White City Place has unveiled a new interactive installation and creative space in the form of The Helix, directly inspired by the structural spiral-like form of a DNA helix. Devised by White City Place and created by architectural lighting experts, Studiotech, the multi-media tunnel will immerse the public in colourful lighting and sound. The Helix is controlled by detecting motion passing within or outside the installation, triggering built-in technology to transmute the light colour and ambient sound.
Constructed from recycled steel and measuring 2.8 metres tall and 12 metres long, The Helix will be located in the Central Avenue at White City Place, connecting the MediaWorks and the WestWorks buildings. Office and laboratory workers, residents, retail occupiers and the local community will be invited to engage with the orange powder-coated structure to experience its ever-changing and unique cycle of digital colour and sound.
The concept and design of The Helix draws inspiration from the innovative work undertaken by White City Place’s Life Sciences occupiers – Synthace, a team pioneering transformative ways of working digitally in biology; Autolus, a biopharmaceutical company developing next generation T cell therapies for cancer; GammaDelta Therapeutics, an immunotherapy company creating new approaches to treating cancer; Novartis, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, developing revolutionary medicines as well as neighbouring Imperial College’s White City campus.
The Helix joins White City Place’s wider cultural programme, following the recent success of the playful pedestrian crossing and murals designed by French artist Camille Walala as well as the colourful transformation of a disused petrol station on Wood Lane by international design duo Craig & Karl and Richard Wood’s ‘Holiday Home’ in Television Centre. This latest digital installation will provide visitors the opportunity to experiment with countless moving light and sound sequences, bringing colour to the darker nights through the winter, with exciting plans to adapt and develop with the spring and summer seasons in 2021.
