Amplify creates pop up eco houses to promote Sky Glass

Sky has asked Amplify – the creative agency specialising in experience and culture – with creating an immersive brand experience tour that showcases Sky’s defining new product innovation, Sky Glass: a transformational and fully integrated smart TV that is both beautifully designed and certified carbon neutral.

To mark such a key moment in both Sky and TV history, Amplify tapped into its architectural talent to design three ‘pop-up houses’ that act as interactive windows into Sky Glass’s impressive features. Built for sustainability, longevity and portability, the modular houses will serve a nationwide tour that initially launches across London, Birmingham, Manchester and Belfast then continues to tour throughout 2022 with an expected OTS of 10-million and a target of 240,000 product interactions.

In keeping with Sky Glass’s impressive eco credentials, sustainability was at the forefront of the design process with an aim to be the UK’s first carbon neutral experiential tour. So the structures, which measure up to 10m x 6m, were designed as eco-friendly, highly deployable pieces of architecture. Considerations included using sustainable materials while taking into account factors that would affect the tour’s transportation footprint, for example – weight, flat pack volume, assembly time and the use of bio-fuelled trucks. Sustainability impact and offsetting is monitored by ISLA, the organisation that accelerates the event industry’s transition to a sustainable future.

The result is a fully scalable experiential kit of parts that flexes to any environment’s size and space. Despite their house-worthy scale, the structures were cleverly designed by award-winning former architect and now Amplify’s Design Director, Rob Berry, to be inherently modular for ultra-efficient assembly, dismantle and transportation.

Launching week commencing 11 October 2021 and extending into 2022, the structures – which are primarily built from fully recyclable and sustainably-sourced oak for a warm organic feel and high structural performance – echo Sky Glass’s design by using bespoke aluminium windows and internal details to reference the product’s sharp details. Perforated metal was used for the internal walls and display furniture, not only for durability and minimising weight, but also for acoustic qualities.

The overall experience provides different layers of engagement and interaction – from self-service rooms to curated product demos – to deliver world-class product showcases through a suite of installations. One of the rooms offers a jaw-dropping projection-mapped sequence that brings the content of Sky Glass out into the surroundings to transform the space with Sky’s visual language.

Amplify was additionally responsible for designing the creative behind Sky Glass pod installations in retail outlets, as well as designing the interactive product display areas for Sky retail shops.

Sky’s Marketing Director, TV – Sunny Bhurji – said: “Our ambition for this project was huge. We knew people would want to see Sky Glass for themselves and so the importance of experiential, to complement our existing retail estate, was essential. After a pan-European pitch process, Amplify were appointed and we couldn’t be happier with what they’ve delivered for us. The Sky Glass houses are beautifully designed to reflect and showcase the product. We can’t wait to get them out across the UK.”

Amplify’s Executive Creative Director – Jeavon Smith – added: “This project was a fantastic opportunity to really push our architectural, design and sustainability capabilities: realising the ambition of designing and delivering highly deployable pieces of architecture with unprecedented levels of detail to create ‘houses’ that can be assembled in four days and taken down in two; and creating a structural system that is capable of reaching up to 100 destinations over a long period of time in a sustainable way.”

CREDITS

Brand: Sky

Product: Sky Glass

Experience Tour Launch Date: w/c 11 October 2021

Brand Experience Agency: Amplify

Design & Build: Amplify