Winery design and the temporary environment.

Last week I attended a design talk hosted by Artichoke, looking at design for the winery experience.  We heard from Stacy Van Harn (Hecker Guthrie), Rhys Gorgol (The Company You Keep) and Peter Walker (Cumulus Studio) giving their insights into previous projects and how they used spacial design and branding to elevate the wine experience across restaurants, cellar doors, accommodation, wayfinding and collateral. 

Having myself worked with numerous wine brands over the years through major event activations, it was fascinating to hear their approach, and take away ideas as to how to translate the customer experience into a temporary space.

Each speaker touched on the various themes of connection to the landscape through earth and air, repetition of forms throughout the design that have subtle references to the product (eg bottle shape, foil, colour, glass or cork shapes, bubbles) and most importantly, a connection to and highlighting of the passionate people behind the brand.  

So, how can we translate these ideas into a temporary space?

When designing for temporary installations, there is often the desire of the client to stand out.  If you imagine designing a wine experience in the context of a major event, there is significant noise to break through to allow your brand and product to gain the attention of the consumer / patron and create a lasting, memorable experience.  

With this comes a raft of challenges - condensed timeframes, limited budgets, partnering with large scale catering companies, promotional aspects, and the fact many guests have not chosen to engage with the experience but rather are invited to enjoy the space for a short period of time before leaving for "the main event".

What was most interesting, when asked about their favourite winery experience, each of the speakers thought back to a time surrounded by good company, delicious wine, and a sense of joy de rive.  No one could quite place the winery they'd been at....which offers up an important but kinda scary question...

Does design even matter?

Well yes, of course it does.  From considering the flow of the space, light levels, noise, accessibility, comfort.....of course design matters and is an integral part to the overall success of a product and space.  But what really shone through, was the emphasis on people and connection.  

Design helps to support that, and particularly in Australia where we lack the ability to fall back on the tradition or history of say, our French counterparts, design actually rises higher up the importance list.  It's an opportunity for brands to set themselves apart and create a unique and memorable experience, ideally creating brand loyalty along the way.

So when approaching this from a temporary perspective, my key takeaways are -

Have a sense of playfulness. 

In a battle for attention, the brand is almost secondary here, and attempting to recreate the look of the winery or cellar door is most likely cost or time prohibitive.  So have fun with the design rather than competing with the likely brand noise on all sides

Experience is key. 

Trying to replicate the feel of a space, rather than the look is far more productive and successful.  Work closely with the catering partner and others to imbue the space with the same essence of the winery - guests will long remember a fantastic interaction with a member of staff that mimics what they could expect in the permanent space