may manifest itself in design and was the final step in the production process for us.

VIRGIN HOLIDAYS V-ROOM

Virgin Holidays had closely monitored the success of the Gatwick Clubhouse and appointed FDArchitecture to help them replicate the success of their Gatwick v-room, the world's only airport lounge specifically dedicated to holidaymakers, and expand that concept to Manchester.

The format for the v-room, as an airport lounge, differs from all the others across the world in that their customers are not necessarily flying first or upper class nor are they business travellers. Instead the lounge is intended to cater for up to 100 passengers and provide the first moment of their holiday experience as a whole. Virgin Holidays needed the lounge to offer its passengers not only somewhere to relax with or without their family or friends, but also somewhere specifically for kids to play as well as a funky space for teenagers to hang out.

We responded to the brief, budget and limited space with a spatially dynamic arrangement and the use of joinery to delineate spaces and give focus as well as function and together with the graphic elements this all provides Virgin Holidays own iconic tone of voice, sense of fun and surprise.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC CLUBHOUSE

Revered for their class-leading passenger lounges around the world, Virgin Atlantic appointed FDArchitecture in early in 2009 to design and manage their new Upper Class passenger lounge at Gatwick Airport.

Short listed as a finalist to both the 2010 Design Week Awards and FX Design Awards, FDA’s interpretation of a customer lounge, and with it the concept of introducing garden spaces into the airport environment, has been recognised for its innovation and it’s clever use of cost effective materials and environmental credentials.

8,500ft in total, including zoned areas for different activities, the lounge remains open plan and also provides the warmth and atmosphere that the lounge needs to offer to its passengers.

The Gatwick Clubhouse was the first project for Virgin Atlantic airways. Since 2009 FDA have gone on to successfully develop several projects for Virgin Atlantic who we continue to work with today.

Continuation projects include an installation piece at their Heathrow Clubhouse earlier last year, and the design of their London Heathrow T3 revivals lounge which is to be developed later this year.