06 DECEMBER 2024

From today until New Year’s Eve, visitors at London’s Battersea Power Station can watch Wallace & Gromit decorate giant Christmas trees in a stop-motion installation shot on iPhone 16 Pro Max.

This holiday season, Wallace C Gromit have decorated London’s Battersea Power Station, home to Apple’s U.K. headquarters.

From 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. today, and every day until New Year’s Eve, a pair of Christmas trees will light up the two wash towers on the landmark’s river-facing facade. Visitors will see the two characters decorate the giant trees in their own inimitable styles, despite the intervention of the mischievous Feathers McGraw. Aardman follows in the footsteps of David Hockney, who last year created Bigger Christmas Trees, drawn on iPad Pro.

Aardman, the multi-award-winning animation studio and creator of Wallace C Gromit, used iPhone 16 Pro Max to create a short animation that transforms the iconic 101-metre- high chimneys that soar above the River Thames. iPhone 16 Pro Max was mounted on motorised heads on set to capture two angles of the Christmas trees, shooting a total of 6,000 frames. Eight iPhone 16 Pro Max devices used the 5x Telephoto camera to shoot super-high-resolution images in ProRAW, which were then assembled frame by frame to produce a stunning 6K video.

“Wallace C Gromit are a much-loved and iconic duo, and we’re delighted that they will be lighting up Battersea Power Station for Londoners this year,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “It’s great to see the skill and ingenuity of Aardman, and how they’ve used the most advanced iPhone we’ve ever made to produce something so joyful.”

“This project has been a dream to direct — a cinematic fusion of tech and art,” said Gavin Strange, Aardman’s director and graphic design lead. “Shooting stop-motion animation on iPhone 16 Pro Max with the legendary Wallace C Gromit, to then be projected onto the iconic Battersea Power Station, makes this unique in so many ways. I hope that this Christmas, everyone feels inspired to start shooting their own stop-motion masterpieces with iPhone, and I’m excited and proud of what we’ve all created.”

“Wallace C Gromit are British icons who have brought joy to so many people over the years and we are thrilled Apple and Aardman Animations are bringing some Christmas cheer to Battersea Power Station this festive season. As well as lighting up the Power Station’s iconic chimneys, we look forward to seeing people’s faces light up when they see the much-loved duo’s Christmas tree antics,” said Donagh O’Sullivan, CEO at Battersea Power Station Development Company.

Apple inaugurated its U.K. headquarters and a new Apple Store at London’s Battersea Power Station in 2023. The company’s deepening commitment now sees it support more than 550,000 jobs in the U.K. The 500,000-square-foot, six-story U.K. headquarters runs on 100 percent renewable energy, and has been designed around collaboration, inclusivity, wellness, and sustainability.

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About Battersea Power Station
The regeneration of Battersea Power Station has created London’s most exciting mixed-used neighbourhood – a place to shop, eat, drink, live, work and play. Welcoming over 23 million people since the Power Station opened to the public in October 2022 from the local community, London and further afield, visitors can now enjoy over 150 shops, bars, restaurants and unique leisure experiences in and around the iconic Grade II* listed building.

Battersea Power Station is home to a mix of premium, high street and small independent brands such as Apple, ME+EM, ZARA, Massimo Dutti, Boots Beauty, Jigsaw, Levi's, Aesop, Uniqlo, the Battersea Bookshop, and Curated Makers. The riverside neighbourhood also offers a variety of dining options at over 50 cafes, bars and restaurants including Dishoom, BAO, El Pastor, the first tashas in the UK and the 24,000 sq ft Arcade Food Hall, which hosts 13 cuisines from around the world on its menu.

State-of-the-art leisure and entertainment venues at Battersea Power Station include Lift 109, a unique glass elevator experience inside the building’s north west chimney offering 360° views of the London skyline, The Cinema in The Power Station screening all of the latest blockbusters, the home of Ping Pong, Bounce, and So.Shell Nail and Brow Bar. Padel pioneers, Rocket Padel, have brought Central London’s first riverside indoor courts to Battersea Power Station.

Battersea Power Station’s annual calendar of free events and cultural activities is extremely popular with visitors, including summer event The Battersea Games and the Light Festival. Establishing itself as a leading experiential destination, visitors can regularly enjoy brand pop-ups, with previous examples including the Aperol Spritz Aperidisco, Jaeger- LeCoultre Golden Ratio Musical Show with TØKIO M¥ERS and the NFL London Experience.

Additionally, with its own Uber Boat by Thames Clippers river bus pier and the Zone 1 Battersea Power Station Underground station on the Northern Line, this central London destination is now easily accessible for all to enjoy.

The restoration of Battersea Power Station is the centrepiece of an ambitious regeneration programme that spans across 42 acres and eight phases on a 450m stretch of the River Thames. When completed, this highly anticipated and innovative project will have created more than 20,000 new jobs, over 4,000 new homes, a new NHS medical facility and 19 acres of public space. Today, more than 2,500 people live at Battersea Power Station and more than 6,500 people work across the estate.

For more information, please visit www.batterseapowerstation.co.uk and follow @BatterseaPwrStn to keep up with the latest news and events.

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