HIX 2024

It’s time to invite you into our listening bar - inspired by Japan’s kissa. Step into another world, play a track, be transported. A haven of escape, a place to reflect and to reconnect. Music marks the moments in our lives, entwined with feelings, sights and experiences to create a sense of self and place.

Our installation this year is driven by our love of music. It’s been another truly collaborative process, bringing together ideas, influences and inspirations from our team and our partner design studio, Jones AD.

A sense of place 

Listen to a favourite song and remember parties, holidays, people. See an album cover and remember the day you bought it, the bag you slipped it into, the friend who shared your excitement. Find an old flyer or a treasured ticket and remember the trip to see a band, the playlist you made for the journey.

The theme for this year’s HIX 2024 event, ‘A sense of place’ reflects that while spaces can excite and intrigue guests, places stay with us long after we leave. Music is enjoyed and also created in many places. The environment in which music is made is often reflected in the sound, lyrics or atmosphere of a song. Travel is an enduring thread – life on the road gives us songs that have been penned on tour buses and in hotel rooms, with a place in rock’n’roll history for hotels worldwide and their part in iconic tour tales. 

Music is an essential element of what creates that sense of place - from the bedrooms and buses where we listened to cherished albums as teens to the bars and clubs where speakers pumped tunes that we shared with our tribe in later years.

Sound & vision

Japan’s kissa are listening bars that bring together music, people and place. They first appeared a century ago in an economic climate that meant few people owned records, and became a place for jazz aficionados to appreciate music. The concept has evolved and now these bars are found all over the world. No longer dedicated solely to the appreciation of jazz, they remain a haven for music lovers seeking a deeper, more sensory connection with their social environment.

Each kissa has its own unique character but they are typically small spaces, filled with vinyl and always with an excellent sound system. They are spaces to share sounds and to share a drink - often whisky. The walls may be bare or they may be plastered in posters and gig flyers. Our HIX installation showcases albums that mean something to members of our team. Not only are these records that we love (you’ll find selected tracks on our HIX playlist) but they all feature artist portraits on the album cover artwork - a direct connection with the musicians, all welcome guests at our listening bar.

From the intimate occasion as a cassette winds through a Sony Walkman to the vast, collective experience at a festival or stadium gig, music makes its mark on us, sparking conversation and collection. It’s how we like to work, too: creative collaboration drives the best projects and we hope that inviting guests to share our finished installation will spark further creative conversations.

Step in / Sit down: design inspiration and furniture selection

While music is the inspiration, furniture and hospitality design are at the heart of this project, drawing on our experience of working with hotel, bar and restaurant operators over two decades. The installation features bespoke furniture that we have created for the event, plus pieces selected by Abi Perry-Jones, Creative Director of Jones AD. 

We spent time considering the design for ‘Our Place’ at HIX, from the colour palette and materials used to the layout and function of the space. While we wanted to showcase our bespoke furniture, this installation is more than just an exhibition stand - it was designed as a multifunctional space, allowing visitors to take a seat and relax, have a drink and a chat, listen to some music and catch up with colleagues, friends and industry contacts.

Design details include a wall plastered with gig flyers - sure to spark conversations of memorable nights out and milestone musical moments. The back wall of the stand features a bar area and all-important turntable alongside a stylised version of the Furniture Fusion logo - the ‘F’ comprising 24 albums. Chosen for their music as well as their portrait cover designs, they inspired the campaign strapline ‘Your Face / Our Place’ with visitors encouraged to choose a record and play a tune, with a disco ball spinning above. 

OSB was used to build the structure, with the engineered wood chosen for its colour, texture and warmth - the recycled material creates a simple blank canvas into which we added furniture, accessories and other design details. The dark green and terracotta colour palette was chosen to communicate an understated sense of mid-century modern while aligning with the Japandi style that we wanted to achieve. Creams were also used to lighten the space, bringing a sense of calm and add a touch of luxury. Patterns were kept to a minimum with tactile fabrics and finishes used.

Abi selected Foresso for the table tops - this smart recycled material allowed us to create some really beautiful pieces which are made from unavoidable waste material with minimal impact. Foresso gives the feel of terrazzo but in a unique way that works so well with the natural wood finishes of the stand and furniture. Sustainable materials also feature in some distinctive seating from BlackCork - a sphere, stool and side chair all made using expanded black cork. We were excited to include these pieces because they combine practicality with great design - easy to move around, comfortable to sit on and they look fantastic.

Two different pieces from Parla sit perfectly in the space - the Olive Armchair has a pared-back, vintage feel, with a beautiful finish to its elegant wooden frame. The curves and rounded shape of the Hug Lounge Chair are really inviting, with a homely feel that invites visitors to sit back and relax, offering a sense of privacy for quieter conversations in the busy space.

We always enjoy an opportunity to create some bespoke furniture, so this was an essential component of our installation for HIX. The pebble stools were produced in three sizes, and upholstered in bouclé fabrics and faux leathers from Panaz and ILIV - adding some fun, informal seating to the space that can be moved easily, to open up smaller conversations or add to a larger one. This mirrors the flow of seating in a bar or lounge, allowing guests to make the stand their own and use it to create an experience that’s unique to them.

The bespoke upholstered bench is our feature piece - created to bring together the colour palette and also to bring visitors together, giving a space to share a drink and meet new people.