Watts at the Westgate

The project was borne out of identifying that no-one was providing the public with a broad understand the benefits of moving to electric mobility in a physical space, at convenient locations, where they could experience those products and services and how they work together, first hand.

Not only was this not being fulfilled in a retail space or context - where people were likely to be passing by - but any current attempt had been fragmented and piece-meal in nature; so for example where this might happen, it tended to be individual manufacturer-led initiatives, based around their individual technologies, rather than helping people understand the connected benefits and how to take advantage of them.

And as if this wasn’t enough, our cities and towns are rapidly demanding that anyone using them needs to pivot to new types of EV motive power.

The concept, initially planned around a repurposed food court at the Westgate Shopping Centre, Oxford (but designed to be completely modular and scalable for multiple locations), was imagined as a ‘department store’ of automotive, EV-related suppliers, power companies and everything battery-powered, along side retailing, f&b and events. It would also be staffed by skilled and knowledgable staff who could guide and advise visitors and customers.

Our design direction was based around a series of concentric spaces and display components - centred around a ‘genius’ type workspace, amphitheatre / ‘live stream studio’ with broadcasting technology and cafe - to provide diverse brands with spaces to ‘dress’ and display their products.

The aim was to present ‘Watts’ as a ‘unbiased connecting experience’; one that would have the expertise to enable visitors to explore electric power in all its forms, and educate them on the many options available.