Johnnie Walker Princes Street
Back in 2019 our dear friends and clients BRC Imagination Arts approached us to be a part of the design team for Destination Scotland. An incredibly ambitious program to reimagine the visitor experience at some world’s leading scotch distillers, including Johnnie Walker, Talisker and Coal Ila.
At the heart of the project was Johnnie Walker Princes Street. An 8-story temple to whisky located at the base of the Edinburgh Castle located in a historic building which was previously a Royal Bank of Scotland. The building had been through a lot over its life having started life as two separate building and then combined into one when the bank was converted into a department store.
Christian Lachel, the chief creative officer at BRC and the creative director on the project, lead us to create a multi layered series of experiences that catered to the scotch fan and first-time explorer alike. There was the main tour … which tells the history the Walker family, how and why John Walker created his blended scotch. It also included the creation process for whisky, and finally why you blend different single malts together to create Johnnie Walkers different expressions. This story is told through a series of immersive spaces and theatrical shows that are all very different from each other and tell a specific part of the story. The whole project was a thrill to design.
Christian wanted the design to be a blend between very modern design elements and historical visual references. From a lighting point of view Christian and NYX both wanted each space to have its own visual identity. Some spaces were tradition on first blush but hidden theatrical touches that only came to life with the shows. Others are very modern and are full of the bold color palette that is so linked to the brand’s visual identity. Early on we together decided that the lights, even at their most theatrical, should not pull focus from the narrative but instead elevate the scenes when called for and blend seamlessly into the architecture when not called upon. To this end the lighting was all very intelligent and featured the ability to produce a huge range of color but the lights presented as traditional forms like recessed downlights, grazers or coves. Anything more theatrical was tucked away in lighting rafts or behind translucent architectural details.
Articulating the design for each of the many shows was also incredibly fun. For example, the show Creativity of Making. Each of the 138 cubbies of whisky are independently controlled allowing the walls of whisky to highlight the featured whiskey and to dance with the rhythm of the soundtrack. This visual design was key element in telling the story of blending scotch.
Beyond the central tour the design also featured two roof top bars, The World Bar and the Explorer’s Bothy, each with a totally different look and feel. The whisky is always the star of the show. With that in mind, the whole team set upon central idea that the spaces would be infused with golden warm light emitting from the liquid at every angle. We then layered in luminous other elements through the design.
For the Explorer’s Bothy elements of the design included the central sculptural swirling lines of wood and light. An array of hand blown glass hanging lighting fixtures are playfully made up of three different shapes but that all share the same design language. Everywhere the whiskey is illuminated from behind or below allowing the amber liquid to spread warm lighting throughout the space. The result is a space that encourages the enjoyment of whiskey, music and conversation.
In the World Bar a different technique was employed. Here natural light and view of the castle were front and center. Christian wanted the modern stained glass skylight be color and inform the guest experience. As the sun moves though the sky the geometric patterns of color shift around the room. We designed in ceiling lines whose curvilinear inner surfaces are lit from hidden miniature coves. The design goal is to have infinite effect colored light that wraps around the room. We layered in very thin hanging fixture to cast light down and augmented with classical modern floor lamps to create a sense of intimacy to each seating group.
One the greatest challenges was lighting the exterior of the historic building and not letter the physicality of the lighting fixtures distract from the building itself. We took years working with the town council to design and implement a system of shields that hid the lights from view and that were color match to the building to help the whole system blend into the building as a whole.
The Distilleries
Talisker
Johnnie Walker is a blended scotch and it is made up of many single malts each with their own distillery. As part of the Destination Scotland program BRC reimagined and created visitor experiences at many of these key distilleries. They asked us to be on the team for two of these. Talisker and Coal Ila, both on islands off the coast of Scotland, have identities very closely connected to landscape where they are located.
Talisker is one of the most famous distilleries in Scotland. Sitting on the remote island of Skye, the whisky flavor is heavily influenced by the surrounding sea and rouged landscape. Christian knew those elements had to be contained in our approach to the design. All the aspects of the design flow from this direction. From the large drum mural that encompasses the central welcoming space, to the bar space that contains a modern nautical design, to the main show room that features projection mapping on its central tasting table.
Coal Ila
Throughout Talisker’s guest experience lighting we found ways to imbue the whiskey with light that seems to come from the bottle or glass itself. In the main tasting experience each seat has three tasting glasses that each sit on tiny little LED source milled into the table. Each light in independently controlled allowing for the guest to know just which glass to chose. In the other group tasting experiences the feature wall contains all the expression of the whisky and each bottle sits on top of the light. Here the whiskey not only glows from within but the its hue colors the light as cascades on to the wall the cubby the bottle sits in.
Coal Ila, located on Islay, is famous for it’s peated whisky. For this project Christian wanted an elevated tasting experience that captured the distilleries connection to the island of Islay. So, the team designed beautiful natural wood tasting tables that sit looking out on the surrounding bay. We selected the Cathode fixture from Davide Groppi to illuminate the tasting. These hand-blown fixtures clearly echo the hands of their maker. We wanted the design of the fixture to reinforce the central idea that whisky is crafted thing guided by the makers. Also, their function of casting their focused warm light directly down on the table created sparkle and glow within the whiskey being tasted.
We are really honored that this project has received significant recognition over the years. Johnnie Walker Princes Street and Talisker both received IES Awards of Merit for the lighting Design. Also Princes Street won a Thea Award for the project. The project also recieved honors from The Scottish Design Awards, The A/V Awards, and the Muse Creative Awards.