Elevate immersive digital-luxury acquisitions

Article posted by Coliseum, January 13^th, 2026

Image: Coliseum GSVA / Michael Rennschmied

Elevate, a global, integrated agency network committed to helping properties forge deeper connections with their audiences to unlock growth, recently announced the strategic acquisitions of Downstream and GA.

‘elevate’ further stated that together, the combination brings Elevate Creative to more than 250 designers, technologists, and strategists worldwide operating from studios across North America, Europe and Asia, and serving more than 400 combined clients globally. These acquisitions mark a bold step forward in the evolution of Elevate Creative, uniting three world-class studios to create a fully integrated design group that dissolves the traditional boundaries within the built environment between interior architecture, immersive technology, and experiential design.

Chris Allphin has been appointed President of Elevate Creative and will lead the merger of these groups into a unified studio under one banner. Drew Bryant will continue to serve as Elevate’s Chief Creative Officer. This combination brings together Elevate Creative’s leadership in sports, culture and fan-driven storytelling with Downstream’s expertise in immersive environments and GA’s legacy of refined global hospitality design. The newly integrated studio will provide clients with end-to-end capabilities to shape how people experience physical spaces and interact with brand narratives across various environments, including sports, corporate, retail, and hospitality sectors. Exceptional hospitality design spans across industries and geographies, and Elevate is now positioned to set benchmarks for world-class experiences across sporting, hotel and commercial spaces.

Explained Al Guido, Elevate Chairman and CEO, “By joining Elevate and fusing them into one entity we are creating a force that simply doesn’t exist elsewhere in the market. With this expansion, Elevate Creative now operates at a scale unmatched in the global sports industry while significantly broadening our remit beyond sports into brand, corporate and luxury hospitality environments worldwide.”

Downstream, a globally respected experiential design studio with expertise in digital and branded technology experiences builds environments that fuse storytelling and interactive technology for the world’s most ambitious brands. Since 1988, Downstream has delivered hundreds of projects that integrate interactive digital and physical experiences in global tech hubs, flagship retailers, major sports venues, educational spaces, and other public and private destination environments worldwide. Their roster of clients includes several Fortune 100 organizations and prominent sports properties such as Zoom, Google, Nike, Microsoft, the University of Oregon, and the Las Vegas Raiders. Downstream operates from studios in Portland and Amsterdam, bringing deep expertise in immersive technology and digital storytelling to Elevate Creative’s global platform.

‘elevate’ further stated that GA boasts over four decades of award-winning experience in luxury hospitality design. Over the past 40 years, they have partnered with the world’s most respected brands to deliver iconic hotel, resort and lifestyle environments across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. Clients include Atlantis the Royal, 1 Hotel, Park Hyatt, Harrods, Four Seasons, W Hotels, and Shangri-La. GA’s team of over 100 designers and strategists operates from studios in London, Budapest, Kuala Lumpur, and Shanghai, delivering culturally resonant design on a truly global scale.

With these strategic acquisitions, Elevate is expanding its capabilities to include immersive digital and luxury experiences for global brands.

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