Pasadena Design Firm Creates Immersive Experiences at One World Trade Center and Other Popular Locations Worldwide

For Phil Hettema, president and creative executive of The Hettema Group of Pasadena, a team of “experience designers,” architects, and media producers best known for coming up with uniquely compelling and emotionally resonant immersive guest experiences, a simple phrase sums up what his team and he really do for a living:

“You bring the dream, we’ll create it,” encapsulates what is virtually a company slogan for the creators of such attractions as the High Roller Observation Wheel at The LINQ, in Las Vegas; the Beyond All Boundaries exhibit at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans; and the Dreamworks Water Park in New Jersey. Currently, Hettema Group creative crews are currently working on a Crystal Lobby at the Galaxy Hotel in Macau.

But perhaps the most professionally and emotionally challenging project for The Hettema Group has been the exhibit they installed in the One World Observatory at One World Trade Center.

Their work has made One World Trade Center much more than just a beautiful new skyscraper in Lower Manhattan. The building stands as “a beacon of hope – a monumental icon of renewal and rebirth and an enduring testament to the resilience of the human spirit,” as the Hettema Group describes it.

“One World Observatory is a state-of-the-art guest experience that elevates the One World Trade Center observation deck from a spectacular sightseeing opportunity to an inspirational personal journey,” the company says on its website.

“Of course it’s located right there at Ground Zero where 9/11 happened,” Hettema recently said of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, which brought down the Twin Towers, destroyed adjoining properties and killed nearly 3,000 people.

“But there’s a museum next door that talks about 9/11, and there’s a memorial, which is very profound and very important,” he noted. The New York Port Authority, he said, “really wanted this experience to be looking ahead and talking about rebuilding on this site and having an optimistic view of the future. So that was our challenge. But we also knew that no one would come and visit this building and set foot in this new tower without thinking about what had happened there before.”

The company said construction work on the observatory started in early 2014 and the facility opened in May 2015.

The ‘Ultimate’ Experience

Placed near the top of what is now the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, the One World Observatory receives millions of visitors each year, engaging people with a series of cutting-edge multimedia presentations and exhibits and immersing them in an uplifting tribute to the new One World Trade Center as a 21st century global nexus of commerce, culture and community.

“We clad the elevators with high-definition media so that it looks like you’re outside, that you’re seeing all around you but you’re actually seeing media that we created,” Hettema said, describing the experience.

“It feels like when you take off from the basement and you start looking at the terrain around you, you’re seeing what New York looked like 700 years ago. As you go up, you actually move through time and see New York build itself around you, and the town, the city kind of progresses through time, because back 700 years ago, there was nothing on the south end of Manhattan,” he said.

One World Trade Center became the tallest structure in New York City on April 30, 2012, when it surpassed the Empire State Building, which stands at a height of 1,454 feet. On May 10, 2013, the final component of the skyscraper’s spire was installed, making the building, including its spire, a total height of 1,776 feet, a deliberate reference to the year when the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed.

The building has 94 stories, with the top floor numbered 104. The elevator ride terminates at floors 100 through 102 where guests enjoy what is billed as “The Ultimate Observation Deck Experience,” which could just as easily be called “The Hettema Group Experience.”

The new One World Trade Center, once colloquially known as “Freedom Tower,” opened on Nov. 3, 2014. The One World Observatory opened on May 29, 2015, giving guests a panoramic view of New York City and 45 miles of the surrounding region.

Creating Memories

“Especially now, coming out of COVID, I think it’s clear to everybody that, as people, we really have a need for experience and to connect with each other in many ways,” Hettema said.

“And I think everybody’s hungry, after having stayed home for 18 months or so, to get out in the world and connect with each other in a more profound way, and that’s how memories are created,” he said

Describing his company’s work in more detail, Hettema said creative teams have almost always been involved in the initial creative development of each project. A client would often have a basic idea of what they want, and say that they just wanted to tell a unique story.

“We don’t know how to tell it or what the experience should be, but we have an incredible team of creative directors and artists and designers who begin the process by brainstorming an idea and opening the doors wide,” Hettema said.

“At the early stage of a project, our creative team gets together and just starts building on each other’s ideas. And we try to make sure that every experience we come up with is unique and special,” he said.

Hettema adds the company is getting more and more calls from companies across such industries as theme parks, retail, dining, and even in the medical field, asking them to help create unique experiences for their own clients.

One such project is creating a Crystal Lobby at the Galaxy Hotel in Macau.

“It’s the entry point for a very spectacular resort and casino, and this is the place where some of the highest VIP guests will enter,” Hettema said. “The client wanted to make sure that his high-end guests were really arriving at a spectacular lobby as they began their experience, so we created this entire lobby that has a 20-foot gazebo in the center of the lobby, surrounded by fountains. The gazebo is entirely made out of hand-cut European crystal, and above that is a huge dome. There’s about half a million programmable LED lights all hidden within all that crystal. It can be programmed to come to life along with the fountains to really create a spectacular entrance experience for guests,” he said

“So we really are working in a wide variety of sectors now to take things people do every day and make them into memorable experiences,” Hettema said.

To learn more about the company, visit www.thehettemagroup.com.