Dalziel & Pow and Pixel Artworks reimagine Guinness Storehouse’s Yeast Room

Guinness Storehouse has unveiled a reimagined Yeast Room within its Ingredients Experience in Dublin, designed by global strategy and design studio Dalziel & Pow in collaboration with Pixel Artworks. The immersive space offers visitors a multisensory exploration of yeast — one of the four core ingredients in Guinness — through interactive technology, art, and storytelling.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Guinness Storehouse has welcomed more than 26 million visitors since opening. The Ingredients Experience invites guests to discover the journey of barley, water, hops, and yeast, each presented through large-scale artistic installations, including a 1,000-square-metre field of real barley and a 14-metre water curtain.

An immersive journey into the heart of Guinness yeast

Building on the success of the Ingredients Experience launched in March 2024, the refreshed Yeast Room brings a new level of creativity and engagement. The design transforms the process of storing and growing Guinness yeast into a sensory experience combining light, projection, sound, and scent.

Before entering, visitors walk through a corridor of digital screens sharing the stories of the scientists and brewers who care for Guinness yeast. Inside, swirling digital fog, responsive projections, and atmospheric lighting evoke the microscopic world of budding yeast cells. Circular mirrors on the ceiling expand the visual effect, while motion sensors allow visitors to interact with the digital cells as they move through the space.

Collaboration brings science and storytelling together

Sarah Fairhurst, design director at Dalziel & Pow: “With the Yeast Room, we wanted to transform an invisible but vital ingredient into a truly memorable experience. Yeast is the soul of Guinness, and our aim was to capture its mystery, science, and legacy through immersive storytelling that's as playful as it is meaningful. Every design detail – from the swirling digital fog to the responsive projections – was crafted to bring this to life in a way that connects emotionally with visitors and deepens their appreciation of the craft behind the pint.”

Technology makes the science of brewing tangible

Riaz Farooq, senior creative director, Pixel Artworks: “As an important stage in the overall Ingredients Journey, we wanted to create a living, breathing real-time system of yeast in liquid nitrogen; something as delicate as it is dynamic. Working with specialised Notch artists and TouchDesigner, we created a four-projector mapping system with a custom-built tracking setup to flood both the space and the audience with texture and tactility. This created an interaction that is playful and responsive, yet gentle enough for visitors to appreciate the intricate details of each budding cell through a creative lens.”

The redesigned Yeast Room highlights the distinctive character of Guinness yeast — descended from the original strain stored in the Guinness Yeast Library since 1903 — and celebrates the fusion of art, science, and innovation that defines the Guinness brewing tradition.