Set in an old textiles factory in the heart of vibrant Shoreditch, London, this clothing and lifestyle retail store split over 3 floors, couldn’t have been a more exciting canvas to work with and design into
Back in 2012 we were asked to design a new retail concept spread over two floors within an old textile factory.
The Building had, over the years, been repurposed into a shop on the ground floor & basement, and loft style apartments on the floors above.
Our design would have to include space for womens and menswear as well as & cafe, and a set up for after hours music gigs.
It also had to include, stock rooms, customer and staff toilettes.
In addition the space had to be completely flexible and moveable, always changing.
The first step was to come up with an overall layout and a solution on how to link the individual floors without compromising the heritage and features of the original building.
The solution was to design a bespoke, industrial, steal-framed staircase In the heart of the space, linking the individual floors.
Untreated war steel rails along the perimeter walls, which would allow a variety of display components to hang, lean and suspend from.
Mid-floor steel display cages and mirrored metal frames on castors complimented these, allowing for ultimate flexibility throughout.
The mix of industrial raw untreated materials with found, repurposed furniture, objects and art beautifully linked the new and old.
Fast forward to 2019.
Due to the success of the existing store and an ever growing product offering, the store needed to expand into the floors above. This also meant rethinking the layout for the new menswear and home accessories department.
As with the original concept, we wanted to celebrate and keep the original cast iron columns and exposed brickwork and complement these with carefully chosen materials and a design aesthetic that would suit the existing store.
We introduced architectural wall structures and backdrops in white painted / burnt dark timber.
As well as designing bespoke retail furniture made from white washed oak and steel we introduced raw metal mesh structures to divide spaces.
Large suspended coloured Perspex sheets were an inexpensive yet effective way of bringing in colour without the need of costly lighting.