Airbus brand “Experience Centre” designed to showcase innovation

Hornall Anderson has designed an Experience Centre for aerospace company Airbus Group to showcase its work in commercial, defence and space sectors.

The centre, located in Washington DC, US, covers around half of the new 1,858m² space with the rest given over to office space.

Telling Airbus’s story to a wide range of audiences and stakeholders, including airline customers and congressmen, the centre will demonstrate products engineered and designed by the company.

“The sky connects us all”

One of the main messages throughout the centre is that “the sky connects us all” and this is shown through glimpses of satellite images and sky in what appear to be skylights.

In the reception area visitors can look up to see a bird’s eye view of the Earth with simulated flight paths and satellite orbits shown as a 24-hour time lapse animation to demonstrate Airbus’ global reach.

The “skywalk corridor” comprises ten ceiling windows showing high-resolution motion graphics revealing a daytime view of flight patterns and a night time “galaxy mode” with views of satellites orbiting the night sky.

Doors, which look like aircraft wings open in on a briefing room where a 30-foot interactive wall can be operated from an adjacent touchscreen table to unlock Airbus stories. Content can be programmed to appeal to different audiences.

An innovation gallery celebrates engineering and design achievements by the company including engineless gliders that can fly at the edge of space and more effective systems for training pilots.

A moving wall then gives way to a 40-foot screen wall which can be activated to reveal an interactive of 3D model-making. Visitors can manipulate depth, scale and motion to “partner” on the design of helicopter, defence and aerospace products.

The visitor experience can be personalised depending on who is visiting, according to Airbus Group vice president, group experience team Rick McGivern.

“It allows us to demonstrate many of our industry-leading innovations, and helps us detail the Airbus Group people and places in the US and beyond, our industry partners,” says McGivern.

Mark Buchalter, director of experience design at Hornall Anderson says: “We believe that no one has seen anything like this before, and through the Airbus Group’s trust and support we were able to create an amazing experience that gives them a great platform to highlight their people and products both in the US and across the globe, along with a powerful tool to connect with their customers, partners and industry influencers.”