Placemaking
Outernet London
The Now Building
year
2022
capabilities
Design & Engineering
Fabrication
Machinery Automation
Integration
Service & Support
The Now Building is part of London’s Outernet – an immersive entertainment concept located above Tottenham Court Road Crossrail. Home to the largest video display in the world, with over 2,000m2 of 8K and 360° floor-to-ceiling screens, we were tasked with the challenge of automating the individual LED panels with pinpoint precision.
Developed at our Production Park facility in the UK, this massive screen automation project at Outernet London is the result of a collaboration between our UK teams in Wakefield and Neasden and our Lititz, PA team. We collaborated closely with the main contractor, 8build, to ensure the installation of this intricate machinery went smoothly at one of London’s busiest crossroads.
The LED panels at the Now Building London are split into 42 self-propelling columns, each 9.6m high, which autonomously move along a custom-designed track. When not in use, the screens are able to retract into storage and maintenance areas – equipped with self-climbing maintenance towers – disappearing from view behind the remaining static walls. The TAIT Navigator Automation Platform marshals all panel movement, ensuring that the screens align with the accuracy required by small pixel-pitch video content, retract safely for storage, and that collisions are avoided.
Image provided by Darren Cool
Outernet London is a groundbreaking venue with near-limitless potential and future-scoped automation capabilities. The venue’s operators have big plans for this remarkable entertainment space’s future, and with TAIT Navigator at its heart, Outernet can handle complex show control alongside cutting-edge screen automation.
Credits
Architect
Orms
Main contractors
8build, Skanska
TIME
TIME100 Summit and Gala
Fernbank Museum