Strategy / Branding / Concept Visioning / Experience Design

While at OZ Architecture

Just as a butterfly spreads its wings, the neo-garden changes from day to night, reacting and evolving as time and people come and go.

Envision, design and brand an event space on the rooftop terrace of the Kimpton Hotel in the heart of Nashville.

Named after one the Vanderbilt family summer estates, the vision behind Woodlea is a neo-garden ‘through the looking glass,’ where things aren’t what they seem, where the inside feels like it should be outside and outside feels inside. The brand was created to act as a beacon of light, luring guests into the hallway and into the rooftop garden, with coasters, matchbooks, postcards and menus the restaurant brand identity was tailored for the Kimpton brand.

The journey of Woodlea begins with a wall of doorknobs, taking you through an electric blue portal into a new space and time. The gallery doubles as pre-function space, with an intricate trellis pattern backdrop, topiary hedge wallpaper, and moss filled Murphy tables double as cocktail tables or tucked away as a sconce when more space is needed. The bathrooms are a jungle of leaf wallpaper with a neon sign that reads “pistil” for the double entendre of a pistol and female organ of the flower. An acrylic trough sink filled with a forest diorama spells “stamen” in the trees, for the male organ of the flower. The terrace bar is a wonderland of trees in a copper forest, reflecting the 360 views of downtown, with a glowing back bar that houses botanical mixology. The brand reflects the spirit of the garden with matchbooks and coasters, stained glass graphics on the atrium doors.