Sandbox games, as the name suggests, have long offered players the tools to construct their grandest architectural fantasies. Less so third-person shooter games. It is perhaps surprising, then, to learn that Fortnite has collaborated with Zaha Hadid Architects on an experience that allows users to drop buildings formed of the firm’s stark white curves on the banks of the River Thames.
Since 2018, however, Fortnite has branched far beyond its original focus by introducing a range of sandbox modes and Re:Imagine London sits within this expansion. Fortnite is developed through the powerful 3D computer graphics program Unreal Engine and this project tested how the engine might be used beyond gaming, in sectors such as architecture or interior design.
A created scene from one of the four locations in Fortnite’s Re:Imagine London experience. Photo courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects.
Teams from Epic Games, Fortnite’s creator, and Zaha Hadid Architects worked together to create a navigable island on London’s riverfront that players could fill with buildings that follow the firm’s distinctive architectural style. Re:Imagine London offers four areas for players to explore: Puddle Dock, Trig Wharf, Blackfriar’s Bridge, and Bankside. Each area sits alongside high-fidelity versions of real-world landmarks, such as the Tate Modern and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
A created scene from Fortnite’s Re:Imagine London experience. Photo courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects.
Once players have select a location, they can choose between one of six building types: walkway, structure, park, commercial, office, and residential. Players build using voxels, digital cubes that join together to form volumetric landscapes, and Zaha Hadid Architects has created rules based on the placement and context of the voxels (the more complex the development becomes, the more dynamic the in-game music becomes). The result is a myriad of futuristic visions of how a patch of the Thames might look entirely made over by the famous architecture firm.
Aerial rendering of a Thames waterfront populated by numerous Zaha Hadid Architects buildings. Photo: courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects.
The project uses Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFF) with the Fortnite team saying in a statement that it hoped “to inspire players to envision how future cities could be more walkable, vibrant, green, and sustainable.”
One way in which this goal was built into Re:Imagine London is through the Non Player Character (NPCs) with players able to observe how pedestrians—along with cars, bikes, boats, and trains—move through the spaces they build.
Massing studies by the firm on translating voxels to build designs. Photo: courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects.
“The experience facilitates rapid optioneering through an engaging and exploratory approach,” Zaha Hadid Architects said in a statement. “Negotiating the complexities of the urban condition to build collaboratively in a contemporary context.”
This is not Fortnite’s first foray into the world of design and architecture. In 2022, it teamed up with London’s Serpentine Galleries to create a virtual exhibition of a KAWS show.