Portsmouth, Friday, 28 November 2025.
Landsec and Holovis are installing the UK’s first large-scale immersive ApolloDomes at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, deploying two 19-metre indoor domes that pair projection mapping, spatial audio and multi-sensory effects to drive dwell time and ancillary spend in a retail setting. For retail operators and landlords this is a live test of experience-led diversification: seating capacity, throughput, content refresh cadence, AV maintenance and systems integration will determine commercial viability. The domes target family groups and seasonal programming—Halloween and Christmas debuts—offering ticketing, IP partnerships and operator models that repurpose mall space for pay-on-entry attractions. The rollout’s most salient insight is how immersive theatre-grade technology can be operationalised within centre operations to create revenue lines without traditional retail tenancy. Early metrics to watch include visit conversion, average transaction value, repeat visitation and programme cost-per-seat. This case will inform investment decisions for landlords, operators and suppliers considering immersive dome formats in leisure venues.
A UK-first in retail entertainment — what’s arriving at Gunwharf Quays
Gunwharf Quays will host the UK’s first large-scale ApolloDomes, a deployment of two 19‑metre indoor domes powered by Holovis technology and programmed initially for seasonal Halloween and Christmas experiences—an initiative led by Landsec and Holovis that pairs projection mapping, spatial audio and multi‑sensory effects within a shopping-and-leisure environment [1].
Why landlords are treating immersive domes like strategic investments
Retail landlords view experience-led attractions as a diversification strategy to increase dwell time and ancillary spend in centres; Landsec frames the ApolloDomes rollout as a way to ‘enhance popular shopping destinations’ and create memorable moments for visitors, signalling a new benchmark for retail-led entertainment in the UK [1].
Operational levers that will determine commercial viability
Operators and centre teams will be watching five practical variables closely: seating capacity and throughput, content refresh cadence, AV systems integration with venue operations, maintenance regimes for projection and sensory assets, and ticketing & seasonal programming models—issues explicitly highlighted in the project announcement as determinants of whether theatre‑grade immersive technology can be run profitably inside a retail centre [1].
What the domes mean for merchandising and on-site retail revenue
When attractions bring captive audiences into a retail footprint, merchandise and F&B capture becomes a core revenue line: the ApolloDomes’ family and group focus, plus seasonally themed programming, creates clear openings for event‑specific retail assortments, IP partnerships and limited-edition product drops timed to Halloween and Christmas runs—strategies the announcement identifies as commercial levers for ticketing and partnership opportunities [1].
A broader context: immersive attractions in retail centres and what they teach operators
The Gunwharf deployment sits alongside other moves to place large immersive experiences in shopping destinations; for example, Wake The Tiger is preparing a large Westfield London venue described by its operators as a major immersive art expansion—showing how centres and experience operators are looking to dedicated large-format attractions to draw footfall and lengthen visits [2].
Metrics to monitor and uncertainties to resolve
Early metrics that will indicate success include visit conversion from casual shoppers to paid attendees, average transaction value for attraction visitors versus baseline centre shoppers, repeat visitation rates for seasonal programmes, and programme cost‑per‑seat; the project announcement discusses these commercial implications but does not publish concrete figures for seat count, throughput or expected per‑visitor spend—those operational numbers remain undisclosed at the time of the announcement and therefore represent an open variable for landlords and investors [1][alert! ‘seat counts, throughput rates and revenue forecasts were not provided in the source material’].
Practical examples for retail teams planning around immersive offers
Retail operations teams preparing for an immersive tenant should prioritise integrated ticketing that connects attraction bookings with centre loyalty and retail promotions, a flexible shop layout to host limited‑edition merchandise, seasonal staffing models that match show schedules, and preventative maintenance plans for projection and sound systems—recommendations that follow directly from the integration and maintenance concerns highlighted in the ApolloDomes announcement and from broader practice in large immersive retail projects [1][2][GPT].
What to watch next
Key next datapoints to be published by the project partners—such as confirmed seating capacity per dome, ticket pricing bands, scheduled content refresh cycles, predicted throughput and partnerships for IP or merchandise—will materially affect the domes’ revenue model and the attractiveness of the format to other landlords considering similar repurposing of mall space for pay‑on‑entry attractions; until those figures are released publicly by Landsec or Holovis the commercial case will remain illustrative rather than fully quantified [1][alert! ‘publicly released operational and financial metrics were not available in the source material’].
Bronnen