THE BRIEF
Transform development units in Lakeside and Manchester into new immersive experience venues. This included a mezzanine with the game pods on two levels plus a reception area and back of house facilities.
THE CHALLENGE
Socius Projects were instructed for this rollout on sites 2 and 3 in the UK with the 3rd site in Electric Gamebox's UK portfolio. The 3rd site is situated in the new Quayside entertainment development at Lakeside Shopping Complex and is the most prestigious location yet. With the Lakeside Gamebox, the interior design was developed during the fit-out phase as it was extremely important for the venue to open by the October half term to maximise its opening sales. This design is the concept Electric Gamebox are now looking to roll out and expand worldwide with. The Lakeside venue was particularly tricky due to the size of the mezzanine required and to ensure travel distances were adhered to when conforming to Building Regs and Fire Safety.
THE SOLUTION
To ensure the venue passed Building and Fire Regulations, as well as adhering to the Landlord's strict guidelines, we worked closely with the local authorities and HVAC contractors to provide the solution. This was in the form of an additional smoke extract and life safety sprinklers which were installed as required. Not an easy feat with very limited head height, but we managed it with some excellent collaboration between all parties. We also worked alongside the design team and contractors to ensure costs and timeline were managed especially during the quite extensive design development so the impact on both elements was kept to a minimum.
THE RESULT
Project completed so the client was able to open on time to take full advantage of the half-term period. This resulted in Electric Gamebox being the top-rated attraction in the area within 3 days of opening. Building Control and the Landlord team were happy that we passed all safety tests the first time and commented that they wished that all their fit-outs went as smoothly. This was all down to the constant communication between Socius Projects, the Principal Contractor, and INTU Lakeside.