Build Diary

Eva: How a Simple Idea Became a Working Tool

A closer look at Eva: how a simple idea for a mobile station was tested, adjusted, and refined over several years into a tool bartenders can rely on.

Joana

Marketing

When we first started thinking about Eva, it wasn’t a product. It was a question: Could a mobile station actually work for real service - not just for show- and still feel like something built by Behind Bars?

The earliest versions were exactly what you would expect from a work in progress: simple shapes, rough outlines, and a lot of “what if we…?” conversations. Some concepts were too static. Others tried to do too much. Bit by bit, we started narrowing in on what mattered most: balance, stability, storage, water, and how the trolley actually felt to move and work from.

EVA wasn’t shaped by theory. It was shaped by practice.

We built, tested, and adjusted in the field with trusted clients and hospitality partners. Instead of treating Eva as a finished object, we treated it as an ongoing question. How does it move when fully loaded? Is the access to storage intuitive in the middle of service? Does the water system feel integrated or like an add-on? Are the proportions right when it sits in a room next to a fixed station?

Those tests led to small but important recalibrations: changes to balance and proportion, tweaks to drawer motion, refinements to the water system layout, and a more careful look at materials that could handle daily use while still ageing well. None of these steps were dramatic on their own, but together they nudged Eva toward something that felt more like a real working tool, and less like a prototype.

Over time, the stainless-steel frame became the backbone: strong enough to carry weight, simple enough to work as a platform for different cladding options. The integrated water system was compacted and organised so it stayed out of the way visually, but did its job reliably. Storage was arranged with actual service in mind, not just clean lines on a drawing.

What stayed constant was the intention: mobility without compromise.

Glassware drawer

Top view

A trolley that moves with service instead of getting in the way. One that feels natural to work from, especially for bartenders already familiar with our systems. Something that can sit quietly in a space without demanding attention.

Much of Eva’s development happened in these small considerations. How it rolls, how it carries weight, how it opens and closes during a shift. The refinements were gradual, shaped by use rather than theory.

We also spent time understanding how it should live in different environments. Not to over-design it, but to make sure it could adapt. The finishes and cladding options came from this need for flexibility, letting the core system stay consistent while the exterior adjusts to the room.

This quieter side of the process rarely shows up in photos: the incremental tests, the conversations with bartenders, the prototypes that clarified what worked and what didn’t. It was slow, steady progress.

Evolution

From first sketches, to final prototypes. After several years of this kind of development, and seeing it used in real settings, it felt natural to share Eva more openly. Not as something new, but as something that has already proven itself in the background.