Calem Cellars, Oporto
The Calem Cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia have been operating from the same traditional load bearing stone warehouse for the last 250 years.
Parent company Sogevinus needed to create a differentiated and modern experience telling their unique story of their vineyards in the Douro Valley and their unique process of making Port wine that sets them apart from the competition.
The brief also included the need to both increase ticket sales and maximise revenue opportunities through enhanced offers and an improved retail proposition.
The unique land formations of the Douro valley inspired a design signature that Paulo employed throughout the design and development of this sensitive adaptation of a 300 year old historic wine cellar. The sinuous curves helped guide the visitor flow and shaped all the physical elements of the new experience giving it a cohesive visual language and tying together the whole.
The project included digital exhibits delivered by GEMA digital, showcases, graphics, pieces by local street artists, a tasting room, restaurant and high end wine shop. As the Creative Director for Imagination Paulo acted as the linchpin to all the different elements of the project, leading the design and Creative Direction and bringing a unifying sense of whole to the entire visitor experience.
The Calem Experience is now the most visited Port tasting experience in Oporto. Revenue streams have increased both from a justifiable increase in ticket price and the much improved retail element.
The management have started to put on Fado performances - a requirement in the brief for the tasting rooms - to further leverage the opportunities presented to them with the increased visitor numbers to their new experience.
The Kopke Experience, Oporto
Kopke is the oldest Port brand still making fine wines and wanted to create a destination in the very crowded tourism marketplace of Vila Nova di Gaia. Their key objects were:
To provide Kopke’s A/B+ target group with the premium and ultra-premium experiences that fit the brand’s positioning.
To take Kopke’s customers through a journey of authentic premium experiences that increase the average ticket price.
To achieve a versatile and flexible set of spaces that enable multiple premium experiences to happen simultaneously.
To develop a financially sustainable and profitable proposition that is not wholly dependent on ticket revenue and retail income.
We were invited to respond to this complex brief and Paulo led the creative proposal alongside strategy and business planning functions.
Our proposal created a clear hierarchy of brand and sub-brand offers that drew visitors in to experience the brand at a number of levels through a number of entry points. This approach helped define the masterplanning of the challenging site and informed the design of each space.
This also enabled us to allocate specific cost modelling to each space demanding a certain level of specification from basic to premium fit-out. All of this was backed up by a robust business plan based on projected ticket prices in-line with current market data.
The Belgian Beer Experience, Brussels
Belgium is synonymous with high quality beer and the Federation of Belgian Brewers partnered with the City of Brussels to convert the historic stock exchange - La Bourse - into a multi-purpose visitor attraction and home of Belgian Beer.
The primary aim of the Federation was to raise the international profile of Belgian beer with overseas visitors, increasing advocacy and therefore export sales. Initially Paulo led the creative development of the brief, working hand in hand with the client group. This was formed the backbone of an OJEU tender that took Paulo and Imagination on to the next stage of the process and this more detailed proposal.
Paulo subsequently formed a multidisciplinary team including conservation architects, sustainability consultants, destination consultants and circulation experts to create a new civic indoor ‘place’ at the heart of the city. This came in the form of the raised ground floor area that was directly accessed from pavement level by the public to become a natural extension of the iconic Grande Place.
The proposals include retail, F&B, flexible performance spaces and a beer discovery experience as well as the sensitive incorporation and display of archaeological remains under pavement levels. We designed a sinuous copper thread to lace all the elements together and create a legible and intuitive journey and act as ‘the longest bar in the world’.
The scope included branding identity, exhibition design and lighting design as well as interior, architecture and the conservation and creative adaptation of this national monument.
The Guinness Storehouse, Dublin
As the first major brand experience project of Paulo’s career The Storehouse proved a great testing ground and inspiration for projects to come.
In the late 90s Guinness was still a drink largely associated with older men and traditional drinking culture. The Storehouse signified a huge step for the brand into a new era of connecting with a broader audience and popularising the brand and its significance in Irish culture.
Imagination brought the brand to life within the redundant brewhouse with the iconic ‘pint’ atrium and Gravity Bar, along with an entire immersive visitor experience that told the story of Arthur Guinness and his legacy.
Working as a Senior Designer for Imagination Ltd Paulo led the detailed design and coordination of a number of experiential zones. His role included designing these areas and detailed coordination with content interpreters, graphic designers and lighting designers up to construction.
The Guinness Storehouse is now the most visited attraction in Europe.
Cain Manor
Hit very hard by the onset of the pandemic in 2020 this luxury wedding venue was looking to diversify it’s offer and maximise the potential for the extensive rural site in Hampshire.
Working with Doodle Architecture we developed a series of core and complimentary offers that built on the existing business and extended the experience for the same audience. This included luxury cabins for overnight stays, an extended dining offer, health and wellbeing spa and an education space.
This approach was further envisioned into content creation and loyalty programmes to extend the brand’s each and reputation way beyond its traditional image.
Adstock Fields
We were approached by an ambitious Buckinghamshire farmer with a passion for Schnapps. His vision for a sustainable community led and purpose driven brand formed the backbone of an in depth and extensive series of workshops. These defined and refined the vision of the brand. The resultant brand bible is now enabling more meaningful engagements with other consultants and audiences.
We are now undertaking a site wide appraisal of the farm and looking at the potential for diversification to support both the production of the schnapps and a visitor experience. This includes accommodation and leisure activities as well as functional elements such as car parking and on site energy generation.
Glenmorangie Distillery Experience
The historic distillery of Glenmorangie is seeking to double visitor numbers to 60,000 p/a with the redevelopment of its Tain based Speyside distillery.
Having already developed its own boutique hotel the brand asked us to consider how to reimagine the distillery experience in the context of its evolving brand identity and concept for a Willy Wonka style world of adventure.
We created a completely new vision of their distillery tour by bringing to life the personality and innovation of their head distiller, Dr Bill Lumsden. This came to life in a rich, multi-sensory and multi-coloured environment. Proposals include a renewed tour, retail, food and beverage as well as new car parks and facilities for tourists to encourage walk-ins.
The Green Planet AR Experience
Working with Factory 42 and inspired by the Natural History Unit landmark series, The Green Planet, this boundary-breaking experience was located in the heart of London’s Piccadilly Circus and powered by EE’s 5G network. The experience combines captivating storytelling with cutting-edge technology to transport audiences through five digitally-enhanced worlds - including Rainforest, Freshwater, Saltwater, Desert and Seasonal biomes, as they explore our green planet like never before. Finally culminating in the human story and how we can all affect positive change.
In this free experience, a mobile device acts as a dynamic window into the wonderful world of plants. Led by a 3D hologram of Sir David Attenborough, created using volumetric capture technology, visitors can engage with plant life on their timescale and from their perspective.
From blowing digital seeds into the air, holding a virtual butterfly in the palm of one’s hands, to reviving seagrass whilst submerged under saltwater, visitors will take a magical leap into the natural world and learn about the importance of biodiversity and protecting our planet. These vivid interactions are enhanced by spatial audio that guides visitors through the digital environment with virtual plants and animals reacting to their presence in the space.
To ensure The Green Planet Experience was in line with its environmental message, we worked with isla, to implement ‘proseed’, their best practice framework for sustainable events. Through setting ambitious sustainability targets, robust planning, and transparent reporting, The Green Planet AR Experience has been brought to the public while treading lightly on our planet.
All materials used in the construction of the experience were reused or recycled after the event to promote circularity. From bamboo props, pine approved by FSC, recycled steel, to paper rope, our sustainable principles were considered at every level of construction and operation. We have also used innovative new technologies and materials where possible such as our ceiling installation in the Saltwater biome that has been made from an eco-textile produced entirely from 100% recycled PET plastic bottles (post-consumer waste). After the event, it will be sent to a waste-to-energy plant where it will be transformed into renewable energy for the National Grid.
