The airport experience has evolved over the years in an attempt to ease the tribulations associated with air travel. Airports are no longer defined by fast-food restaurants and duty-free shops; they have become something more akin to shopping malls, with luxury retail stores and expensive, sit-down restaurants.
Exhibit A: The first Johnnie Walker store in the U.S. recently opened in Miami International Airport’s North Terminal. In addition to purchasing Johnnie Walker products, the 1,145-sf store creates a museum-like experience for customers to learn more about the brand.
Photo: Shelby Soblick.
“The design immerses customers in the history, provenance, and pioneering spirit of the Johnnie Walker brand,” says Darin Held, Partner at Bloommiami, the firm that served as design consultants, fabricators and project managers for the store.
At the tasting bar, guests can sample various whiskeys and use iPads that provide additional information about Johnnie Walker products. Also working to create a museum-like ambiance was the lighting, which includes stretch fabric ceiling canopies, edge lighted shelves and backlighted product glorification pads.
Photo: Shelby Soblick.
Other design features include a Johnnie Walker Striding Man Statue, large wall-to-wall light box with images inspired by Miami, museum-style images depicting the history of Johnnie Walker, an engraving station where customers can personalize bottles, intricate floor work that took 56 hours to install, and a single malts library display wall designed to mimic a mixer’s lab.
See Also: The Hershey Company moves into new 7,800-sf flagship retail location in Time Square
Photo: Shelby Soblick.
Photo: Shelby Soblick.
Photo: Shelby Soblick.
Photo: Shelby Soblick.
Related Stories
| Apr 19, 2013
7 hip high-rise developments on the drawing board
Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill's whimsical Dancing Dragons tower in Seoul is among the compelling high-rise projects in the works across the globe.
| Apr 17, 2013
Frank Lloyd Wright's Park Avenue showroom demolished
New York loses another architectural gem by Frank Lloyd Wright as new owner razes auto showroom.
| Apr 5, 2013
Commercial greenhouse will top new Whole Foods store in Brooklyn
Whole Foods and partner Gotham Greens will create a 20,000-sf greenhouse atop one of the retailer's Brooklyn supermarkets. Expected to open this fall, the facility will supply produce to nine Whole Foods stores in metro New York City.
| Apr 2, 2013
6 lobby design tips
If you do hotels, schools, student unions, office buildings, performing arts centers, transportation facilities, or any structure with a lobby, here are six principles from healthcare lobby design that make for happier users—and more satisfied owners.
| Mar 15, 2013
7 most endangered buildings in Chicago
The Chicago Preservation Society released its annual list of the buildings at high risk for demolition.
| Mar 14, 2013
25 cities with the most Energy Star certified buildings
Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Chicago top EPA's list of the U.S. cities with the greatest number of Energy Star certified buildings in 2012.
