Shop Archives

Crosby Studios creates office-themed installation for The Frankie Shop

New York-based Crosby Studios has piled office equipment around a long metallic table as part of a pop-up installation for fashion brand The Frankie Shop in Los Angeles.

The month-long installation titled The Office was launched to coincide with LA Art Week and the Sag-Aftra film festival and marked the New York label The Frankie Shop‘s first presence in the Californian city.

A long, metallic conference table within an industrial-style building — A long, metallic conference table formed part of The Office installation created by Crosby Studios

The brand’s founder Gaëlle Drevet and Crosby Studios creative director Harry Nuriev met at his studio, talked for 2.5 hours and decided to work together.

The resulting installation occupies a trapezoidal building on Sunset Boulevard wrapped in metallic film on all sides.

Equipment like printers, office chairs and water coolers arranged around a room — Equipment like printers, office chairs and water coolers were arranged around the perimeter of the space

Inside, the warehouse-like space features a long table also covered in a reflective material, with matching cube-shaped stools set along either side.

Articulated desk lamps, microphones and bottles of water were arranged on the table as if set up for delegates at a convention.

Metallic table with water bottles and microphones on top — The central table featured microphones and water bottles as if set up for a meeting

Around the perimeter, Nuriev placed recycled office equipment, such as a large printer, a stack of binders and a pile of plastic-wrapped office chairs.

A row of water coolers was lined up along one end of the room, encircled with glowing light boxes to create sharp silhouettes of the equipment in front.

Pile of office chairs silhouetted against a bright light box — Light boxes that encircle the space create sharp silhouettes of the office furniture placed in front

“It’s not really about the office, it’s more about what happens after the office,” Nuriev told Dezeen. “I was thinking it’s time to officially move on from the office and consider the future. However, in this project, we’re uncertain about what the future holds exactly.”

A selection of apparel by The Frankie Shop is interspersed among the vignettes, while a “storage” area in the back serves as a fitting room.

Plastic-wrapped silver furniture — Some of the furniture is plastic-wrapped, appearing as though just installed or ready to be shipped away

Together, the industrial style of the building, the silvery materials, the lighting and the equipment served to highlight the brand’s reinterpretation of businesswear.

“The pop-up design blends a dynamic combination of fashion and nostalgia, where the power suits of the past seamlessly align with the modern attitude of The Frankie Shop,” said the team.

Metallics are commonplace in Nuriev’s interior projects, appearing prominently in a Berlin jewellery store, a Moscow restaurant and his own New York apartment amongst others.

However, he is vague about the reasons or intentionality behind this recurring theme.

Exterior of a building on Sunset Boulevard covered in reflective film — The exterior of the building on Sunset Boulevard is also covered in reflective film

“I don’t really think about ‘why’; it’s just my instincts, and I prefer to follow my feelings,” said Nuriev. “For this project, I had a vision of silver, and I think it works perfectly.”

Originally from Russia, the designer founded Crosby Studios in 2014 and is now based between New York and Paris.

Zoomed out view of The Frankie Shop building in LA — The month-long installation marks The Frankie Shop’s first presence in LA and was timed to coincide with the city’s art week

He recently completed the interiors for New York nightclub Silencio, based on the original location in Paris designed by film director David Lynch.

Nuriev frequently collaborates with fashion brands, on projects ranging from a virtual sofa upholstered with green Nike jackets to a transparent vinyl couch filled with old Balenciaga clothing.

The photography is by Josh Cho.

The Office is on show in Los Angeles from 23 February to 24 March. For more events, talks and exhibitions in architecture and design visit Dezeen Events Guide.

Reference

Sustainable News

Helping local, green products reach shop shelves

By Zarkon Group,29/01/2024

Spotted: This year will see several changes designed to bring the EU closer to its climate-neutral goal for 2050. The first report of the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is due at the end of January 2024, and the region’s Deforestation Regulation comes into effect in December 2024. Back in December 2023, the European Council and Parliament also reached an agreement on ecodesign requirements for sustainable products.

For companies with sustainable products to sell, these changes are creating opportunities to expand into new markets or make new designs commercially available. However, inflation in the prices smaller businesses pay their increasingly globalised suppliers is making it difficult for them to build their inventory – even if they have developed a great product and built an effective production process.

Belgian company Shiperise helps with this challenge by buying companies’ inventory in large volumes at factory prices. By receiving a price for its goods from Shiperise, a business can optimise production runs and negotiate better procurement prices with its suppliers. And by investing in the company’s inventory, Shiperise is taking on some of the risk associated with new products that conventional banks are unwilling to bear.

The funds from Shiperise are transferred to a company as soon as its goods arrive from its suppliers. The company then has 18 months to resell the products at wholesale prices before ‘repurchasing’ the inventory Shiperise has acquired at its own pace. Businesses sell the Shiperise-funded portion of its inventory first and it only pays for the goods that are sold in each period. Shiperise is compensated for its service through a minimum margin on its inventory purchases and an admin fee.

At the start of the process, Shiperise offers a free product score, working with most types of items except food. The maximum score on a product review is 50, with questions covering topics such as item sustainability and the sales history of the company. For those scoring below the maximum, Shiperise offers advice on score improvement. The product scores determine how much funding Shiperise is likely to offer for the product.

On the other side of the equation, shops and resellers can register on the platform as ‘professional buyers’ to acquire sustainable goods from the Shiperise ecosystem and benefit from discounts.

Reducing e-waste with upgradeable parts and using artificial intelligence (AI) to assess products’ sustainability credentials are two examples from Springwise’s library of innovations that are helping consumers cut through the greenwashing and find products that really make a difference.

Written By: Keely Khoury and Matthew Hempstead

Reference

Interior Design

Florencia Rissotti uses fabric as design element in Buenos Aires shop

By Zarkon Group,19/12/2023

Local architect Florencia Rissotti has converted a warehouse into a textile shop in Buenos Aires, using fabric dividers to organise the space.

To house a retail location for fabric shop Tienda Mayor, Rissotti integrated textiles in several ways, lining the store with samples, draping colourful patches over a staircase and using curtains to conceal and create space.

warehouse store — Architect Florencia Rissotti has converted a warehouse into a fabric store in Buenos Aires

The interior is divided into two floors, with a mezzanine above used for storage and office space, and the store’s retail space and lounge areas below.

Cream-coloured curtains hang underneath the mezzanine and above to hide storage areas and create meeting spaces.

A fabric store in Argentina — A catalogue of fabric hanging from hooks lines the space

“The space was assembled using the raw material of the place: fabric,” said the studio. “A series of curtains divide, set up a meeting room, hide shelves with orders and cover the storage area.”

Along the length of a wall, large material samples are draped from hooks, which will “mutate” over time as the catalogue changes.

A person walking down stairs in a fabric shop — The space was organized and divided using creme coloured curtains

Similarly, fabric samples of various sizes were draped over the railings of a staircase that leads to the mezzanine, in part as a permanent installation and to display the shop’s selections.

“The ladder device was intended as an exhibition element, from which velvet falls and sews the two levels (the totem) together,” said the studio. “This ladder hanger is designed as an internal display window, where the selection/palette can be changed according to the season.”

Various creme tones dominate the space, with colour integrated from fabric samples and bright seating running in a straight line parallel to the fabric samples.

Alamo wood desks and large coffee tables were crafted for the space.

textiles draped over railings — A staircase installation displays a rotating selection of textiles

Outside, a garden area contains a semi-circle metal bench and simple plantings.

Florencia Rissotti is a Buenos Aires-based architect who focuses on interiors and residential architecture.

Elsewhere in Buenos Aires, La Base Studio recently created a delicate wooden privacy screen for a 1970s home renovation and architects Julio Oropel and Jose Luis Zacarias Otiñano created a bio-art installation focused on fungi.

The photography is by Fernando Schapochnik.

Reference

Sustainable News

Product Sustainability Framework launched by Finnish Design Shop

By Zarkon Group,14/11/2023

Retailer Finnish Design Shop has launched a tool to individually assess and rate the sustainability of more than 20,000 design products featured on its online store.

The retailer’s Product Sustainability Framework intends to support customers in making sustainable design purchases by scoring every item it sells according to a fixed set of criteria tailored specifically for design products.

Scores are determined through a survey directed towards the product manufacturers. The tool assesses five main categories: social responsibility, eco-friendly production, climate impact, sustainable materials, and circular design.

“Each category contains sustainability claims, for which the manufacturer can respond with either yes or no. In total, there are 69 claims,” Finnish Design Shop CEO Teemu Kiiski told Dezeen.

“Manufacturers answer each claim per product, and these claims are based on laws, international agreements, and initiatives.”

This often complex information is assessed and then rated. To make it understandable and comparable for customers, products are badged on the website with one, two or three green leaf symbols, representing good, very good or excellent.

A more detailed breakdown of the product’s score is included in the accompanying sustainability description.

Nikari’s Centenniale coffee table scored full marks in the climate impact category. Photo is courtesy of Nikari

Explaining why the retailer launched this product-specific framework, Kiiski told Dezeen: “The first reason is the growing demand from customers and professionals for sustainability information regarding the design brands and products. This demand isn’t limited to Finnish Design Shop but extends to the entire design industry.”

“The second reason is that, as a retailer, we have limited means to influence the sustainability of the entire value chain of the products we sell,” he added.

“Through the framework, we can communicate our expectations for product sustainability to manufacturers and guide them towards enhanced sustainability. Simultaneously, we can establish a sustainability standard for the entire industry and lead the way in sustainability matters.”

Puffy lounge chair — A puffy lounge chair by HEM scored highly in the eco-friendly production category. Photo is courtesy of HEM

The specific criteria for each product were developed over two years with Ethica, a Finnish circular design expert partner. They rely on the accuracy of the data supplied by each of their suppliers. “We validate it based on our own data, expertise, and experience,” says Kiiski.

While Finnish Design Shop places a high trust in its suppliers to provide it with accurate information regarding their sustainability practices, it also conducts random spot checks.

“We require product manufacturers to be capable of substantiating the authenticity of each sustainability claim,” Kiiski said.

“We do not conduct audits, and this framework is not a standard, certification, or similar entity; rather, it represents our own criteria for sustainable design.”

Vaarnii's 001 pine stool — Vaarnii’s 001 pine stool achieved 10/10 in the sustainable materials category. Photo is courtesy of Vaarnii

Some of the 24,000 products on the Finnish Retail Shop website don’t have a rating, which means they haven’t yet been assessed or they do not meet sufficient sustainability standards.

Products that score poorly on the Product Sustainability Framework could eventually be removed from the portfolio.

“If some products or manufacturers do not meet our minimum sustainability criteria over time, we have the option to remove them from our selection,” Kiiski said.

However, the retailer believes this could also serve as an incentive.

“The PSF also serves as an incentive for further sustainability improvement, and we hope it signals to the whole industry that sustainability must be taken seriously, leaving no room for irresponsible actions anymore,” Kiiski added.

He is hopeful of the change that the Product Sustainability Framework will bring.

“The framework and its sustainability claims inform our suppliers about what can be expected from their sustainability practices today,” Kiiski said.

“Sustainability is a hot topic in our industry, but finding concrete data on it can still be a challenge,” he added. “The Product Sustainability Framework is our answer to this.”

“Essentially, it’s a 69-step list on how manufacturers can enhance their sustainability. The fact that over 110 manufacturers have participated so far indicates a need for concrete actions.”

Artek lamp — The A805 floor lamp by Artek reached full marks in the circular design category. Photo is courtesy of Artek

The Product Sustainability Framework is part of Finnish Design Shop’s sustainability strategy. Launched during Helsinki Design Week in September 2023, visitors had the opportunity to explore an installation explaining the framework (pictured, top) and its criteria through five sample products.

Last year, the retailer unveiled a logistics centre in a forest that was designed to enable “a more sustainable future”. It has previously provided the furniture for a pop-up restaurant in New York made from recycled packaging.

The photography is courtesy of the products’ manufacturers. Main image courtesy of Finnish Design Shop.

Reference

Interior Design

Akin Atelier houses Gallery Shop at Sydney Modern in “translucent bubble”

By Zarkon Group,09/11/2023

Curved resin walls define this retail space, which architecture studio Akin Atelier has created for the Sydney Modern extension at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Designed by Akin Atelier with surfboard designer Hayden Cox, the Gallery Shop is located in the entrance pavilion of the gallery that was recently completed by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning studio SANAA.

The retail space is conceived as a “translucent bubble” within the entrance area, the studio said, and it aims to challenge the typical commercial experience in a museum shop.

Gallery shop interior designed by Akin Atelier in Sydney Modern — Akin Atelier has created the Gallery Shop at Sydney Modern

“The shop captures natural light throughout the day, bringing dynamic reflections and refractions of the city while holding people, objects, and books within its centre,” Akin Atelier told Dezeen.

“[It] showcases products to passers-by through the lens of the resin walls – gently maximising the identity of the space while preserving the architectural experience of the new building.”

The Gallery Shop comprises two resin walls that curve around its displays, with a gap between the two of them forming the entry point.

shop interior designed by Akin Atelier in Sydney Modern — It has curved walls made from a resin

The installation is placed in the northwest corner of the entrance pavilion, to the left-hand side of its entrance, meaning that its distinctive resin walls are visible from the street.

Its walls are constructed of 29 modules formed of 12 tonnes of resin. According to the studio, the resin is a type of “bio-resin” manufactured to incorporate biological matter.

resin walls of retail space at sydney modern — It sits within the building’s entrance pavilion that was designed by SANAA

“It is composed of a minimum 26 per cent biological matter,” said the studio.

“[This reduces] the amount of embodied carbon as well as reducing toxicity during the manufacturing process.”

The distinct tonal gradient of the bio-resin was achieved by hand pouring layers of colour into custom moulds – a process that took 109 days.

Meanwhile, its glossy translucency was achieved through hand sanding followed by seven rounds of hand polishing.

Gallery Shop interior designed by Akin Atelier — The translucent material allows natural light through the space. Photo by Tim Salisbury

The resin’s earthy hues reference the sandstone used in the original Art Gallery of New South Wales, while its gradation is a nod to the layered nature of Sydney’s bedrock of sandstone.

“The handmade nature of resin casting and finishing allowed for experimentation across colour and form while addressing the patinated qualities of the outside environment,” explained Akin Atelier.

Inside the Gallery Shop, adjustable resin shelves line the curved walls, housing books and publications. Stainless steel is used for display plinths, providing a contrast to the warm tones of the resin.

The project has been shortlisted in the small retail interior category of the Dezeen Awards.

Akin Atelier also recently used tactile materials such as onyx, plaster and travertine to form the interiors of a branch of the womenswear store Camilla and Marc in Melbourne.

The photography is by Rory Gardiner unless otherwise stated.

Reference

Architecture

josé pedro lima turns butcher shop into skylit space in portugal

By Zarkon Group,06/08/2023

josé pedro lima gives new life to old butcher shop in portugal

Architect José Pedro Lima has recently converted the old Central Butcher Shop in Portugal‘s downtown Coimbra into a minimalist real estate space punctuated by neat white walls, wooden tones, and generous daylight. In addition to preserving the original butcher shop’s marble flooring, Lima took advantage of the interior compartments, making slight surgical alterations that fit into the new program photographed by Ivo Tavares. While the main room of the new retail space retained practically the previous configuration, the former meat cutting area has been transformed into a meeting room, and a small kitchen replaces the old refrigeration chamber.

all images © Ivo Tavares Studio

restoring skylights amid a white and minimal backdrop

The Central Butcher Shop conversion by José Pedro Lima (see more here) also included the restoration of existing skylights, which were previously blocked off, and the coating of all walls in a white shade to minimize the use of artificial lighting, restoring natural illumination to the interior spaces. The different lighting configurations correspond to additional uses of the spaces — the meeting room and kitchen. Thanks to a transition in flooring and baseboards, as well as the centrality conferred by the conference table, the meeting room is perceived as a distinct space; here, the incidence of the corresponding skylight accentuates the desired solemn character of this space. ‘In summary, the aim was to retain and interpret the existing qualities of the butcher shop while also understanding the needs of the new program, with particular emphasis on proper natural lighting of the spaces,’ concludes the architect.

restoring the existing skylights

natural illumination flooding the converted space

chair/furniture by SPSS Design Studio

Reference

Interior Design

Keiji Ashizawa designs “home-like” The Conran Shop in Hillside Terrace

By Zarkon Group,05/07/2023

Designer Keiji Ashizawa has devised the interiors of The Conran Shop Daikanyama in Tokyo, which is located inside a building by architect Fumihiko Maki and spotlights products from Japan and Asia.

The latest outpost from British retailer The Conran Shop is located in the modernist Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama, a quiet area close to the Tokyo city centre.

The complex was designed by Pritzker Prize-winner Maki and constructed between 1967 and 1992.

Tokyo Conran Shop in Daikanyama — The Conran Shop Daikanyama was designed to resemble someone’s home

Ashizawa aimed to take the existing architecture of the two-storey building into consideration when designing the interior of The Conran Shop.

“Since the existing space had great potential, we knew that the work had to be put into elevating what was already there – thinking about the proportions of the space, the dry area and so on,” he told Dezeen.

“Although it is inside a well-known architecture, there were elements where we thought we could bring change to the inside.”

Interior of The Conran Shop Daikanyama — It features pieces by Japanese and Asian designers

These changes included turning one glass section into a solid wall.

“Glass walls were used extensively as part of the architectural concept so that the store space could be viewed through the layers of glass,” Ashizawa said.

“While building the store, we decided that there wouldn’t be a problem in making a section of the glass wall become a solid wall, considering its serenity as a space and its relationship with the street.”

Mezzanine in Conran store — A mezzanine showcases a sofa and other living room furniture

The designer created the 200-square-metre store to look like someone’s home, in a nod to the peaceful nature of the surrounding area. It features a large atrium on the ground floor, connecting it to an adjoining courtyard.

“Daikanyama is a very calm neighbourhood in Tokyo, where we wished to design a store where people could feel relaxed and away from the stimulation of the city,” Ashizawa said.

“We intended to create a space for people to stay for a long period of time and feel the space.”

Exterior of Tokyo interior store — The store is located in the iconic Hillside Terrace complex

The interior design was also based on The Conran Shop’s three keywords – plain, simple and useful – CEO of The Conran Shop Japan Shinichiro Nakahara told Dezeen.

The store’s product selection also places a special focus on Japanese and Asian design.

“Specifically for The Conran Shop Daikanyama, the selections were focused on objects from Asia, including Japan,” Nakahara said.

“The process of [founder] Terence [Conran] travelling around the world, finding and buying items in each place by himself, has not changed,” he added. “Many of the objects selected by the Conran team in Japan have a sense of craftsmanship.”

“We created the space by imagining a situation in which such objects would be displayed alongside each other. For example, the details of the objects are reflected in the interior design.”

Staircase in Japanese interior store — It features a staircase with a handrail made from black paper cords

The interior uses materials that are common in Japan including concrete, steel, wood, plaster, Japanese stone and paper.

“The use of Japanese paper in interior design is an element that is distinctively Japanese,” Ashizawa explained.

“Shoji screens are an important element in creating a Japanese-style room but I realize that they can also be well used in both functional and aesthetic ways in a modern space.”

Basement floor in Conran Shop Daikanyama — Concrete walls and shoji screens were used for the interior

The studio also used Japanese paper that had been dyed in a grey hue as wallpaper to give the space a “soft and contemporary feel.”

“Since we weren’t building an actual house but rather a home-like Conran store, the materials were thoughtfully instrumented to achieve a balance,” Ashizawa said.

The ground floor of the store holds furniture, homeware and apparel, and also has a mezzanine floor that is accessible by a staircase featuring a handrail made from black paper cords.

Gallery-like interior by Keiji Ashizawa — A gallery-like space is located on the basement floor

Ashizawa designed the basement floor, which functions both as an additional shopping area and a gallery space, to have a calmer atmosphere.

“Filled with natural light, the ground floor uses colours that bring grandeur and a sense of calmness,” he said.

“The basement floor is toned to create a more private feeling. We respected the natural colours of the materials as much as possible, while also considering the harmony with the objects on display and in the gallery.”

Clothes in Conran Shop Tokyo — The store has a neutral colour palette and wooden details

The Conran Shop Daikanyama also has an adjoining bar where visitors can enjoy teas such as sencha and macha.

Ashizawa has previously worked on a number of other projects in Tokyo, including the Bellustar Tokyo “hotel in the sky” and the Hiroo Residence.

Reference

Interior Design

André Fu designs colourful Casetify shop informed by shoji lanterns

By Zarkon Group,30/06/2023

Hong Kong-based architect and interior designer André Fu has completed the first global flagship store for electronic accessory brand Casetify in Osaka, combining traditional Japanese shoji paper lanterns with bright colours.

The store, which marks the first retail project by Fu in Japan, was informed by the urban landscape of the Shinsaibashi neighbourhood in Osaka where the store is located.

Casetify Osaka flagship by André Fu — The store is located in Shinsaibashi, the main shopping area in Osaka

According to Fu, the interiors aim to bring “the allure of the dynamic Shinsaibashi neighbourhood into the store”.

“The overall concept is rooted in a vision to celebrate the distinct context of the project with contrasting shapes and forms, capturing the neighbourhood’s cinematic streetscape in a world where bold geometries juxtapose against each other,” said Fu.

The storefront was designed as a floor-to-ceiling shoji lantern framed in bright orange. Customers are greeted by a round display table encircled by cylindrical shoji screens, with the same circular arrangement mirrored at the back of the store and its upper floor.

At the centre of the Casetify store sit cabinets that have been decorated with old phone cases, donated by customers in the recycling box located next to them.

A secret shoji window at the rear of the ground floor can be slid open to unveil customised online purchases.

“A lot of my work is rooted in the idea of a journey that takes the contextual quality of each project into an architectural medium,” Fu explained.

“The world of shoji lanterns that goes around you, that folds and unfolds, creates that effect,” he added.

“It transports you from the everyday reality of the neighbourhood to an imaginary, illusionistic expression that blends a relaxed sense of luxury with the popping Casetify colours that the brand is so well known for.”

Fu is known for his work on luxury hotels and restaurants, including the Upper House hotel in Hong Kong, the Berkeley London, and the Mitsui hotel in Kyoto.

More recently, he created a two-person “conversation” chair in collaboration with Louis Vuitton’s Objects Nomades, and furnished a model apartment inside the Jean Nouvel tower in New York with his homeware collection.

The photography is courtesy of Casetify.

Reference

Interior Design

Apple reveals Battersea Power Station shop as latest “evolution of the store”

By Zarkon Group,15/06/2023

Technology company Apple has unveiled its latest Foster + Partners-designed store in the recently revamped Battersea Power Station in London, which features updated fixtures and furniture.

Set to open later today, Apple Battersea is the brand’s 40th UK store and represents an evolution in its retail design thinking with more of an emphasis placed on accessibility and sustainability.

“We developed this material palette and this fixture set that is really trying to align with like Apple’s goals,” said Bill Bergeron Mirsky, a global retail design lead at Apple.

“This material palette is new for us, it’s an evolution of the Apple Store,” he told Dezeen.

Apple Battersea by Foster + Partners — Apple Battersea opens today

Designed by UK studio Foster + Partners, the store is set on the ground floor of the shopping centre within the 1930s Turbine Hall A at the former power station, where the studio also designed the technology brand’s offices.

The shop is arranged around four original brick piers and has steel roof supports exposed on the ceiling. On top of this base, Foster + Partners overlaid a revamped fixture set that Mirsky said “will become familiar over time”.

Apple Battersea is the second store – after the recently reopened Tysons Corner store in the USA, which replaced Apple’s first ever store – to feature the redesigned fixtures.

Around the edge of the store is an oak framework of shelving that was developed with Foster + Partners. The timber structure also defines a space dedicated to watches, a pick-up area and a redesigned Genius Bar.

The Genius Bar has a counter for stand-up service along with a lowered area where people can be served sitting down. Along with its standard Parsons tables, which are made from sustainably harvested European oak, the store also has several lowered tables.

Updated Genius Bar — The redesigned Genius Bar has a lower counter

“We’ve thought about mobility issues across the whole fixture set,” explained Mirsky. “We have our traditional Parsons table with our standard height, but you notice that the tables in the back are varied and our new genius bar as well.”

“We have a standing height because the team really prefers to stand and it lets them work with more people and then they can stand at the tables, but customers who want to sit or need to sit can actually use these slightly modified tables,” he continued.

As part of the focus on mobility, Apple also increased the amount of circulation around the edge of the store.

Tables in London Apple store — There is more space around the edge of the store

Along with the timber framework, Apple aimed to replace other more carbon-intensive elements in the store with biomaterials.

The floor, which was first used in the Brompton Road store, was made from aggregates bound together with a bio-polymer, while the acoustic baffles in the ceiling were made from biogenic material.

The acoustic baffles and bright floor form part of a focus on improving visual and acoustic clarity in the store, with a dark band placed around the base of the walls to provide visual differentiation with the flooring.

“Something I want to point out that is really part and parcel of the material palette, but also goes to our universal design, is the contrast in the store,” said Mirsky.

“We wanted to make sure we have this really enhanced kind of navigation,” he continued. “So the floor is brightened – it helps us with our low energy – but it also makes it so that you can clearly see the table and the walls are defined.”

Pick up space in Apple Store — The store has a dedicated pick-up corner

The fixture set, flooring and ceiling baffles were also used at the Tysons Corner store and Mirsky believes the base can create a feeling of familiarity for Apple’s customers.

“Each store is really dealt with as a unique circumstance Battersea has this incredible, incredible existing architectural fabric to work in,” he said.

“We use the same fixture set at Tysons Corner in a mall setting in America which doesn’t have this sort of grand grandiose architecture, but the same fixture set can generate an environment that’s very familiar and welcoming no matter where you are.”

The store is the latest to open in London, following the Brompton Road store that opened last year, which was designed to be a “calm oasis”. Other recently completed Apple Stores include the band’s first shop in India and a store in Los Angeles’ historic Tower Theatre.

Reference

Interior Design

6a Architects brings Soho sex shop windows to JW Anderson Milan store

By Zarkon Group,25/05/2023

British fashion brand JW Anderson has opened a flagship store in Milan that was designed by British studio 6a Architects and draws on the local atmosphere as well as Soho sex shops.

The 53 square-metre-store is located on the Via Sant’Andrea luxury shopping street in Milan’s Quadrilatero shopping district. It is set across a single floor and comprises two rooms.

Photo of JW Anderson store in Milan — JW Anderson’s first Milan store was designed by 6a Architects

While the boutique primarily draws reference from its “bourgeoise” Milanese surroundings, the retail space also pulls from designer Jonathan Anderson’s first JW Anderson store in Soho and from the 2017 exhibition Disobedient Bodies, which was curated by him.

It was designed by 6a Architects, who Anderson began working with in 2017 after selecting the studio to design the set for Disobedient Bodies at The Hepworth Wakefield.

Interior photo of the JW Anderson store — It draws on a Milanese atmosphere

“I thought [6a Architects] really grasped how to take my visual language and turn it into something which was able to be educational,” Anderson told Dezeen.

“They’re very good at hybrid, old or new. They’re very good at this combination, they’re great architects.”

“The store actually is a combination of Disobedient Bodies and a store. It’s a little bit more elevated,” he said. “The front of the building feels Soho, and as you go in, it feels more kind of domestic Milanese.”

Interior photo of the JW Anderson store in Milan — It carries over elements from the Soho store

In a nod to the store frontages of the sex shops found in London’s Soho area, the windows of the Milanese store were decorated with neon lighting and rainbow-slatted curtains.

Anderson and 6a Architects used the design as a juxtaposition against the more typical Milanese interior.

“For me, there is something very sexual about neon lighting,” said Anderson. “I think we associate it with grand gestures and I felt like a window is kind of like a television set. There’s something with neon that it does, it kind of tricks you.”

Photo of the JW Anderson store — Traditional Italian furnishings and finishes fill the interior

“There are little alleyways and they have all these amazing sex stores on and these curtains,” Anderson continued.

“I liked the idea that we have this in Milan and then suddenly you enter into a kind of Milanese setting, something which is very bourgeoise.”

Inside, gridded handmade terrazzo covers the floor and visually divides areas of the interior through bespoke contrasting tones of grey and sand.

Brassy, metallic curtains ripple along the rear walls of the store, in a similar way to 6a Architects’ use of curtains in the exhibition design for Disobedient Bodies.

Photo of artworks at the store — Jonathan Anderson selected furniture and artwork for the interior

Aluminium scaffolding, which was also carried over from Anderson’s Soho store, was translated into display shelving and brought an “angst” to the interior that contrasts against traditional Italian furnishings, such as fluted walnut panelling that envelops two curved walls.

“There is something slightly more underground in terms of the construction of a JW Anderson store, whereas, I think Loewe [for which Anderson is creative director] is about a heightened perfection,” said Anderson. “With JW Anderson, there’s always a bit of slight angst to it.”

“It’s softer inside, and then you have this harshness with the windows where there’s neons and sex curtains and it’s kind of like a theatre. It has moveable parts and in a weird way the store becomes a giant window.”

Photo of the store — It has furniture by Mac Collins

Furniture and artworks personally selected by Anderson fill the interior.

Designer Mac Collins’ black Iklwa chair was paired with matching side tables, while a Cardinal Hat pendant light by Lutyens Furniture is suspended from the ceiling of the main space.

Oil paintings by Chinese artist Hongyan appear to float on the ripples of the brass-coloured curtains, and images by photographer Wolfgang Tillmans sit on the walls of the store’s fitting room.

Photo of the fitting room — An image by Wolfgang Tillmans is placed in the fitting room

“I don’t believe that stores should be completely cookie-cutter,” said Anderson. “I feel like the key is to make sure that each store has a different universe because there’s no point in having something which is just a duplication, duplication, duplication.”

Jonathan Anderson founded his eponymous label JW Anderson in 2008 and was appointed creative director of Spanish luxury house Loewe in 2014, which recently announced the winner of its sixth annual craft prize.

During London Fashion Week, JW Anderson presented a “parallel world of people trapped in their computers” for its Spring Summer 2023 collection.

The photography is by DePasquale+Maffini, courtesy of JW Anderson.

Reference

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