Outernet London is an entertainment, arts and culture district opened in 2022 in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

. Named as "London's most visited tourist attraction" by The Times newspaper in 2023, it is the largest digital exhibition space in Europe with the "world's largest LED screen deployment". It is located adjacent to the eastern exit of the new

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency hybrid Urban rail, urban–suburban rail service in London and its suburbs. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of London Paddington statio ...

Tottenham Court Road Underground station, on the southern side of the public square, and it extends to Denmark Street - “Tin Pan Alley”, with

St Giles High Street St Giles is an area in the West End of London in the London Borough of Camden. It gets its name from the parish church of St Giles in the Fields. The combined parishes of St Giles in the Fields and St George Bloomsbury (which was carved out of ...

to the east and

Charing Cross Road Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street) and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direction of ...

to the west.

Spaces/Venues

The district contains * ''The Now Building'' - featuring four storey high video screens * ''Now Trending'' - a space for immersive content or sampling * ''Now Arcade'' - an LED tunnel * ''Here at Outernet'' - an underground 2,000 capacity music venue * ''The Lower Third'' - a 250 capacity music venue * ''Denmark Street'' - famous street with music related retail * ''Chateau Denmark'' - a hotel as well as broadcasting and media facilities, bars and restaurants and pop up spaces. Public spaces will reportedly feature a public arts programme and advertising campaigns using virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence. News reports have indicated that entertainment will be created by Technicolor and Sir Ridley's Scott's the Ridley Scott Creative Group. There are also residential apartments, office space, and 20,000 sq ft of retail space.

Planning and Construction

Construction follows more than a decade of planning. The main construction contractor for the project was Skanska and the developer is Consolidated Developments. To protect against vibration from the

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

and

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

line trains special construction methods were used. The area immediately surrounding Outernet was also recently under development from

Crossrail Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway ...

and other projects such as the new

@sohoplace @sohoplace is a West End theatre operated by Nimax Theatres. It is on the site of the previous London Astoria, as part of development around the Elizabeth line's Tottenham Court Road station. It is the first purpose-built West End theatre to be o ...

theatre which both also opened in 2022. The Oxford Street shopping area has therefore undergone significant renewal.

Reaction and Comment

The redevelopment has been welcomed by London's Night Czar Amy Lame, but has also been controversial and criticised with many commentators lamenting the decline of live music in London and criticising the redevelopment plans, in particular their impact on Denmark Street. Some commentators have criticised the architecture, but others believe it creates a space for music that reflects the current internet age. Outernet London have said they will preserve the area's musical legacy and support both music shops and live music. The redeveloped Denmark Street features busking points and a pro-bono recording studio in partnership with the BPI. Although some of the street still has scaffolding, Denmark Street appears largely unchanged with more music shops than ever and a new indie music venue called The Lower Third located on the site of the old 12 Bar Club.

References

External links

* {{coord, 51.5159, -0.1300, display=title

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Redevelopment projects in London Tottenham Court Road Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Camden