Retail Design Consultancy

New River aquired the Highcross shopping centre in December 2024 and we retained our role as Retail Design Consultant having worked with Hammerson on the centre since 2017.

Our RDC work supports the brands strategy to ‘create a cohesive, compelling and contemporary retail and leisure environment, delivering the optimal occupier mix with new brands and concepts that cater to the diverse demographic in the city and surrounding areas’.

We help ensure that each and every tenant brings the strongest possible expression of their brand through store design, while also providing reassurance to the Centre Team that clear principles and key requirements are consistently met.

By encouraging existing tenants to elevate the quality of their fit-outs we have been able to bring both the new and old areas of the mall to the same high standard.

Highcross has become a unified and dynamic shopping centre where high street and premium brands work in harmony and complement each other throughout the mall, catering for all customer needs as well as offering engaging and theatrical leisure facilities.

Pop Up Food Court

As part of Exchange Ilford’s wider strategy, we were tasked with transforming a former TK Maxx unit into a temporary food hall.

The aim was to create an engaging and memorable destination that would inspire and delight visitors, while maintaining key customer routes and enhancing the overall guest experience.

Asset Enhancement

The space was brought to life through a vibrant and immersive design scheme featuring wall graphics, new flooring, ceiling baffles, lighting, kiosks, and market stall units.

We worked closely with the project team to develop a layout that balanced customer journey considerations with operational and fire strategy requirements.

Supporting wayfinding throughout the centre helped drive footfall and direct visitors into the new area.

Impact

The completed food hall created an exciting destination for fresh food and drink, encouraged longer dwell times, attracted new retailers, and provided guests with additional space to relax and socialise.

Marketing & Campaign Hub

Exchange Ilford approached us to help in communicate the future vision and planned developments of the centre to both it’s customers and tenants.

The objective was to build excitement around the transformation of the mall while reinforcing its evolving position as a culturally diverse, community-focused destination with a strong connection to both its heritage and future ambitions.

We created an in-mall marketing suite to inform and inspire customers and tenants of new developments planned at the centre.

We designed and delivered an in-mall marketing suite that acted as a central campaign hub, informing and inspiring visitors and tenants about the centre’s upcoming developments.

A visual language was created to reflect the new approach for the centre, with on-site communications encouraging visitors to explore the space. Social media activations extended the campaign beyond the mall, driving further engagement and awareness. Together, they successfully generated interest, increased engagement, and positioned the centre as an exciting new destination for the future.