Sporting KC’s Audi + Executive Level Backbars were dim, TV-focused, and lacked organization while having no relationship to the existing, faceted bar bottoms. They wanted to bring new life to the bar with a renewed emphasis on product and community. The new design of the backbar is a re-centering of its focus, relationships between fans, and promoting SKC products. 

For the Audi Level Bar, we used an element of Sporting KC’s brand that has been a common thread throughout the club’s history, the “argyle” pattern, as the foundation for the design. We extruded that form, then divided the volume into appropriate proportions for the bottle sizes and shifted the sections to create functional surfaces for the product to be showcased on. The sharpness of the argyle pattern created a natural connection to the faceted bar bottom while creating something new and refined out one of the club’s historical brand elements.

For the Executive Level Bar, we created a backbar that was warm, welcoming, and felt luxurious for each fan. A continuous warm glow throughout the entirety of the back surface provides backlighting to highlight each bottle and signify that the bar is the anchor of the space. The larger cabinets on either end of the back bar act as a visual “cap” and function as wine storage units, allowing for clean and easy storage of bottles for the backbar & suites alike. As a secondary use, a lot of meetings happen on this level throughout the daily life of the Executive Level so this redesign creates an elevated backdrop for internal and external team meetings.

This project focused solely on the backbar, from the bartop and up.