(READING, UK, 15 October 2009) – Launching a new car is one thing. Establishing a whole new automotive brand is quite another. It is an expensive, time-consuming and multi-faceted task, three reasons why it happens only rarely. But when a new brand does arrive – as it did at the official opening of the UK’s first Infiniti Centre in Reading on October 15 – it is an exciting time for anyone with a little petrol in their veins.
The opening of Infiniti Centre Reading was billed as the UK’s premium car event of the decade, and it didn’t disappoint. On show for the first time in the UK was a little of the style, luxury, technology and hospitality on which Infiniti is founded, along with its stunning line-up of cars: five models, from coupés to cabrios to crossovers, all exclusive, all luxurious, all serious drivers’ cars. And all on sale in the UK in right-hand drive for the first time.
The base from which Infiniti is initially being launched in the UK was always going to be stunning, and it is – a landmark building that defines the brand just as well as the cars within. Infiniti puts as much thought into where and how its cars are displayed and sold as goes into their development, something that Infiniti’s debut presence in Reading confirms.
So why is the first Centre where it is, what does it offer and how was it built?
“Reading is the perfect location for first Infiniti Centre in the UK,” says Angus Gray, Infiniti’s Regional Director North. “We have a striking looking building in a high profile location in a first rate area.
“We and our retail partners, Rymco UK, chose Reading because it is a thriving town, commercial capital of the Thames Valley and home to many of the most successful companies in the technology and financial areas.
“The site also could not be better in being on a busy A-road, near a motorway junction, close to the competition and highly visible. We insist that all these attributes are present in every Centre we open. Nothing is left to chance in this regard. When you are launching a whole new brand, you do it once and you do it right.”
The Berkshire town may be home to the UK’s first Infiniti Centre but it is Europe’s 24th and one of a number planned for the UK over the next two years, with Birmingham and Glasgow Centres due to open in 2010. “When the network is complete almost 70 per cent of the UK population will be within one hour’s drive of an Infiniti Centre,” adds Angus Gray.
Occupying a site of 1.3 acres facing Rose Kiln Lane, the A33 trunk route in Reading between the M4 and town centre, the Reading Centre closely follows the principles by which all Infiniti Centres operate, known as IREDI (Infiniti Retail Environment Design Initiative). The Centre is based around a lobby/lounge/gallery layout, with high ceilings and natural light, which has proven so successful in other markets around the world.
Visitors enter the 1460 sq m Centre via glass doors let into a travertine stone entrance – just as they do in every Infiniti Centre in the world. Similarly, a reception desk is prominent. It’s similar to walking into a high-end boutique hotel.
From reception, the visitor can choose to wander around the gallery, to meet with an advisor and be introduced to the cars – not just in the flesh but also in virtual reality. Customers can spec-up their own ideal Infiniti on an easy-to-use touch screen and then stand back and admire “their” car, in full colour and from all angles, on a large plasma screen.
But because Infiniti recognises that getting just the right match of body colour and leather can be difficult in a digital world, there’s a cupboard full of seat-size leather swatches, in all available colours, that can be draped over actual bodywork for a true appreciation of what goes and what doesn’t. It’s a bespoke approach more akin to Savile Row than a car showroom.
A separate and more intimate lounge area provides plenty of opportunity to sit, read and discuss over a coffee – in surroundings that potential Infiniti owners will feel quite at home in. The materials are natural, the artwork specially commissioned and the furniture designer label.
“Traditional Japanese hospitality is a very important part of IREDI and one element that makes an Infiniti Centre different from normal showrooms,” says senior architectural designer Ian Hendricks from LloydNorthover, the architectural practice charged with coming up with the UK’s first Infiniti Centre.
The Centre is different in other ways, too. The glazed frontage emphasises this is far more than just a place to show cars. The glass itself – all 167 1x3m panes of it – is intriguingly patterned so, from outside, has an opaque quality. This is one “showroom” you can’t easily see inside…
“You get glimpses of the cars but for a proper look you have to come inside,” says Hendricks. “The opaque quality gives a sense of intrigue, a little mystery.” Unusually, this glazed wall is also curved in two planes, both in elevation and in plan view.
By recessing the first floor back from the glazed wall by 1m, an atrium-style opening is created. It doesn’t just let more natural light in but, just as important, it lets light out evenly so that, seen from outside, the building emits a spectacular glow at night. The mini atrium is unlike that of any other Infiniti Centre and is an innovation of which LloydNorthover is particularly proud.
Light inside the gallery falls evenly without any columns to get in the way and cast shadows. This is because within the main gallery area there aren’t any columns. “We wanted a welcoming environment that uses light to create a sense of tranquillity,” explains Hendricks. “That meant getting rid of the visible columns inside. Achieving this meant a lot of engineering, but all of it out of sight. The mullions (the 8m high vertical members between the panes of glass) are packed with steel to enable them to be freestanding – so we don’t need columns.”
There is something else Hendricks and his team managed to banish inside, too: unnecessary details. “We got rid of virtually everything on the ceilings apart from the lights,” says Hendricks. “All the hatches and so on are hidden. Another interesting detail is the recessed handrail on the staircase. There aren’t even any architraves; all the doors are frameless, an Australian design that we are the first to use in Europe.
“Clean lines, inside and outside, are a big part of the architectural language of this building and something we worked really hard to achieve. Car showrooms tend to be boxes with glass fronts and cars parked outside. Infiniti Centre Reading is about the architecture. Specifically, it’s about making the architecture work, not just for the cars on show inside but also for the people. Because it looks the way it looks, this building draws people in.”
Work on the Centre started in December 2008 and was completed, on time and on budget, in August 2009. The main contractor was the Sheffield-based BDB Design Build Ltd while Leeds firm Casu Consulto Ltd took responsibility for the glazing. Other firms involved included: McBains Cooper (structural engineers); Cad21 (mechanical/electrical engineers); and Delta Light (lighting).
As well as the lobby/lounge/gallery areas, the Centre has its own bodyshop and a fully tiled eight-car workshop – complete with four-wheel alignment bay, particularly important for cars with four-wheel steering as fitted to many Infiniti models.
It all represents a considerable investment on the part of Rymco, one of Infiniti’s distribution partners in the UK. Reading will act as a “hub” for two more of Rymco’s Infiniti Centres, planned for North and West London next year, as well as being home to Rymco’s corporate headquarters. Like all of Infiniti’s retail partners, Rymco is highly experienced at selling luxury cars, its parent group having been a leading automotive retailer in the Lebanon since 1957.
Rymco’s UK operation is headed by Managing Director Paul Atkinson, a former Inchcape (Jaguar, Land Rover, Ferrari, Maserati) and Jardine Motors Group (BMW, Porsche) executive. The Reading manager is John Seymour who joins Infiniti from Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands, having also previously worked at the Bentley dealership in Pangbourne.
“Rymco’s view is to have a combination of premium experience and local expertise, exactly right for a big dealership in what will be Infiniti’s largest market in Europe,” says Angus Gray.
Infiniti Centre Reading sums up what Infiniti is all about with crystal clarity, merging traditional Japanese hospitality with the latest in technology in an environment that puts comfort and tranquillity foremost – a true reflection of the “modern luxury” that characterises Infiniti’s cars. So well received has it been that this Europeanised ideal of a retail concept that grew up in the USA will now serve as a model for all future new-build Centres throughout Europe.
After a wait of 20 years, the UK has a new luxury performance brand. Drivers who go their own way rather than follow the herd have a real alternative in the premium sector. Enthusiasts have a choice of drivers’ cars like the G37 Coupé, Saloon and Convertible, EX coupé crossover and FX luxury sports crossover (with high performance V6 diesel models and all-new luxury M-series arriving in 2010). British owners have access to the acclaimed Total Ownership Experience that goes with every Infiniti car. And Reading and the Thames Valley have a new automotive landmark.
Infiniti is in Britain at last.
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• INFINITI comes from Japan. Its line-up of performance sedans, coupes, convertibles and crossovers is now being launched across Europe through a dedicated network of Infiniti Centres which share a commitment to individualised and exceptional customer service. For more information, see www.infiniti.com
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E: wayne.bruce@infiniti.eu