Sustainably Delicious

PARTNERS: Godiva

GOAL: Reimagine the future of the in-store retail experience to make it engaging and luxurious, yet sustainable.

APPROACH: With the growing connection between technology and sustainability in retail, there is a tremendous opportunity to deepen the way customers interact with, experience, and immerse themselves in a brand.

The challenge began as a three-day Design Sprint with teams of students competing to develop a prototype for “zero-impact retail,” focusing on reducing carbon footprints. The partnership continued as a 15-week sponsored course in which students explored zero-impact retail and delivered a strategic store design concept integrating sustainability, beauty, and luxury.

OUTCOME: At the forefront of merging art and science, the world-famous chocolatier Godiva is working towards having zero environmental impact in its operations — enabling people to interact with and experience luxurious food in an enjoyable yet sustainable way.

Evaluating the intersection of food, architecture and technology as portals to culture, our students applied lateral and conceptual thinking, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and visual communication skills to prototyping new spaces in which to offer the ultimate immersive in-store experience. The resulting designs centered on avoiding excessive packaging, building digital interfaces, and developing opportunities for personal engagement.

The winning concept was an inspiring space where Godiva can conduct consumer research, host collaborative meetings, and sustainably showcase new packaging designs and recipes. Our students’ ongoing commitment to sustainable design made them uniquely qualified to deliver thoughtful and compelling solutions for this new frontier of retail.

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