HMS Host, world leaders in creating compelling dining for travel venues, appointed full service 360 brand and design agency, Harrison, as it opens the first Giraffe World Kitchen in India.
Giraffe World Kitchen restaurants have been part of the hospitality scene since 1998, and today are synonymous with bright colours combined with rich earthy tones, a menu which draws inspiration from around the world, and with restaurants in 10 airports around the world. When designing the Giraffe World Kitchen for Bengaluru Airport, the Harrison team wanted to ensure the unique and well-loved identity and narrative of Giraffe World Kitchen shone through, drawing inspiration from retro artwork full of colour and life to bring fun and cheerfulness to the space.
The story of Giraffe World Kitchen stems from the characteristics of a giraffe itself. As giraffes have the largest heart of all land animals, Giraffe World Kitchen is a friendly and welcoming place for all those who visit. The team at Harrison designed the restaurant to reflect the brand’s core values of love, eat and live, encouraging guests to try new food and listen to music from around the world.
Colour reigns supreme at the new Giraffe World Kitchen. Green feature triangle wall tiles, graffiti inspired artwork, colourful fabrics and a geometric ceiling feature bring a vibrancy to the new restaurant, while terracotta tubes and perpendicular bricks bring a contrasting calmness. All coupled with greenery in high level spaces to bring freshness and life with a feature tree above tabletops, creating a distinct focal point. The vibrant decor and use of colours like red, green and yellow is direct reflection of Bengaluru’s lively markets and street art, paying homage to the city’s rich architectural heritage.
Lighting is crucial within any space. Airport and travel hub restaurants come with their own challenges, often faced with a lack of natural light combined with harsh fluorescents and busy signage. To create a space which evokes a calmer step away from the busy airport, the Harrison team has brought in graffiti inspired feature pendants, copper mushroom table laps to bring a softness, and red LED signage to grab attention.
Like many of today’s high street restaurants, today’s airport venues need to balance those who want to dine in, and those who want to grab-and-go to catch their plane – whilst also understanding quick and efficient service is paramount for everyone under time pressures. Grab-and-go chilled displays with dedicated till points have their own entrance to help reduce wait times across customers. Carefully positioned screens interwoven throughout the design allow diners to view important flight details, while the overall flow of restaurant has been created to allow staff to easily move around and access key points such as the service bar, pick up counter, and water station.
Victoria Limer, Team Manager and Senior Designer at Harrison, says: “Through our work with HMS Host to launch the first Giraffe World Kitchen in India, we focused our design to reflect the culture while harmonising raw architectural features with the colours and vibrancy of Indian cuisine. A country of colour, India is known for its beautiful and intricate textiles, brightly painted cities, and spectacular spices which bring food to life. Our design incorporates reclaimed and upcycled materials where possible, which shows their evolving technology features to minimise the carbon footprint.”
Harrison has a longstanding partnership with HMS Host, having worked together to create restaurants in travel hubs around the world, including Harrods Tea Room at Hamad International Airport, Qatar UAE; Brewed at Dallas Fort Worth Airport, Texas USA; Terracotta, Sunny Side and The Perch at Stansted Airport, UK and many other.
