Lightspeed – Davos

What happens when you turn motion design into a motion experience?

 

What started as a simple design for a building facade turned into a full-blown motion experience in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum!

We worked with Lightspeed to design the exterior of their 2025 WEF Haus, The Lighthouse, but this time we worked on expanding a sleek Midcentury exterior into a 60s dream house. This year, Lightspeed wanted to highlight innovation and the parallels we can draw between our own age and that of the 60s tech revolution. 

We knew we were excited to take this one on when the initial discussions included a long chat about Star Trek, The Jetsons, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Doctor Who. 

Oh yeah, we were into it.

 

We gathered some more inspo and went a little wild with the cinematic references before we hopped into the design. Now, we aren’t exactly interior designers, so for us this was about designing an experience. We thought about it as a film set! And we started by asking ourselves a few questions:

  • What is the overall story Lightspeed is trying to tell?
  • How can the story be told as someone is walking by the space?
  • How can the exterior intrigue passersby to come inside to see the rest of the story?

And the big one: Can we creatively direct an experiential story in a physical space?

 

 

From Scratch

First, we had to determine how big we could go. What is the space capable of? What’s legally allowed on the exterior of a building in Davos? What kind of building supplies, furniture, and fixtures can we realistically get?

We didn’t have those answers yet and we’re glad we didn’t. Because instead of feeling restricted, we felt free. So we went big and then adjusted to fit realistic expectations. But going big helped us define a path forward to find the right tone – which ended up being a bold, Midcentury, comfortable, dream haus. 

 

We began with some initial concepts, pushing our Photoshop skills to the max as we designed a space we’ve never been in before. At Davos, companies have the opportunity to essentially “rent” the town for the week. This meant we were going to be working in someone’s actual business, so our designs needed to be able to slide into the space without being too invasive (although they were closed during the week leading up to and the week of the event). 

We designed a wallpaper that could be easily applied, a simple way to elevate and add a personal touch. We also knew we wanted to do some sort of installation that highlighted Lightspeed’s portfolio companies. We noticed some unused space by the stairwell, which served as the perfect place to add some vintage TV sets and direct people downstairs to the meeting rooms.

 

 

We worked with some other really great teams to bring these designs to life and learned a lot during the project! Including how to get motion ONTO A BUILDING! We used transparent LED screens and applied just enough motion to catch the eye, but not distract anyone driving by.

 

 

When we started seeing videos of the space up and running, we didn’t believe it at first! It all just looked too perfect! And we’re so excited that it became hot spots in Davos, adding a little midcentury whimsy to a sea of tech blue and grey. A space just as unique as Lightspeed and their portfolio. 🙂

Final Deliverables 

  • Exterior Concept and Design
    • LED Screen Window Video
    • Signage
  • Interior Concept and Design
    • Cafe
    • Dining Area
    • Podcast Space
    • Meeting Rooms
    • Staircase

 

  • 1960s Portfolio Company Logo Animations
  • Two Wallpaper Designs
  • “The Lighthouse” Logo
  • Cafe and Cocktail Menus
  • Dinner Menus
  • Notebook/Pen Design

View More

Let's work together.

Let's start a project