Off The Wall
The House of Vans London is a mixed-use creative venue for Vans enthusiasts interested in skateboarding culture. Established as a place to connect with the cultural lineage of skateboarding that has defined the Vans brand since 1966. Combining skateboarding, art, film, and music. The venue includes an art gallery, ‘Vans labs’ creative spaces, a cinema, live music venue for 850 people, a café, numerous bars, and a multi roomed concrete skate park.
The House of Vans London sits within the 150-year-old brick arches below the railway lines heading out of Waterloo station, next to London’s famous graffiti street, Leake Street. The area of the site is approximately 2,500sqm and contains five separate tunnels.
The House of Vans London provides a cultural hub for skateboarding, art, film, and music. The site is divided into four primary functions, each housed within a specific tunnel.
The main wayfinding method for the five separate tunnels is the large iconic CnC cut rubber floor inspired by the iconic patterned sole of the Vans shoe. The recyclable rubber floor provides a clean and comfortable surface while visually creating a solid contrast to the raw and textured brick walls and vaulted ceilings.
The tunnels are lit using two methods. Linear strip lighting grazes the walls and ceilings to illuminate the main spaces creating a dramatic and textured effect. The skatepark uses exterior flood lighting to uplight the ceiling to reflect light evenly onto the skatepark surface below, creating glare-free lighting for professional use.
The House of Vans London has been activated as a venue to link with the global Vans community, broadcasting a live internet radio station, live camera feeds of activity within the skatepark, and through social media reporting the creative activities within the ‘Vans labs’ artist’s spaces.
The House of Vans in London is the physical manifestation of the culture and creativity that have defined the Vans brand since 1966. Always embracing and fuelling creative expression through art, music, skateboarding, BMX, street culture, and fashion, the space offers a solid platform for the local communities to experience and engage with Vans’ ‘Off The Wall’ spirit. With creative expression at the forefront; The House of Vans London is showcasing an art gallery, a VansLab artist incubator space, cinema, live music venue, premium café and bars, gifting suite and skater-built and designed concrete bowl, mini ramp, and street course.
Inspired by neon lights, Americana, and rugged skate environments, Vans has transformed the 30,000 square feet of this iconic indoor space in Waterloo into an ‘Off The Wall’ home for the European edition of The House Of Vans.
Collaborators
Producer: Black Sparrow Presents
Interactive Director: Joel Lewis
Architect: Tim Greatrex
To promote the opening of the House of Vans I created a film and billboard ads.
These can be seen here
