Rolls-Royce Black Badge

A Black Badge motor car standing in a brick vault, tall candles burning either side of it in the dark.

Case study

Rolls-Royce Black Badge

Where power meets grace. An immersive gastronomic unveiling for a new generation of Rolls-Royce Black Badge.

Client

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

Venue

The RSA Vaults

What it was

An immersive gastronomic dinner

When Rolls-Royce Motor Cars sought to celebrate Black Badge — the brand’s bold alter-ego — they did not want a traditional launch dinner. They wanted something darker. Edgier. More visceral.

Black Badge is not merely a specification; it is a state of mind.

We were commissioned to translate this philosophy into a fully immersive, multi-sensory dining experience — one that would allow guests to feel the power, grace and defiant spirit of Black Badge through sound, scent, texture, light and taste.

What unfolded inside the RSA Vaults was not simply a dinner.

It was surrender.

The film of the dinner in the RSA Vaults.

The brief

Rolls-Royce Black Badge represents the alter-ego of the classic Rolls-Royce — unapologetically powerful, highly personalised and contemporary.

The objective was to:

Engage an ultra-discerning audience
Translate automotive design into gastronomy
Reinforce brand heritage whilst celebrating modern edge
Deliver an experience that felt intimate, exclusive and utterly unexpected

Above all, the experience needed to feel as meticulously engineered as the vehicles themselves.

A projection reading Black Badge across a screen at the end of the vault, a cloud of smoke lit beneath it.

What we did

We conceived and delivered a fully immersive gastronomic theatre experience, transforming the RSA Vaults into a darkened sensory journey through the DNA of Black Badge.

From arrival soundscapes to interactive digital dining tables, custom cocktails, scent choreography, haptic plating and precision lighting design, every detail was curated to embody the campaign ethos: Bolder in Black.

The long table running down the brick vault, glassware catching pink light along its whole length.

The empty vault before service, black chairs set along the wall under pink uplighting.

The table runner close up, moss, dark berries and coral-like flowers massed together.

A wall of hanging glass vessels, each holding a different botanical, lit from behind.

The arrival and the cocktail wall

Guests were collected in Black Badge vehicles, immersed in a bespoke soundscape inspired by pine forests, ghostly spectres and fleeting gasps of the ethereal Wraith.

At the tunnel entrance to the RSA Vaults, they were invited to:

“Step into the Darkness.”

Drinks stewards, faces painted to resemble melted wax, greeted guests beside a Black Badge positioned in shadow.

Earthy bubbles were served with Noir accents, or Royal Salute 62 accompanied by fire choreography.

A fire-dancer ballet performer introduced the alter-ego narrative before guests descended into Vault 4.

A custom cocktail wall embodied the spirit of Black Badge customisation as guests were invited to ‘Release Their Inhibitions.’ Guests created their own gin and sake blends, selecting unexpected botanical garnishes — sour, umami, smoky, bold — echoing the personalisation options of Black Badge.

Signature serves included:

Black Velvet Cocktail — London Dry Gin, crème de pamplemousse, lavender syrup, lemon, grapefruit and black infusion.

Canapés amplified darker notes:

Cep and truffle Cracker Jack corn
Bao bun with octopus kimchi
Yuzu cured salmon lollipops
Angel hair bread sticks inspired by the Spirit of Ecstasy

Each bite carried the message: power and grace are not opposites — they are partners.

A hand reaching out through a heavy purple curtain holding a bottle.

A performer lit blue in the darkness, face half in shadow.

A performer with silver painted eyes and a pale wig, caught in a shaft of light.

Glassware standing on the table with points of blue light behind it.

A dark scabious flower open in the table runner, lit from one side.

The dining concept

Guests entered a dining room transformed by interactive HD digital tables.

From the surface, it appeared a traditional dining table. Once seated, it awakened — revealing cinematic Black Badge graphics, integrated sound, and immersive brand messaging beneath crystal and porcelain.

The menu unfolded as a multi-course act:

Foraging — smoked Japanese mushroom broth
Flexitarian Personalisation — guests curated their own plate from luxury ingredients
Alter-Ego — hot and cold duality on a single dish
Into Darkness — duck egg yolk soaked in liquorice essence, confit ravioli, squid ink jelly
Dessert — single estate Colombian bitter chocolate with molten persimmon and gunpowder sherbet
Ghost Coffee — clear coffee and gold-leaf petit fours

Haptic velvet-lined vessels enhanced creaminess perception, and olfactory hand towels infused with Dawn (honeysuckle and jasmine), Wraith (frankincense and bergamot) and Ghost (white musk and black pepper) accompanied transitions between courses. The campaign identity was woven throughout the gastronomy — black-on-black plating, molecular elixirs, and habitat-inspired cigar boxes scented with burnt pine and whisky.

The Black Badge menu card standing upright in the dark table runner.

Two white plates carrying a course of petals, leaves and small cuts, set on the dark table.

A course served on a clear dish, a dark shard topped with a white plume, carried to a guest.

Thank you so much for all your wonderful ideas, thought and delivery last night for Black Badge. We really enjoyed working with you on this and had a completely new and interesting outcome as a result.

Rolls-Royce Private Office

Thoroughly amazing night with serious wow factor
Very interesting and surreal!
Thank you to you and your colleagues for hosting and inviting us to such a magical and memorable evening

Guests

Glasses and feathers along the table under deep pink light, the brick arch beyond.

Respecting the black

Lighting a Black Badge is a technical art form that we wanted to acknowledge within the event’s immersion. The vehicles’ deep gloss black paint, often positioned against a gloss black floor, present unique challenges in achieving contrast without dilution.

Our approach was to use blacks whilst allowing chrome detailing to sparkle — creating jewel-like highlights rather than flat illumination across styling, atmospherics and décor.

One of the central gastronomic themes explored was the avant-garde expression of entirely black ingredients. Squid ink, black salsify, truffle pearls, charcoal elements — styled with sculptural minimalism. Luxury intensified through texture and restraint.

Nothing felt theatrical for theatre’s sake. It felt engineered. The result was cinematic. Atmospheric. Magnetic.

Purple kale, air plants and dark berries built into the table runner.

The table from one end, glassware and runner running away into the dark of the vault.

A single dark anemone open in the runner, lit from one side.

The result

The evening achieved what Rolls-Royce Black Badge represents:

Elevated heritage with contemporary defiance. Personalisation without compromise and immersion without excess. Guests did not simply attend a dinner, they journeyed through the alter-ego of a Rolls-Royce, an extraordinary celebration of Black Badge — expressed through design, gastronomy, scent, sound and shadow.

A bold reminder that true luxury is not loud.

It is deliberate.