When honey business Comvita was formed over 47 years ago in the small Bay of Plenty community of Paengaroa, founders Claude Stratford and Alan Bougen simply wanted people to live more healthy lives. The two could not have foreseen that their fledgling business would one day become a global brand, selling into more than 50 countries abroad, operating nine e-commerce websites and with more than 33,000 hives throughout Aotearoa.

Today, as the world’s largest producer and seller of Manuka honey, Comvita is on a mission to ensure bees continue to thrive around the globe. “Our existence depends on bees,” says CEO David Banfield, “yet colonies around the world are in serious decline. We want to shine a light on the problem and get people to fall in love with bees again.”

Enter newly created brand experience design collective, Blur the Lines. “Our idea was to create what is essentially a bee chapel,” says director Danielle Barclay. “Everything is designed to pay homage to the incredible nature of bees and their ability to nurture and protect us.”

The result is a sumptuous, sensory space in downtown Auckland, which brings a gallery and spa experience to the retail domain through a combination of seduction and education. On arrival, the warmth of honey and the hive are communicated on the exterior through the use of antiqued brass and layered earth render with subtle debossed branding. A bluestone pot is planted with a manuka bush and bee-friendly foliage.

Inside, the connection to bees and the hive is immediate with a large-scale mesh ceiling feature overhead curling and twisting to represent a natural hive and a dramatic digital backdrop bringing the bees’ natural environment instore. A slab of 150-year-old kauri river wood from Northland is crafted into a welcome table and positioned on a Timaru bluestone base to enhance the visual impact. It forms a space for hosting, tasting and gift wrapping and has a ceremonial basin for washing.

“The design represents the warmth of honey and the hive and Comvita’s passion for bees, their natural environment and the science they use to understand its mysteries,” explains Barclay. “We curated the work of some of New Zealand’s best artisans and the natural materials they create with to further enhance the connection and story.”

Surprisingly, for a retail environment, no packaged product is on display but rather the raw ingredients of the hive are showcased alongside a variety of honey in vessels that convey a sense of the apothecary. “Purchase is guided by Comvita hosts,” says Barclay, “with a range of bee products available in the lab and online”.

The lab extends beyond these four walls into an online 3D virtual forest, beehive and replica of the lab for visitors to explore and browse as well as an AR experience to educate customers on all things bees and transform the lab into a forest, using real-world mapping technology.

A large glass and steel door opens to a multi-sensory space beyond the showroom – a dramatic 180-degree, eight-seat theatre with an undulating white ceiling that blends into a rendered curved wall and gloss-white floor. “The space was designed to emulate the purity of the product,” says Barclay, “with all white textures and custom-designed chairs to enhance the experience.”

Here, a beekeeper hosts a unique 30-minute ‘sensploration’ honey tasting, where visitors are taken on an immersive journey through nature from a bee’s eye view, with an accompanying soundscape composed wholly from the sounds of bees. The seating in this room uses only sustainable materials, including sheep-wool upholstery and eco-foam, and the carefully designed tasting trays include a custom glass tasting spoon to maximise the flavour experience.

“We worked with a leading gastrophysicist to interpret tasting notes into audiovisual cues that would heighten the neurological connection for the audience,” explains Barclay. “The accompanying soundscape composed from recordings of bees in nature envelopes the senses in an orchestral way.”

This year’s Interior Awards jury was impressed with the way this multi-sensory, physical and virtual design project challenges traditional retail with a focus on the immersive experience. “By fully engaging with a wide range of senses, it succeeds in developing the brand in unexpected ways, where the focus is on the product rather than on sales.”

Comvita is aiming to create a global community of bee lovers by sharing this experience with the world. Barclay says the team is currently in the process of landing a new flagship experience into a three-storey site in Shanghai, where it is looking to bring new mixed reality technology into pods and to offer a new F&B experience for tasting and hosting.

Project team
Project principal and creative director Danielle Barclay, interior architect Naomi Rushmer, creative technologist Craig McKay, technical lead Preston Thomas and project manager Jessie Stent 

Specialist consultants
Drafting and 3D visualisation – Greater Group Jakarta
Audiovisual production – Perceptual Engineering
Builder – Complete Construction

Comvita Wellness Lab was named the winner in the Retail category at the 2021 Interior Awards.