Retail – Hamleys
Hamleys, Regent Street, London
wdl was engaged by Hamleys in 2000 to completely remodel the interior space of their world famous, seven-storey toy store. This remagicalisation included an overhead model railway, a talking book, animated displays and demo areas.
A technically complex project, it involved significant structural changes, a complete new store layout and fire strategy. More than 50 franchisees needed to be refurbished, renewed, relocated or incorporated into the overall design.
The project was carried out in several phases, by half a floor and a floor-by-floor basis. The store continued to trade throughout. It was imperative that we adhered to the strict contract timescale and that the contractor remained invisible at all times. Noise and dust could not be tolerated; material deliveries needed to co-ordinate with overnight stock deliveries. Electric, sprinklers and fire alarms couldn’t be turned off and fire exits needed to be kept clear at all times. Removals revealed up to four layers of flooring and wall linings in some areas, where previous fit-outs had taken the easy route under similar circumstances.
The central fifth floor area was removed, creating an atrium above the escalator tower, with a balcony seating area for a new café. All eight existing escalators were removed in one operation, starting on a Saturday night after closing Regent Street and continuing through to Sunday lunch. All were taken away and refurbished, before returning in the same way two weeks later, on eight articulated wagons and repositioned using trolleys and block and tackle. The escalators were re installed in an X pattern to speed up customer circulation within the shop. The entire project was televised for a Channel 4 fly-on-the-wall TV documentary.
wdl has carried out several other, smaller, refurbishment projects since. The last project involved working closely with an American company of imagineers, Chute Gerdeman, who had prepared a world brand design for their expansion through overseas franchises. Building on the success of the Regent Street model, Hamleys have recently opened a new large format store within the Dundrum shopping centre in Dublin and now St Enochs Centre, Glasgow. Others are planned to follow in capital locations, working closely with wdl.
“We continue to enjoy a successful relationship with wdl which has now lasted in excess of ten years. During this time they have worked with us on many varied projects both large and small bringing to each professionalism and commitment allied to a determination to deliver everything that is unique and magical about the Hamleys brand. We look forward to a continuing successful relationship for the next ten years and beyond.”
David Meekings, Strategic Programme Manager, The Hamleys Group
