Key Points
- London’s largest participatory public artwork, titled 11 Million Dots, has been unveiled on the six-storey façade of a new data centre near Park Royal in Ealing, west London.
- Created by London-based artist Rafael El Baz, the installation measures 2,700 square metres (29,000 sq ft) and features 11 million perforations on aluminium panels.
- El Baz recorded ambient noise and sounds from the area, along with over 120 audio interviews (some sources cite over 150 contributions) with local residents and business owners.
- These recordings, totalling 20 hours of audio, were transformed into binary code and audio waveforms, then perforated onto the panels to visualise data abstracted in time.
- The artwork explores materiality, sustainability, and waste streams, turning undervalued stories into sustainable art, and references musical notation, local skies, trees, traffic, and industrial history.
- Commissioned by Vantage Data Centers for their LHR21 (or LHR2) campus, in collaboration with Loom (arts consultancy), and part of London Design Festival.
- Justine Simons, London’s deputy mayor for culture and creative industries, praised it for igniting discussions and uniting communities.
- Visitors access a full sound archive via QR codes in the park, creating a digital record; launched in September 2025.
- Described as Europe’s largest participatory public artwork in some reports, reimagining the data centre as a shared memory device.
London’s largest participatory public artwork, 11 Million Dots, has been unveiled on the façade of a new data centre in west London, transforming local voices and sounds into 11 million perforated dots on aluminium panels. Created by artist Rafael El Baz, the 2,700-square-metre installation near Park Royal in Ealing captures ambient noises and over 120 interviews with residents and business owners, converted into binary code to visualise everyday data. Commissioned by Vantage Data Centers as part of London Design Festival, it highlights sustainability and community stories, with Deputy Mayor Justine Simons hailing it as a vibrant unifier.
What is 11 Million Dots and where is it located?
The artwork, 11 Million Dots, adorns the six-storey façade of Vantage Data Centers’ new LHR21 campus (also referred to as LHR2 in some coverage) near Park Royal in Ealing, west London, specifically visible from Wesley Playing Fields on North Acton Road. As reported on the artist’s website by Rafael El Baz himself, 11 Million Dots is a landmark public artwork that transforms the data centre into a monument to local voices, memories, and sound, acting as a soundboard in a city where individual stories often get lost. It spans 2,700 square metres (29,000 sq ft), making it London’s—and reportedly Europe’s—largest permanent participatory public artwork.
According to BBC News coverage, the piece was unveiled recently, with perforations etched onto the building’s aluminium cladding using custom software. The official project site emphasises its position on Vantage’s second London data centre campus, paying homage to Park Royal’s industrial history while celebrating its revitalisation as a new urban destination. Instagram posts from related accounts confirm the unveiling in the Park Royal zone.
Who created 11 Million Dots and what inspired it?
London-based artist Rafael El Baz (also styled as Raffaello El Baz or Raf El Baz) designed the installation, as detailed across multiple sources including his personal site and media reports. As reported by unnamed BBC journalists in their article “London’s voices turned into code for large-scale artwork,” El Baz recorded ambient noise and sounds from the area as well as more than 120 audio interviews with local residents and business owners, which he then transformed into binary code and audio waveforms perforated onto aluminium panels.
On his website, Rafael El Baz explains: the project involved over 150 people through interviews, workshops, and sound walks, resulting in 20 hours of audio—ranging from conversations and industrial noise to personal stories and ambient soundscapes. This audio was translated into a pattern of 11 million perforations, referencing musical notation and data systems, mirroring tones of the sky and neighbouring park, subtly shifting with light. Yahoo News echoes this, noting the aim to explore what data—”something that is used daily but rarely visualised”—can “look like when abstracted in a moment of time,” per El Baz.
El Baz further stated, as quoted in BBC coverage:
“My practice is really about materiality, about sustainability, waste streams – the way in which we undervalue certain materials and how that leads into the way we undervalue certain stories.”
He added:
“This takes the unheard stories of people and turns them into something sustainable.”
The London Design Festival page credits El Baz in collaboration with the local community, capturing the spirit of a neighbourhood on the data centre façade.
How was the artwork created and what technology was involved?
The creation process began with El Baz capturing local sounds, as outlined in the BBC article: ambient noises, clouds, trees, traffic, and interviews converted via custom software into perforations on aluminium panels supplied in partnership with firms like Kingspan. Kingspan’s case study describes it as a fusion of art, technology, and community, with the 2,700-square-metre design by El Baz.
Per the artist’s site, the perforations form a visible, tactile score of place and change, with the name deriving from musical notation where each dot carries meaning and rhythm. Vantage provided the entire façade as canvas, supported by Loom, an arts and culture consultancy. The official 11milliondots.com site notes it reveals the soul of the neighbourhood in visual display and companion oral history.
What does 11 Million Dots symbolise?
Rafael El Baz’s work centres on materiality, sustainability, and waste streams, addressing undervalued materials and narratives, as he told BBC reporters:
“My work fundamentally revolves around materiality, sustainability, and waste streams. It highlights how we often undervalue certain materials, which, in turn, leads to the devaluation of particular narratives.”
It reframes the data centre as a shared memory device, where local sound becomes connection, meaning, and place.
The installation echoes Park Royal’s industrial past and future urban vibe, per the project site. LinkedIn posts from Kingspan highlight its captivating blend of elements. An unrelated Instagram reel mentions El Baz’s prior work like Sweet Terrain with Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad, transforming HS2 clay waste, underscoring his sustainability focus.
Who commissioned and supported 11 Million Dots?
Vantage Data Centers, a leading global provider of hyperscale data centre campuses, commissioned the piece for their London campus, as stated on 11milliondots.com and the artist’s site. Loom facilitated as arts consultancy. It ties into London Design Festival, with launches noted in September and October 2025.
What have officials said about the artwork?
Justine Simons, deputy mayor for culture and creative industries, remarked as reported by BBC News:
“Public art invigorates our city, igniting discussions, celebrating, and uniting our communities, and 11 Million Dots achieves all of this and beyond. A data center in Acton and Park Royal has been reimagined with a breathtaking installation, where the abstract designs are inspired directly by interactions with local residents and the surrounding environment, including its clouds, trees, and traffic.”
Yahoo News carried the same quote, slightly varied:
“Public art enlivens our city, igniting discussions, celebrating diversity, and uniting our communities. This installation achieves all of that and more.”
An Instagram post from @mayorofldn accounts celebrated:
“Exciting news from our @mayorofldn Acton and Park Royal … 11 Million Dots by @raffaelloelbaz, London’s largest participatory public artwork, was recently unveiled in the zone in Park Royal.”
How can the public engage with 11 Million Dots?
Launching in September 2025, visitors access the full sound archive via QR codes in the park, creating a lasting digital record, as per Rafael El Baz’s site: https://www.11milliondots.com/. BBC suggests sharing story ideas via hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk and following on social media. The artwork subtly shifts with light, viewable from public spaces.
