design studio
design
studio

With thirty years experience in the global market place, we are known for transforming brand experiences
that deliver creativity, originality, practicality and most importantly connect brands with their customers.

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architecture
architecture

We deliver inspirational and effective environments through an approach that is underpinned with realism and a thorough consideration of function, aesthetics, sustainability and affordability.

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project & cost management
project
&
cost
management

Being part of one of the largest design and construction consultancies in the UK, enables us to encompass a global reach and provide specialist European project management knowledge, as well as full cost and contract management services.

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A Sustainable Summer for Paris Olympics 2024 Megastore Pop-up

London 2012 Megastore

In 2012, rpa:group were pitched to create the retail environments for the London 2012 games, which included the 40,000sqft megastore in the Olympic Park in Stratford, which accommodated 65,000 customers a day. All areas of rpa:group’s expertise were set to work to design and deliver in excess of 100,000 sq. ft of retail space, which aside from the megastore also included Kiosks around the UK and the  ‘Pop-up’ shop in Hyde Park, the largest pop-up store in the world at the time.

The remarkable thing about the retail environments created for the London 2012 games were that they were so sustainable, in that most materials used to construct them were able to be completely recycled after the event. It was encouraging to see that the sustainable legacy we helped create for the 2012 Olympics has been replicated in Paris.

London 2012 Megastore Olympics

 

Paris 2024 Megastore 

Located right in the middle of a roundabout, but still offering lots of space to browse and located next to The Place de la Concorde, the Paris Olympic megastore has been built to accommodate thousands of tourists a day. Clad externally in wood to add texture, it has a sleek and modern appearance and features the Olympic Rings and the Paralympic Agitos alongside its unique logo, a legendary Mascot of the historic French hat The Phryge and the Eiffel Tower,  the city’s iconic landmark.  As part of the sustainability statement, all will now be repurposed or recycled, proving that temporary retail environments can be striking and demonstrate creativity, while still being sustainable.

          Paris Olympics Megastore 2024          Paris Olympics Megastore 2024

 

 

 

 

 

With the London Paris Olympics successfully over, Los Angeles has some big shoes to fill, as the saying goes. It will be exciting to see what progress will be made in the next 4 years and how sustainable design will evolve for the 2028 LA Olympics.

olympic torch lights up the economy…

After playing our own small part in the mega event of London 2012, RPA is settling down, like so many others, to evaluate the legacy of the Games for Britain.

The euphoric wave of medal winning, creativity and showmanship delivered by The Summer of Sport gave us something more fundamental and longer lasting than a few weeks of top class entertainment. It gave us back something of the confidence and self-belief that had been slowly ebbing away over the past few years of recession.  And, perhaps more importantly, it gave us an excellent opportunity to rebuild ourselves, not just at home but abroad. Now British business needs to work hard to take advantage of our new found confidence and build upon it. We need more initiatives like the ‘British Business Embassy’ run at Lancaster House alongside the Olympics. The “embassy” arranged for 4,000 business leaders to attend the biggest trade event ever held in the UK, and helped to generate £1bn of the £11bn of trade and inward investment so far expected as a result of the Games.

As we officially leave recession behind us the economic benefits of the Games have started to kick in. Now, something needs to underpin what we have achieved so far and it’s the perfect time for British brands to embrace being British, associating their products and services with the fundamental values of heritage, passion and style that were illustrated so well in Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony. Maybe it’s time that we revisited the advertising campaign, created by Mother for the British Government in 2011?  The campaign, centered around the word ‘Great’ was intended to send out the message loud and proud that this is a great place to do business. Then, against a backdrop of rioting hoodies, it didn’t strike the right note, but now it would be a perfect fit. If there was ever a time and a place to put the ‘Great’ back into Britain it is here and now.

The feel good factor should also help lift the mood on Britain’s High Streets, as the success of the Games is predicted to bring more visitors to the UK in coming months and years. Stores should be planning to take a leaf out of Danny Boyle’s book. After all, he showed the world how impactful ‘theatre’ can be, and that theatre can be translated into the retail environment. It’s important to remember that we are not just feeling different about ourselves we are also being viewed differently overseas.  Feedback from colleagues and clients across the globe all boils down to buzz words like quality, innovation and success. There is a universal feeling that Britain can punch above its weight and still has what it takes. Once again global investors are prepared to listen and willing to invest in BrandGB, and that is a legacy worth having.