Sedley Place’s work in the Hospitality industry continues with our work on Southampton Football Club’s venue The Halo, at its St Mary’s Stadium. The project, which was a collaboration between us and the specialist food & beverage providers Gather & Gather, involved both aspects of our studio: Architecture & Interior Design and Branding & Graphics.
Best Seats in the House
Our collective brief was to design the interiors and branding for the Club’s premier restaurant; in the process offering diners an unrivalled and iconic experience. The Club wanted the venue, positioned in its East Stand overlooking the centre line, to set a new standard in restaurant-style hospitality and to be stylish and beautiful venue to share with colleagues, family and friends; a place to enjoy a game and the accompanying atmosphere. Diners would enjoy food from ‘Hampshire’s Larder’, with Gather & Gather sourcing the freshest ingredients from local farmers, growers and producers, in a celebration of the region’s richness and diversity.
Heightened Experience
The new venue, replacing a row of old-style hospitality boxes, gives diners a panoramic view of the bowl and the pitch. Diners can enjoy the build-up to the match and the post-match experience from the comfort of their dining tables, and the match itself from premium dedicated stadium seats that run parallel with the new restaurant’s glass wall. The dining room has a selection of dining clusters and a soft-seating area for pre- and post-match socialising. It’s served by a bar and a chef’s finishing kitchen and servery; the latter adding to the visual spectacle of the experience.
Physical Embodiment
As well as commissioning us to create a premium experience, which the Club’s Marketing Team describes as ‘The Height of Sophistication’ in its marketing collateral, the Club’s goal was to make the new venue a physical embodiment of the brand - in particular the elements that make up the Club’s crest. The agency’s idea was to deconstruct the crest in order to tell the brand’s story through materials and finishes. Accordingly, hoop pendant lighting echoes the halo. Wood flooring represents the oak tree. The Rose of Hampshire informed the choice of fabrics, while the wallpaper and carpet was selected to represent water. Lastly, the Club’s distinctive red and white stripes are incorporated into detailing in the ceiling. The crest’s elements are also featured in a story-wall that borders the soft seating area, through materials and design elements and the inclusion of key dates in the Club’s history.
Saintly Branding
While our Architecture & Interior Design Team was designing the interiors of the venue our Branding & Graphics Team was focussed on new branding elements. Initially we worked on the naming of the venue and on devising a naming system for the different floors of the stadium. After a series of naming sessions the Club chose The Halo, in recognition of its famous nickname ‘The Saints’, and adopted our recommendation to call the different floors Top, Middle and Lower Deck, in recognition of Southampton’s long association with cruise ships.
Following a dive into the Club’s history, location and brand architecture we created a number of design concepts exploring different ways to support the venue’s premium positioning. The chosen brand identity takes its inspiration from the centre circle of a football pitch and this is incorporated into the ‘o’ of ‘Halo’. The gold identity was then applied to signage, mostly distinctively in the form of door handles to the two entrances’ double-doors, to a maître d’ stand, to menu covers and contents, and to staff badges.
The project culminated in the design, copywriting and production of a sales brochure to promote the new venue. This was sent pre-season to past and prospective hospitality clients.
Our Collective Role
Our two teams were collectively responsible for:
• Space-planning, look and feel, concept design, CGIs, design specification and project management on the interior design side,
• Naming, design, copywriting, master asset and artwork production, and supplier liaison on the branding and graphics side.