WILL THIS ICE LOUNGE

SPARK A TREND ?

　
Recently, the Celsius ice bar opened in Bath, a UK city based in the west country. Ice lounges / bars have become fairly common today, but this particular bar may turn out to be a trendsetter. It is small – only 4 meters (13.1 ft) x 9 meters (29.5 ft) - and much of the décor is made up with fake ice and snow.

Visually, the bar is attractive and although it can handle only up to 15 guests at a time, it still provides the visitor the full ‘ice experience’.

The approach raises an interesting point – cost-effectiveness. How much is necessary to invest to turn a reasonable profit ? Some ice lounges are 1200 to 1500 sq ft, they call for a big freezer, big capacity freezing equipment and they also involve a lot of ice. This all adds up quickly.

When the average time a person stays in an ice lounge is taken into consideration – and this is about 35 minutes – do the arithmetic.

The ice lounge concept is all about the ‘ice experience’ and this involves entering the lounge dressed in the appropriate clothing, getting a beverage in an ice glass served over an ice bar, sitting in an ice chair or posing by a cruiser table for a photo-op, a quick look round, and then out.

Back to the Celsius bar. Alan Barlow and his company, Ice Creations, Staplehurst, Kent was given just two months, an extremely tight budget and a brief to build an ice bar in a 4 meter x 9 meter space which had to contain the freezing equipment, as well.

Adding to this challenge was the bar was to be part of a night club underground and was tunnel-shaped with an arched ceiling.

Freezer panels were trimmed to fit the ceiling snugly, leaving a cave shape and losing as little of the available space as possible. At this point, Alan and his team took over the project. Artificial snow was applied to the walls and the fan units were partially disguised. Artificial icicles and air brush artwork were added and it all made for an impressive and eye-catching décor.

Alan received guidance from Snowbusiness, a UK company that specializes in snow and ice effects for the advertising and movie industries.  (See the company web site, at snowbusiness.com).

Vacuum-formed clear ice panels were installed and backlit in blue as were two plinths to support the ice sculptures. Everything inside the bar was developed with a view to economy. First, the available space was limited, so a more conventional design was out of the question.

The complete bar was produced with just 20 blocks of ice – 10 for the bar, five for tables, two for sculptures and three for seating. The sculptures were carved by Carmello Vella of Ice2Art, a company based in Wales.

A photo-op was provided by a faceless Eskimo which visitors could stand behind. The ice bar is a simple 2 meter (6.5 ft) solid bar with backfilled logo created from 10 blocks and was incorporated at one end.  The big advantage lies in minimum maintenance – the walls will never require replacement leaving just the bar and sculptures to be changed periodically.

The door price for the Celsius bar is 10 pounds and five pounds for children. During the afternoons up to Christmas, the ice bar will become Santa’s Grotto as a special attraction for families with children.