What a summer it’s been! Our team has been hard at work delivering unique and engaging events that inspire, excite, and unite communities across multiple destinations. From interactive installations to themed festivals, every experience we create is designed to drive footfall, increase dwell time, and foster lasting connections within the heart of each location.
At Activate, we specialise in transforming everyday spaces into immersive environments where people gather, explore, and enjoy. Our events are designed to make every moment memorable, and this summer was no exception.
Highlights from Activate’s summer 2024
A kaleidoscope of butterflies at St Christopher’s Place
Discover how we brought a dazzling, vibrant butterfly installation to St Christopher’s Place, captivating visitors and creating a colourful, Instagram-worthy experience.
Moretown’s summer social
From live music to food pop-ups, Moretown’s summer social turned an ordinary destination into the ultimate summer gathering spot, filled with energy and fun.
Croxchella: Croxley Park’s summer festival
We brought the festival vibes to Croxley Park with Croxchella—an unforgettable day of live music, street food, and family-friendly activities.
Repurposing of real estate is taking on many different forms. From regenerating whole town centres to suit local communities, to reimagining vacant spaces for more commercially viable uses; huge swathes of real estate are being made fit-for-purpose for the future economy.
Truly researching and understanding what occupiers, customers and communities want from these assets is crucial to all forms of repurposing. Whether big or small, not having a predetermined view of what will work best in the future is essential. Localism is one of the driving forces behind this, as customers increasingly seek out retailers and operators on their doorstep. Not just as a short-term response to the pandemic, but as part of a longer term trend.
Having worked together on a project at Liverpool Shopping Park, we recently asked Peter Gilliland, Head of Property Management at Derwent Estates and Esther Worboys , Placemaking Manager at Activate and an Expert member of The High Streets Task Force, to talk about the value of understanding the local community when looking to repurpose assets or reimagine vacant spaces. Chaired by Jennifer Small on our Marketing team, they share a number of the practical considerations to make the best of a challenging space.
Understanding of local demographics, community research and creative design all combined to develop ideas for an unloved area of public realm. The vision is to transform this part of a thriving retail destination into a valuable community amenity. Although the project is still in progress, a lot of work has been done by the Activate team to research what the local community need, supported by our CAD team to visualise the possibilities. As we prepare for retail reopening in April 2021, we look forward to these ideas becoming a reality and the community offer being enhanced.