The opening of the Drum Labs, a three-story experimental test-bed of digital and social technologies, marks the start of a new chapter for the leading global marketing and media industries publisher.
We worked closely with Drum Founder, Gordon Young, to support his vision for a connected event space–designed to showcase how life, work and play are being transformed by the digital revolution.
A real-time living laboratory
As digital-by-default marketing becomes ever-more everyday for brands, The Drum envisaged a new space for innovation–a digital/physical venue designed as a content generating machine showcasing marketing innovation in all its forms.
Front-of-house, a coffeeshop-slash-exhibition space showcases the future role of retail technologies, testing new ways to shop, and build loyalty, through embedded digital experiences and experiment with new approaches to brand engagement.
A hybrid-ready event space
With the pandemic and lockdowns still very much a reality, we wanted to build a venue that was broadcast-first, a sustainable space where physical and virtual events could live side-by-side.
Designed with flexibility in mind, the Drum Labs offers a variety of multi-use spaces, from hospitality to talk spaces, broadcast studios and demo space–a place for both fun and education for brands and the public alike.
Bringing the Labs to life
Not content with innovation being confined to the inside of the Labs, we invited passers-by to dance to the beat of their own drum through an augmented reality effect that spanned the entire building facade.
Activated via Spark AR on Facebook and Instagram, the brutalist grid of windows transforms into a virtual drum machine, where viewers can programme, record and share their own drum loops.
A broadcast home
Since opening, the Drum Labs has played host to a number of events and shows–each shot before a live studio audience, content is instantly captured and shared live across the Drum channels.
“The future isn’t something we travel into, it’s something we create. And we’re excited to be opening a space for that to happen.”
Gordon Young, Editor in Chief, The Drum
