Custom Pop-Up Kiosk

Located at Kelowna International Airport, the Tourism Kelowna pop-up kiosk provides visitors with a physical introduction to the destination.

Instead of relying solely on printed destination imagery, the concept uses dimensional sculpture, texture, colour and natural wood detailing to interpret the Okanagan as a physical environment.

The four seasons became the central design idea. Each section of the round kiosk represents a different time of year, allowing the exterior to tell a continuous story as visitors move around the structure.

The result is both a functional modern kiosk and a sculptural representation of the destination it promotes.

The circular form provided an opportunity to divide the custom built kiosk naturally into four seasonal experiences.

The spring section introduces the landscape as it begins to come back to life, using dimensional relief and scenic finishing to create depth beyond what could be achieved with a flat printed graphic.

The summer panel represents the Okanagan during its busiest warm-weather season, continuing the sculptural landscape around the curved exterior of the kiosk.

The fall section shifts the palette and scenic treatment to represent the changing season while maintaining the same sculptural language used throughout the installation.

The winter panel completes the journey around the kiosk pop up, representing the Okanagan’s colder season through dimensional scenery and hand-painted finishing. Together, the four panels turn the circumference of the kiosk into a continuous three-dimensional destination story.

One of the defining features of the project is that the seasonal imagery was physically sculpted rather than reproduced as large-format printed graphics.

TBKD hand-sculpted the dimensional relief artwork for the curved exterior panels, developing physical depth, texture and landscape forms directly into the pop-up kiosk design.

The sculpting process allowed foreground and background elements to be layered across the surface, creating changing shadows and dimensional detail as visitors move around the structure.

This approach transformed the front and sides of the pop-up kiosk from graphic surfaces into sculptural elements of the visitor experience.

Once the sculpting was complete, the relief panels were coated with StoneLith by NERPA Polymers, a Canadian-made polymer/mineral composite used for coating sculptural and dimensional surfaces.

The coating created a hard, durable shell over the sculpted forms while preserving the dimensional details established during the sculpting process.

It also provided a finished surface that could be prepared for the scenic painting and finishing that followed. Using StoneLith allowed the raw sculptural forms to transition into durable architectural relief panels suitable for a public-facing kiosk in a busy airport environment.

After coating and surface preparation, the panels were ready for hand painting, where colour, highlights and scenic detailing brought each of the four Okanagan seasons to life.

The sculptural seasonal panels were paired with custom fluted oak detailing fabricated specifically for the curved kiosk. Producing the wood elements around a round structure required the millwork to follow the geometry of the kiosk while maintaining consistent spacing and alignment across the finished surface.

The natural oak provides a contrasting material against the painted sculptural reliefs and helps connect the custom kiosk with the warm, natural character of the Okanagan. Together, the sculpted panels and curved fluted oak turn the structure itself into part of Tourism Kelowna’s visual identity.

Although the finished kiosk has the presence of a permanent architectural installation, it was designed with relocation in mind. Kelowna International Airport was undergoing renovation and terminal expansion when the kiosk was developed.

Its original location therefore wasn’t necessarily going to be its final one. TBKD considered this during the design and fabrication process so the kiosk could be moved when the airport’s changing layout required it.

The kiosk has since been successfully relocated by the airport to its new location. For custom kiosks installed in airports, malls, visitor centres, public spaces and other evolving environments, designing for future relocation can extend the useful life of the installation without making it feel temporary.