London-based greentech company Pavegen has unveiled a new partnership with the new Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier urban quarter in Hamburg, Germany, to install its innovative flooring technology to harness the kinetic power of visitors’ footsteps to generate energy.
The project will see the quarter’s visitors engage visitors with an immersive green education experience that harnesses their footsteps to generate power for a number of charging benches where they can recharge their devices.
Visitors will be able to see the direct impact of their involvement with an energy dashboard updating on the number of steps and energy generated – giving users a real-time picture of the influence they can have on the surroundings that they use on a daily basis. This is part of parent group Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s vision of creating sustainable, high-quality real estate assets in the most dynamic cities in Europe and the United States.
The group operates 74 shopping centres in 12 countries and Westfield London was Pavegen’s first customer in 2012. These centres attract over 900 million visits annually with the Hamburg destination due to open in Spring 2024.
First commercialised in 2015, Pavegen has long been at the forefront of helping businesses and governments achieve their ESG goals in a way that includes and engages the masses. Its interactive floor tiles convert footsteps into small amounts of electrical energy, data points and engagement – with each step powering a LED light for up to 20 seconds or charging a mobile phone.
Its installations can be seen at iconic sites such as The Loop in Dubai – a visionary scheme boasting a 93km kinetic energy floor for the future of urban mobility, The Quayside in Hong Kong as well as transport hubs around the world.
Theda J. Mustroph, Quartiersmanager Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, said: “We are dedicated to developing lasting urban environments that captivate and motivate people. Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier in Hamburg is designed to bring together forward-looking models for urban living, working, shopping and socialising in a vibrant meeting place. Interconnectivity is key and we are thrilled to offer an inviting environment where guests and habitants can harness their energy – and see it put to work for them in a vibrant and engaging way. We are excited about this partnership with Pavegen”.
Laurence Kemball-Cook, CEO and co-founder of Pavegen, said: Laurence Kemball-Cook, CEO and co-founder of Pavegen said: “Westfield was Pavegen’s first ever client so we are delighted to continue to build on this relationship at their newest retail experience. Awareness of climate change and sustainability is at an all-time high and we need to find ways to engage people and places. Installing our technology in such a prominent and high footfall retail environment can only help create more awareness of sustainability while also providing a useful opportunity for visitors to recharge their devices.”
