Visit Eau Claire Experience Center
The client was clear: This was not to be a typical small-town Wisconsin visitor center. Rather, the challenge was to create a Visit Eau Claire Experience Center that would be a highly flexible gathering place for tourists and locals alike.
Visit Eau Claire Experience Center
The client was clear: This was not to be a typical small-town Wisconsin visitor center. Rather, the challenge was to create a Visit Eau Claire Experience Center that would be a highly flexible gathering place for tourists and locals alike.
With a design plan inspired by the clear, natural waters that reflects the regional geography of Eau Claire, we employed a palette punctuated with splashes of blue, green, and golden yellow for this 2018 commercial build-out. Similar colors also appear on the ends of large, wooden pegs on a pegboard that give the client a nimble and unique means to display merchandise.
For functionality, we implemented a counter and wet bar to host locally-made food and beverages as well as several iPads where visitors can access travel resources. Nearby, an inviting sitting area features modern, casual sofas and armchairs alongside clear tables that carry on the water-related design motif. Formal meetings benefit from a large conference table crafted by a local woodworker. On one wall two huge garage doors offer an easy way to open the experience center to the outside world when the weather is right.
One of the most significant solutions for the Visit Eau Claire Experience Center design was its inclusion of several large, rolling wall units that can be easily moved throughout the room to create separation. The wall units’ exterior panels can also hold hanging artwork, and their cleverly hidden interior storage spaces are perfect for stashing folding chairs. Finally, we couldn’t forget to include space for brochure racks. The wall-mounted holders are made of the same blonde-toned wood that permeates the rest of the room, completing a design that defies convention and reflects the creative, flexible, dynamic vibe of the community it showcases. “It’s more than a space for visitors,” she said. “It’s a microcosm of Eau Claire and the Eau Claire experience” said Linda John, Visit Eau Claire’s Executive Director in an article from Volume One magazine in 2018. “The concepts here are us pulling together our favorites from a lot of different places and creating something that’s uniquely Eau Claire,” John noted.
Completed
November 2018
Team
Shelter, VEC, Market & Johnson Builders, Tim Brudnicki
Accolades
Midwest Home Design Awards 2023, Lobby - Second Place
Photographer
