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Barclays changes the face of banking.

The site, underneath the iconic Piccadilly lights, was acquired by Barclays earlier this year and has been developed into the first "brand concept" bank branch in the UK, covering 8,000 square feet of retail space over three floors and making extensive use of new technology and design. The branch opened its doors for the first time on Thursday 18th December and will be officially launched at the end of January.

With the opening of the branch, Barclays becomes the first bank in Europe to pilot Microsoft Surface. The technology will allow users to grab digital content with their hands and navigate information about Premier banking with simple gestures and touches.

A major feature of the branch and the first aspect visitors will see is Being:London; an interactive and evolving installation representing London and what people in the capital are doing, talking about and interested in. A large video wall will graphically represent London using content from blogs and customer interests whilst personal consoles will enable people to contribute to the installation and explore relevant information from Time Out.

Outside of opening hours, the front of the branch will be transformed into the ‘Night Life' screen. This installation picks up the image of passers using face recognition technology and cameras and creates moving silhouettes on the screen together with thought bubbles containing random messages.

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