Outernet London celebrates major milestone

Outernet Global celebrated the completion of its construction work by holding a traditional ‘topping-out’ ceremony at the site in Tottenham Court Road next to London’s Centrepoint tower. The topping out event recognises the completion of a £142 million build project, as part of a £1 billion redevelopment plan with a traditional Scandinavian ‘flying of the fir’ in which a fir tree is flown over the building by tower crane for good luck, as well as a final pouring of concrete, in a rooftop ceremony.

Outernet London represents a world-first, offering the globe’s first ever city-centre, high capacity immersive media space. The jewel in the crown will be ‘The Now Building’, a live interactive broadcast environment that will boast 8k, 360 degree floor-to-ceiling screens which will enable brands and storytellers to share scheduled, short-form content and brand engagement.  

The London campus will also boast a selection of entertainment facilities including a 2,000-capacity live music venue that will aim to re-energise the rock and roll pedigree of the surrounding Soho area. The venue takes inspiration from the iconic performances that have taken place in nearby venues such as Denmark Street, home to Soho’s iconic Tin Pan Alley. This plan has been over a decade in the making, with the property required to deliver the vision taking over 16 years to acquire. 

Outernet London is being viewed as the blueprint for the international roll-out of future Outernets globally. Plans are already being developed to open similar sites in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Berlin and Dubai.

CEO Philip Bouchier O’Ferrall said:

“Outernet London will be our first site and a truly unique cultural amphitheatre for Londoners. From immersive, digitally-enabled brand experiences, to live music performances, to retail, this will be a destination set up to cater for the needs of any Londoner or visitor to the capital. 

“The Outernet has been a long time in the making and it is very exciting to celebrate the competition of the construction work with a topping out ceremony. We believe we can offer something unique to brands, advertisers and consumers - and with The Now Building, we will have the ability to broadcast what is happening at The Outernet daily to an international audience. 

“I believe that The Outernet will reinvigorate the music scene of Denmark Street, acting as a catalyst for the next wave of reinvestment in this iconic part of London.”