Red Deer design OTHERWORLD, London’s most immersive virtual reality arcade
OTHERWORLD, a new and unique virtual reality arcade from The Dream Corporation has been designed by leading London-based architectural practice Red Deer.
The 265m2 East London venue located within a converted railway arch is the first of its kind in the UK. The multi-sensory immersive entertainment and leisure concept hosts 14 virtual reality immersion rooms, alongside a craft beer and cocktail bar and pan-pacific inspired poké kitchen. Upon entering OTHERWORLD, visitors are taken on an innovative and experiential journey orchestrated by Red Deer that begins with a neon jungle. This element of playful architecture is designed to add life to the environment and provoke a sense of anticipation for guests as they approach the heart of the main space.
For the interior concept Red Deer approached the main space as if it were a gallery taking influence from artists Dan Flavin and James Turrell whom explore the altered perception of architecture through a combination of artificial and natural lighting. In the same vein Red Deer have created a space where the perception of reality is broken down using lighting, even prior to customers stepping into the virtual world.
The craft beer and cocktail bar is constructed from Krion and sits opposite a lounge area for up to 16 people with a self-service beer tap. The bar design forms the focal point of the design incorporating exposed neon lighting along the bar front. This is the only direct lighting used in the space with other lighting providing soft fades throughout. Sitting upon a raised platform are 14 VR immersions rooms. The custom-built booths are the only ones in the world which dynamically integrate extra-sensory effects into the VR experience. Heat, wind, rumble and scent respond dynamically to the users experience to stimulate all the senses.
Leaving the real world behind, each immersion room provides the key to the OTHERWORLD, a parallel universe of infinite possibility. Free from physical and spatial constraints, the OTHERWORLD provides a limitless number of impossible and exhilarating adventures. The OTHERWORLD is a playground for the senses, hosting sixteen unforgettable experiences; climb Mount Everest; fight a zombie apocalypse deep in Arizona, go on adventures with a tiny mouse or blow up robots with laser cannons…
Red Deer, but not as you know it, OTHERWORLD is a new architectural design venture.
“ We wanted to create an immersive space suited to a wider demographic than those normally associated with the stereotypical carpeted games arcade from the 1980s. By keeping the space minimal it made the lighting and hue soft hue fades the focal point of the project and gave a feeling of a futuristic environment”. - Lucas Che Tizard, Red Deer Founding Director
