This ingenious fully mirrored Mystery Box delivered a shrinking experience for members of the public lucky enough to enter while shopping at at Oxford’s brand new Westgate Centre. Shoppers were directed by a series of clues to a large key hidden in the shopping centre. On finding the key and ‘unlocking’ the door, a series of three rooms was revealed, each smaller than the last, a prize being proffered at the end.

Manufactured in our wood shop and themed by our talented scenic artists, walls of the first room were papered with stylised pages from the classic novel; a ceiling of mud and dangling roots interspersed with LEDs above a chequerboard vinyl floor. Strangely shaped doors were painted with UV paint and fixed to the walls of the second room and various stencils applied. On opening the door to the third and smallest room, motion sensors triggered a fanfare and the prize, concealed within a golden envelope, was revealed on a shelf illuminated by lightbox arrows and the instruction: ‘Take Me’.

The experience in each room was relayed by CCTV cameras to a screen on the outside, allowing friends, family and other shoppers to watch the experience unfold.