‌‌Haldiram’s Nagpur had planned to extend its equity in its origin city in a very unique way by partnering with Indian railways to create a unique food experience inside a railway coach. This was going to be one of its kind outlet for the brand and we were briefed to create an engaging visual experience to go along with the special gastronomical journey curated by the brand in a railway bogie. ‌The offerings of the brand need to be considered as well while developing a concept & design.

We began with visiting Nagpur to do the Reiki of the site which was a discarded railway bogie, right outside the central Station. While the interiors were to be taken care by the interior designer, we presented them a rough overview of how we were visualising the space. Coming back to the drawing board, we started our in-depth research to understand and dig deeper into the roots of the city and its culture. Our team was delighted to discover the city in a whole new light and with loads of stories that we could tell visually and verbally and hence the concept that we finalised along with the client was that of ‘ Flavourful Journey of Discoveries’

We named it Haldiram Express to keep it simple and relatable with the brand. Being a restaurant we had limited space to create the narratives and we decided to use them wisely by dividing the spaces and information. E.g there was a spare balcony like space outside which we converted into a canopied instagrammable terrace with railway themed wall.

The wall just after entrance was converted into a feature wall that would welcome the customers and engage them in discovering the city like never before. A collage of vintage Frames with modern designs and illustrations, and Metal engraved plates with graphical details combined with modern aesthetics bring the stories of Nagpur city alive. The experience included designing a table mat with Nagpur’s must visit graphical map that also marked the brands other retail locations in the city. Cut to the end of the tables where two walls were given a museum like look with enlarged prints of finely designed postal stamps marking the cities cultural, geographical and historical significance, mounted on glass panel like masterpieces.
While the interior was detailed, we wanted the exterior to be welcoming as well, so each step leading up to the bogie entrance has a welcoming message , while there was quick take away and softy corner designed in accordance with the theme.
Overall we were able to manifest the concept of ‘ Flavourful Journey of Discoveries’ an amalgamation of stories about the City of Nagpur, legacy of brand Haldirams, the theme of Indian Railway and the joys of the journey. It turned out to be a one of a kind immersive experience design for those who were from the city and the travellers coming from other states giving it a mini museum kind of appeal and a strong brand recall.