Europe’s largest immersive multi-sensory art experience is to open at the Westfield London shopping centre next summer.
The 80,000 sq ft attraction, called the Wake The Tiger Amazement Park, will occupy the space left by the KidZania role play centre which closed in January last year.
The Bristol founded venture hopes to attract up to 600,000 visitors a year by 2027 to what will be Westfield’s largest leisure and entertainment venue.
Visitors will make their way round a “walk through fantasy” showcasing the work of “hundreds of different artists across all different mediums” with a focus on sustainability.
Co-founder and chief creative officer at Wake The Tiger Luke Mitchell, who was also one of he founders of the Boomtown music festival, said the London opening was “a childhood dream come true after building immersive worlds all my life whether sandcastles or treehouses.”
Exact details of the experience are being closely guarded but Mitchell said it would be like “navigating a multi-sensory maze, where if you take a right step you are in a forest, if you take a left step you’re in an ice cave, it will unfold more and more. Anyone who walks into the space will walk out saying ‘how the hell did you do this.’”
Wake The Tiger’s chief commercial officer, Lucy Jarjoura described it as a “multi-generational sensory explosion of lights, sounds and smells.” The average visit is expected to last two to three hours.
Wake The Tiger began in Bristol in a former paint factory that was converted into 40 spaces offering a “self-guided, walk-through labyrinth of exploration,” It opened in July 2022 and has already attracted 500,000 visitors.
Jacinta Rowsell, managing director, customer & retail operations, Northern Europe, at the mall’s owners Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, said the attraction would bring “a real differentiation to the centre that will set us apart from any other centre in the UK.”
“Westfield London is an extraordinary stage for our creative vision; we’re transforming 80,000 sq. ft. into a world of raw, unbounded art, with serious depth. Our mission is to use this space to bring joy, curiosity and connection to the heart of one of the UK’s most dynamic urban environments.”
Wake The Tiger will be open seven days and week from 11am to 7pm and will have a cafe.
Wake The Tiger will join Westfield London’s line-up of leisure, entertainment and competitive socialising concepts, alongside TOCA Social’s largest venue, the 620-seat Capital Theatre opening in October 2025, Moonshot’s first UK site, City Bouldering, Puttshack, DIVR Labs, Vue, All Star Lanes, Java Whiskers and Gymbox.
