Competitive socialising is a burgeoning scene in the hospitality industry that describes a new breed of high-end, experiential leisure experience that merges food and drink with game-playing and goes from day to night. No longer considered a fad, competitive socialising is here to stay for the long-term and has diversified over the years, becoming increasingly popular as people look to unite more with friends after the lockdowns of the pandemic. Creating an immersive, visually stimulating experience has never been more important as venues fight to entice players back again and again to better their scores and top the illusive leader boards. So, how do you heighten the game-playing experience and make competitive socialising truly immersive? It’s all in the design.
Design is the differentiator
Design is the differentiator when it comes to designing hospitality and leisure spaces. Especially in the world of competitive socialising, design can make or break a brand, give it the edge that makes the audience marvel at the interiors and make them feel that they’ve walked into another world. Certainly, for the interior design of Birdies Crazy Golf Battersea which opened in 2019, the world we created was the craziest of crazy. A hybrid of cocktails and crazy golf, Birdies is distinct with its kaleidoscope graphic landscape that turns the idea of crazy golf on its head. Surreal and playful, each hole is a new discovery, pulling people along the course with a chance for a one-shot victory at the end.
Birdies ‘the brand’ has an illuminance chaos that instantly stands it apart from other hospitality brands. It’s a key element to the experience and each strategic design choice from materials to lighting and colour scheme works holistically to enhance the mood and heighten the experience.
Take lighting. Lighting design played an integral part in the consumer journey at Birdies, exaggerating colours, movement and mood, moving from dark to light and creating an amplified sensory experience. What made Birdies Battersea award-winning in its design at the Restaurant & Bar Awards 2020? It’s that it stood for something true and original. The designed interiors owned the surreal and the abstract to make it instantly recognisable globally as Birdies.
With a new Birdies planned for Summer 2022 at Angel, London, a whole new world of Birdies is being imagined, building on the foundations of what’s gone before. Whilst Birdies Battersea is along a 60m railway Arch, Birdies Angel could not be more opposite. A 500m2 square concrete box site on a retail estate with a doorway to an immersive crazy golf playground across 9 holes around a 16 linear meter central coral pink bar. The hospitality element of great cocktails and food will be right in the heart of the venue and not just a bar off to the side or different room. Socialising is what it’s all about and Birdies does it like no other.
Another exciting brand in the competitive socialising space is Bounce Ping Pong and we’ll be bringing to life their new Battersea Power Station venue in Autumn 2022. This venue will celebrate the eclectic world of all things ping pong and use the unique space of Battersea Power Station to deliver a few surprises…
Design trends in competitive socialising
People are looking for a world of escapism and competitive socialising is the answer. The move towards a more hybrid hospitality sector will continue as people look for more than just a bar for a night out, they’re in search of an unexpected experience they can share with friends. The brands that lead the way in this market will invest in design to deliver a completely new experience that has not been seen before, surprise and innovation will be key for those that succeed.
In an era when everything is documented by consumers on social media, storytelling brings the experience to life and demands ‘capture me’! Brands that recognise this and create designed interiors that lend themselves to the social generation will win when it comes to recommendations through word of mouth. But style over substance is a real issue, consumers are savvy and will see through the bellowing smoke and jazzy mirrors literally. An experience that is true and spans all elements from the game-playing, the food and drinks, the service, the atmosphere, the music and delivers a crowd of people who want to hang out together and have fun will ultimately define success.
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