In April 2022, OLLYWOOD installed fourteen giant freestanding letters spelling EALING BROADWAY in the public piazza at Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre, London. Within days, the installation had been photographed thousands of times and shared across social media by shoppers, commuters, and local residents.
That is exactly what placemaking is supposed to do.
What Is Placemaking?
Placemaking is the practice of designing and installing physical elements in public spaces to create a sense of identity, encourage footfall, and give people a reason to stop, engage, and share. At its best, placemaking transforms a functional space — a shopping centre piazza, a town square, a public concourse — into a destination.
The tools of placemaking include large-format signage, sculptural installations, branded street furniture, seasonal decorations, and interactive elements. Giant letters are one of the most effective and most photographed formats because they are inherently shareable — people want to stand in front of them and capture the moment.
The Ealing Broadway Project
The brief from Ealing Broadway was to create a distinctive, Instagram-friendly installation that would reinforce the shopping centre’s identity, encourage footfall, and give the piazza a focal point. The installation needed to be durable enough for outdoor public use, safe for children to interact with, and visually striking from a distance.
OLLYWOOD designed and built fourteen individual letter forms, each one a three-dimensional structure with a flat face, engineered feet, and finished in a bespoke botanical illustration scheme created to reflect the shopping centre’s brand identity. The letters were fabricated in our Cardiff workshop and transported to London for installation.
The Result
The installation was an immediate success. Shoppers stopped to photograph themselves in front of the letters. Local social media accounts shared the images. The piazza, previously a largely functional space, became a landmark. Footfall in the immediate area increased noticeably in the weeks after installation.
The Broader Lesson
The most effective placemaking installations share a few characteristics: they are distinctive, they are designed for the specific location and brand, and they give people something to do (even if that is just standing in front of them and taking a photo). Generic or off-the-shelf solutions rarely achieve the same impact.
OLLYWOOD designs and builds bespoke placemaking installations for shopping centres, town centres, festivals, and public spaces across the UK. If you have a brief, we would love to hear it.
Ready to Build Something Exceptional?
OLLYWOOD designs, manufactures and installs commercial spaces across the UK. Tell us about your project and we will come back with a clear plan and an honest quote.