Old Market Assembly
Building a vibrant digital home to champion a Bristol cultural cornerstone.
Service: Digital / Sector: Culture & Hospitality
Background
Since opening its doors in 2015, Old Market Assembly has become an undeniable staple of Bristol's cultural landscape. Operating out of a stunning former Victorian bank, this award-winning restaurant and venue serves as a true community anchor. From championing sustainable food to hosting dynamic live entertainment and inclusive LGBTQIA+ events, it is a creative sanctuary right in the heart of the city.
The challenge
As the venue's reputation and physical offering grew over the years, their digital presence had unfortunately been left behind. The existing website was outdated, which not only damaged search engine rankings but also failed to reflect the vibrant, high-quality experience of the venue itself.
Crucially, from an operational standpoint, the backend was slow and difficult to use. The busy internal marketing team was experiencing friction every time they needed to make simple website updates, like changing seasonal menus or adding new event listings. It was time for a complete digital overhaul.
Our approach
We kicked things off by working closely with the marketing manager to fundamentally restructure the site map. Old Market Assembly is a multi-faceted venue, so a generic layout was never going to work. We took the time to fully understand their distinct revenue streams: the restaurant and bar, ticketed events, private venue hire, and weddings.
Armed with this insight, we mapped out clear, tailored customer journeys for each specific audience. We built designated sections that guide users smoothly from discovery to booking, ensuring a bride-to-be and a Friday night diner both find exactly what they need without getting lost in the mix.
With the wireframes locked in, we designed a fresh, modern look and feel that retains the venue's core brand attributes and community-focused warmth. We then brought this to life with a fully bespoke, high-performing WordPress build. The new backend was designed specifically for ease of use, empowering the team to make rapid updates without touching a line of code.
To maximize the client's investment, we then leveraged that solid foundational build to create a second, completely distinct website for their sister company, No1 Harbourside, adapting the framework to suit their unique branding and content needs.
The results
Delivered a high-performing, bespoke digital platform that accurately reflects a premium cultural venue.
Drastically reduced backend friction, allowing the internal team to update menus and events in minutes.
Maximised client budget by adapting the core build to seamlessly launch a second tailored website for sister venue No1 Harbourside.
We delivered
Complete UX/UI design and wireframing for an intuitive user journey.
A fully bespoke, easy-to-manage WordPress website for Old Market Assembly.
A seamlessly adapted secondary website for sister venue No1 Harbourside.
An SEO-friendly structure designed to drive local search rankings and increase footfall.
The websites
Special thanks
Old Market Assembly
Anna Blightman
Lauren Poole
Collaborators
Jake Hodgewood
Photo credit
Old Market Assembly
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