Edge Summit London 2024, UK

Client: Bloomreach
Partner: The Unloved
Location: The Brewery, London
Date: September 3, 2024
Event Type: AI and E-commerce Summit
Project Role: Design Direction, Spatial Planning, Construction, Installation

Background

Bloomreach, founded in 2009 and headquartered in California, is a leading cloud-based e-commerce experience platform. Their core specialties include marketing automation, product discovery, and content management systems.

In 2024, Bloomreach hosted the Edge Summit, a prestigious, one-day AI-focused event, taking place across two continents. The London edition, held at the iconic Brewery on September 3rd, brought together industry leaders and innovators to discuss the future of AI in e-commerce.

The Edge Summit provided a platform for over 350 attendees, representing more than £60 billion in combined commerce revenue, to engage with groundbreaking AI solutions, gain valuable insights, and share strategies on harnessing AI’s potential to revolutionize the e-commerce landscape.

Project Overview

We were introduced to this project by Koo Bhangra, founder-owner and Creative Director of The Unloved, who was commissioned by his client Bloomreach to lead the project and work with us across the design direction, spatial planning, construction and installation requirements for the Edge Summit 2024 in London.

Our main responsibility involved creating a visually dynamic, functional event space at The Brewery, the impressive Grade II listed London venue.

Key Objectives

• Spatial Planning: Ensuring smooth visitor flow from entrance through to the various event zones.
• Branding & Visual Interpretation: Bringing the Bloomreach brand to life with innovative and impactful visual design.
• Build & Installation: Delivering bespoke architectural elements and an immersive digital experience.

Site Design and Spatial Planning

We began with an extensive site visit to The Brewery to understand the spatial requirements and the historic ambiance of the venue. Collaborating closely with Koo and Bloomreach, our focus was to create an event experience that would reflect the innovation of Bloomreach while preserving the character of this historic venue.

Key areas of spatial planning included:

Octagon Entrance & Registration Zones

We devised a strategic layout to streamline the visitor experience from entry through registration.

Lower Sugar Room – Bloomreach Activation Room

This area became the focal point for introducing guests to the event. We installed a curved video wall designed to engage visitors with dynamic visual storytelling about Bloomreach’s capabilities, setting the tone for the day.

Conversation Pods and Loomi Lighting

A critical feature of our installation was the bespoke design and creation of Conversation Pods located in the King George III and Queen Charlotte rooms. These pods served as breakout spaces for guests to network and engage with one another during breaks and when not attending the panel conversations and keynote speakers taking place in the main conference theatre room on the 1st Floor.

To add a distinctive touch, we used Loomi AI, Bloomreach’s powerful e-commerce AI engine, as the inspiration for the design. Loomi AI represents the connective ‘thread’ that maximizes personalized customer experiences across all Bloomreach products. Drawing from this idea, we developed 3D Loomi Lighting – a sculptural representation of the AI’s 2D brand device – and draped it over each Conversation Pod. This lighting provided a visually striking and brand-sympathetic physical interpretation of Bloomreach’s Loomi AI, perfectly aligning with the event’s theme of innovation.

Corporate Hospitality and Digital Studio

In addition to the breakout spaces, we were responsible for the social corporate hospitality zones, which included areas for brunch, lunch, and cocktails. These spaces were designed to be inviting yet functional, encouraging relaxed, informal interactions.

We were also tasked with building a live-streaming digital studio space in the basement area. This studio was integral to broadcasting key moments from the event to a global audience, extending the reach of Bloomreach’s message far beyond the physical attendees.

Outcome

The London Edge Summit was a resounding success, filled with cutting-edge discussions on AI and its application in e-commerce. Our contribution to the event’s design and installation helped elevate the atmosphere, providing an engaging and immersive experience that was both visually stunning and highly functional.

This project exemplified our ability to combine innovative spatial design, immersive branding, and seamless installation to deliver a memorable event experience. We’re grateful to The Unloved and Bloomreach for the opportunity to collaborate and bring this vision to life.

Should you wish to know more about this project or discuss how we could support your own requirements for a future event, please get in touch with Simon Teer simon@unltdxyz.com.

Higher-level strategic-thinking and brand awareness, by UNLTD_XYZ.