Place Vendôme is the largest shopping mall in Qatar, a vast retail and leisure destination where luxury brands, dining, and entertainment converge. Within it lies Trocadéro, the Family Entertainment Center (FEC), designed as a flagship space where attractions and storytelling come together to elevate the mall experience.

If Dr. Archibald was the project that unlocked new skills for me, Trocadéro was without doubt the next great leap in my career. I was invited to lead the audiovisual content direction and supervise the technical team responsible for designing the show control and AVL systems for the entire FEC. The scope and intensity of the project meant leaving teaching behind, as I felt an irresistible pull to dedicate myself fully to this world.

For nine months we worked with an exceptional international team of nearly fifty professionals. We built an integrated storyline with endearing stop-motion characters, composed an adventure score that evolved in 90-minute cycles in sync with the venue’s lighting, and found creative solutions to an unusual challenge: the park design and ride selection were already locked in, so the narrative had to adapt to existing infrastructure—normally it is the other way around.

In this project I replaced the phrase “I don’t know how to do this” with “I haven’t done this yet.” That shift made all the difference. It was deeply rewarding to see Sophie, Paul, and their friends come to life, embodying the spirit of imagination that defined Trocadéro.