The recently opened Chocolate Hall is the final room to be completed in the refurbishment of the £300 million Harrods food halls project. It is the only dedicated chocolate hall in London and boasts the most expensive chocolate in the world. The new re-worked experience has much of what you would expect. Quality product, famous brands, retail theatre and a number of beautifully cared for displays all set in one of Harrods historic Edwardian rooms. Spruced up to provide wonderful backdrop to the new experience. There is much to admire alongside the old. But there is something missing at the heart of this experience that cannot be overlooked.
There is much to admire alongside the old. But there is something missing at the heart of this experience that cannot be overlooked.
The design includes a number of well considered offers that make for a special retail experience. A 'Chocolaterie' takes over a large portion of the space to provide theatre. An important experiential focal point that the Harrods customer has come to expect within the food halls. Commercially, it is the curation of a mix of established brands that are the main draw. These include Charbonel & Walker, Godiva, Venchi and Neuhaus to name a few. More interestingly, a number of chocolatiers present some of their finest works. William Curley, Pierre Marcolini and Läderach are a few of the names. Making a splash at the press pre-opening was To'ak, the worlds most expensive chocolate made in Ecuador at £350 a bar. Not a cheap high, but provides a headline act for the space. Perfectly suited to Harrods luxurious brand personality. It would have been more refreshing to have included something new to surprise us. In lieu of exciting, we are treated to a series of well known premium brands that would have scared off most cool brands even if they were asked to show. Unlike Selfridges, who you would expect to take a punt on edgier offers, Harrods commercial strategy is to showcase those in the big league already while typically shying away from new innovative brands.
Leaving brands aside, the project integrates the new against the historic interior to great effect. Replacing an extremly kitsch accompaniment to the original Edwardian hall that put decoration and style in direct competition to the detriment of the room itself. It had not aged well. In re-imagining the space much of the original interior has been newly presented with great skill, with particular attention to detail in the composition of the wall elevations. This has been achieved firstly by creating a landscape that affords great visibility across the space. Allowing us to take in the impressive volume of the space and focus on the tiled wall elevations that dominate. Probably the right move in principle, but there is a negative to this strategy. Our eye is pulled to the colourful perimeter of the room at the expense of the middle of the space. The other halls have managed to successfully use abundant product displays to create a balanced experience, but chocolate in glass cases do not easily compete with fresh produce displays. In this hall there is not enough to pull your eye back to the centre floor. We are left with a lot of light and space and the illuminated alabaster ceiling feature is a weak design treatment that does not help bring that focus back down to the product.
In lieu of exciting, Harrods commercial strategy is to showcase those in the big league already.
Fundamentally, the biggest problem lies in the layout of the glassed display counters arranged through the middle of the space. Typically they are often planned around the perimeter to make it easier for the customer to browse a continuous run. The arrangement here, in island format, does not support that principle. The first display case is pushed so far back into the room as to not create any real impact at all. Hidden behind a few badly positioned mid floor units to make matters more difficult. When we do find our way to the first case, the product impresses, however the counter design spanning between the glazed decorative columns creates a wall in the middle of the space. After one has negotiated the columns we are forced away from the centre and over to the perimeter. To further compound the problem, there is little in the way of display to the side returns on each island to pull us back. It's a disjointed experience that effectively leaves a hole in the middle of the space. A donut retail experience, where our focus is always drawn to the walls.
A disjointed experience that effectively leaves a hole in the middle of the space. A donut retail experience, where our focus is always drawn to the walls.
In stunning contrast we find the outstanding design element in the presentation of beautifully curated boxed chocolates. It is here that the designers have played to their strengths using great skill to integrate the finely detailed wall display system with the existing tiled interior design. The new wall panels float on a halo of light to present the product to the customer with finesse. The system is light, simple and contemporary with lighting that subtly picks out the packaging to its best. Each presentation feels contemporary but luxurious. The visual merchandising of colourful product packaging is a real highlight. Only the intermediate glass cases with their heavy black frame detract.
Beyond the structural problems of the layout, the counters and furniture throughout are well considered regards materials and are nicely detailed. The flush cases display the product in a sharp contemporary way. In contrast to the rectangular island counters that make up the middle space, the more attractive smaller curved counters display cased chocolate in a softer format, less architectural, and much less wasted back counter space! However, it is also a shame that all the glass cases have been framed with such a heavy black section that interferes with the browsing of the product. Surely a frameless design or brass colour would have suited better?
In stunning contrast we find the outstanding design element in the presentation of beautifully curated boxed chocolates.
In contrast to the previous interior lighting design which seemed extremely under lit, the new room has been abundently over lit. Contrasting heavily to the neighbouring halls that play with spotlighting much more. In fact, when entering the chocolate hall, I nearly put my sunglasses on. The lighting is that stark. It looks as though the decision to over light the room was made without compromise and as a consequence makes this room feel less connected to the other food halls. It's noticeable that this one and the new beauty hall, also recently opened are both very brightly lit. Almost surely put together by the same lighting designer. However these spaces seem at odds with the general Harrods lighting strategy where a theatrical approach is typically taken and seems to be more in keeping with the Harrods brand.
The completion of the food halls project with the re-design all four rooms is an incredible retail achievement. There are some real moments that will leave the Harrods customer with distinct and vivid lasting memories of the experience. Most of these will be focused around the fresh halls of course but there is a lot to be impressed by in the chocolate hall. It's just we are missing some truly exciting brands within a space that could have been better realised.
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