All about ice hockey.
Each year, the IIHF and Infront Media host the Ice Hockey World Championships, an enthralling battle between 16 qualifying nations. Whilst the teams take care of the action on the ice, Designwerk is trusted with bringing the event to life in the hospitality spaces.
Our first task? To turn an ice rink into a dining room. The vision is clear: immerse the fans in the game, using every inch of the sky-high ceilings to bring an unforgettable impact to the hospitality offering.
Immersive storytelling.
We needed to tell a story that wove the brand into the space in a subtle and premium way, never detracting from the true hero of the event: Ice Hockey itself.
To do this, we expanded on the Infront brand proposition, ‘All About Sport’. We explored ‘All About Heroes’, showcasing the MVPs; ‘All About Trophy’, giving fans exclusive keepsake photo opportunities; and ‘All About Nations’, celebrating participating nations with a larger-than-life Jersey Wall. This uniting narrative inspired our design decisions and elevated the fan journey.
A celebration of ice hockey.
The World Championships is the pinnacle of global ice hockey, and the hospitality space demands nothing less than a momentous celebration of the sport.
Each year, we design spaces that transport the game off the ice and into the guest experience, dialling up the fan engagement with zones that highlight different aspects of the game. Whether celebrating the nations and their heroes, or spotlighting the VIP fans themselves, each head-turning brand expression – like our LED hockey-puck installation – creates focal points in the space to delight attendees.
Light up the night.
Turning an ice rink into a hospitality space doesn’t come without its challenges. Designed for spectators, the rink lighting is far too bright for a premium hospitality event.
We used the challenge to our advantage, taking the opportunity to create bespoke and impactful lighting designs. In 2019, we created two bespoke chandeliers each weighing over 100KG, made from 96 individual ice hockey sticks, with inbuilt LED rings to cast large ambient shadows.
Putting design in motion.
Ice Hockey is a supremely physical and fast-paced sport: its ferocious and exhilarating energy is the hallmark of many fans’ devotion.
Motion and projection echo that action and provide a sense of energy in the space, bringing the brand language — and the game — to life for guests.
