Pressoria - Centre d’interprétation sensorielle des vins de Champagne

  • Prize
    Winner in Interior Design - Exhibition / Gallery
  • Company/Firm
    Casson Mann
  • Lead Designer
    Gary Shelley
  • Design Team
    Roger Mann (Creative Director), Laure Cheung (Project Manager)
  • Architect
    Atelier Philéas
  • Interior Designer
    Casson Mann
  • Lighting Designer
    Atelier H.Audibert
  • Const. Company
    Le Bâtiment Associé
  • Photographer Credit
    ©Boegly+Grazia
  • Location
    Aÿ-Champagne, France
  • Client
    Communaut
  • Project Date
    2 July 2021
  • Project Link

Pressoria is a sensory, poetic and engaging visitor experience, which tells the story of champagne and its unique production in this region of France. The designers created an innovative scenographic journey, where visitors “unlock the secrets hidden within every flute”. With each sip, they come to enjoy an exciting mixture of elemental ingredients, geological forces and cultural practices.

Pressoria lies within former pressing centre Maison Pommery, at the foot of the historic slopes of Aÿ-Champagne. Restoring the pressoir to its original site, the design preserved the authenticity of the Pommery building—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—while providing a captivating, contemporary experience.

Installations express the elemental basis of champagne: a textured, scented piece of chalk, displayed like an icon, communicates the geology of Champagne. Playful interactives prove popular with children—like digital roots which catch their feet—and the vineyard is enhanced by powerful champagne aromas.

The apex of the visitor experience is the interactive, walk-in cinema, celebrating ‘bubbles’ as a joyful expression of the essence of champagne.