Ellicott Park Palace – Virtual Reality Lighting Experience by Xavio

Ellicott Park is an enormous and magnificent private palace created LPF Members Xavio Design of Mayfair. This one of a kind virtual project includes an interactive lighting and an optional Virtual Reality experience.

The Luxury Property Forum’s Founder and CEO, Priya Rawal had the pleasure of sitting down with Nicholas Reynolds, CEO of Xavio Design of Mayfair to discuss this “first of its kind” project. Check out this exclusive interview and the link to experience Ellicott Park below.

Ellicott Park has created a huge amount of interest in the global super-prime world. Can you tell us more about it and where the idea came from?

The vast majority of our super-prime projects are too confidential to ever allow visitors or even to photograph for our own use. However, we frequently have prospective clients and other firms in the industry asking to see finished projects so they can judge for themselves the impact of a professional lighting design. Ellicott Park has been created to answer that need.

Wherever you are in the world, there is now a stunning Xavio project ready for visiting, less than a minute away!

Has this been done before?

Not on this scale as far as we know, and certainly not in the world of luxury lighting. A virtual-reality palace with interactive lighting is definitely a first!

I’ve had a look at the model and it is very impressive, can you give us some background and context to the project?

Ellicott Park is a 250,000 sq.ft. private palace, set in thousands of acres of rugged country estate in the North of England. We imagined it as being built for a private Family and it will constitute their country estate in the UK, where they can relax in a quiet sanctuary or host weekend parties for large numbers of guests from around the world.

We wanted to be able to demonstrate all the facets of life in a large country house, all illuminated by the best techniques in luxury lighting.

It all seems so realistic…Is Ellicott Park actually a ‘real’ project?

No, Ellicott Park is an entirely fictional project that we have created to give some personality and colour to the experience, but it is based on inspiration from real Xavio projects. It is not dissimilar from real projects we have worked on, and some of the inspiration may be recognised by those who know!

Where did the name ‘Ellicott Park’ come from?

Ellicott is the surname of one of my ancestors! We also created a fictional architect practice for the layouts and plans of the building, and called this firm Chambers & Ramsden…. More names from our family tree!

What are your favourite features in Ellicott Park?

The video ceiling in the pool is definitely a favourite, along with the Koi carp swimming around the fountain in the front carriageway! Also the ‘birds eye view’ in the carriageway scene… and of course the custom branding on the Formula 1 car in the Entertainment Room!

Did Xavio create this in-house?

Yes, we’re rather proud that this high-quality model was created entirely in-house within the Xavio design team. The leading designer and creator is of course our resident CAD genius, the one and only Piotr Chilik!

How long did it take to build?

16 months! And many hundreds of hours… an extremely enjoyable task and a great way to play with lighting effects and to increase our expertise in the process.

Do I need a VR headset to navigate Ellicott Park?

No, you can easily tour the building on your usual PC desktop, tablet or phone without needing any VR app or headset. However, the experience feels even more immersive when you wear a VR headset. You can also turn on the audio and have background music as well as immersive sounds such as the hissing of a steam generator in the spa, the bubbling of water, a crackling open fire in the grate…

What are the pro’s and con’s between a ‘bricks & mortar’ lighting showroom (or show home) and a VR model?

We believe that a VR model is greatly advantageous in this context as it allows infinite expansion and is accessible instantly from anywhere in the world – this has been underlined in the last 2 years when travel has been difficult. This is particularly to the younger generation of UHNWI clientele who are familiar with such technology and often prefer digital mediums.

Can other leading brands in the super-prime sector be involved in the next stages of the Ellicott Park project?

Absolutely, we are keen to partner with other firms to develop the next phases of Ellicott Park. This will be a great way to showcase your design brand to UHNWI clientele from across the world. We are happy to discuss further with leading design houses and world-class firms in our sector.

What is the long-term vision for Ellicott Park?

We envisage a huge and constantly evolving model including many amazing rooms – art galleries, cinema, golf simulator, banquet hall, spa complex, billiards room, supercar showroom and much more… also a fine landscape, outbuildings… the list is endless. Ellicott Park will never be finished!

Xavio will be able to showcase lighting products and techniques from every leading manufacturer in the world in this marvellous provision.

After that…. The metaverse??? We hear of developers considering the crazy concept of buying ‘land’ in the metaverse and ‘building’ VR dream homes for their avatar Clients. We’d love to be the first lighting consultant to take fees to create a lighting design in the metaverse!

Wow! That’s pretty exciting. So the overall concept here is pretty huge?

Absolutely! We love to think of Xavio as a pioneer in the world of VR, as well as in the world of lighting, but there are so many fields this can open up in every part of the industry. Networks such as the Luxury Property Forum will become even more important when non-competing firms start to work together to build virtual reality spaces to showcase their vision, their skills, and their products.

Ellicott Park is a launch pad for the future, and we want to keep the vision growing dynamically and exponentially. We live in exciting times!

Experience Ellicott Park now