Eyewear stores

Subterms

    More stories

    • 163 Shares159 Views

      in Rooms

      Nika Zupanc brings “Alice in Wonderland ambience” to Morela eyewear store in Ljubljana

      by

      Massive lamps, rotating mirrors and a legion of drawers feature inside the Morela eyewear store, which Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc has completed in Ljubljana.

      Morela has been offering optician services in the Slovenian capital since the early 2000s and went on to launch its own line of glasses in 2019.
      Locally based Zupanc was brought in to design both the brand’s debut eyewear collection and now the retail space to match.
      Powder-blue drawers appear throughout the Morela eyewear storeSet in Ljubljana’s Citypark shopping centre, the store is defined by the slim powder-blue drawers with brass knobs, which appear everywhere from the cash desk to the base of the freestanding counters and low-lying sideboards.
      “The client had a clear idea of how many glasses they wanted to display on the shelves, how many they wanted to put in the drawers and how many they wanted to display on the tables,” explained Zupanc.

      “Thus a drawer became a unit of measurement and served as a building block, from which the entire interior was created.”
      Brass-edged mirrors can be turned to show different angles of the storeThe abundant storage is also a nod to one of Zupanc’s earlier designs – a 140-drawer cylindrical cabinet she created for Milan’s Rossana Orlandi Gallery in 2017.
      Eyewear models are displayed along the sides of the room inside brass-framed shelves that mirror the proportions of the drawers.
      A curtain hides treatment rooms at the back of the storeTo enhance the “Alice in Wonderland ambience” of the space, Zupanc introduced two huge floor lamps with pleated white shades, both handmade in Italy.
      One towers above the cash desk while the other pokes out through a blush-coloured velvet pouf to provide both lighting and seating. Alternatively, customers can sit on velvet-upholstered high chairs that are dotted across the room.

      Nika Zupanc designs a tower of drawers for storing keepsakes

      Mirrors are suspended from a thin brass picture rail that runs along the perimeter of the room. Each is housed in a circular brass frame and can be rotated to reflect different angles of the room.
      The rail also holds heavy powder-blue curtains that separate the main shop floor from a treatment area and repair room at the rear of the plan.
      A brass pipe runs along the upper edge of the roomOther striking eyewear stores include Vision Studio in Melbourne, which hides behind a perforated aluminium facade, and the Cubitts shop in London’s Soho, which nods to the sex shops and adult cinemas found in the notorious neighbourhood.
      The photography is by Saša Hess.

      Read more: More

    • 163 Shares159 Views

      in Rooms

      Pierre Brocas and Nada Oudghiri design gallery-like eyewear store informed by Memphis movement

      by

      Colourful display stands are meant to appear like artworks within this eyewear store in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia created by French designer Pierre Brocas and architect Nada Oudghiri.Located in the Mall of Dhahran, the 100-square-metre retail space is the first flagship store for Dubai glasses brand Eyewa.
      “Our wish was to move away from typical eyewear retail atmospheres,” said Brocas. “When you think of eyewear stores, you usually have something clinical in mind – all products are regimented under strong bleached lights. When Eyewa approached us, we felt we had to design something bold.”

      Undulating clay walls envelop the interior

      The store’s shell was conceived as a grey capsule with terrazzo flooring and undulating clay walls, designed to wrap the store “like a thin sheet of paper”.
      “These waves add softness to the surroundings of the space and create separate moments while keeping the floor plan open,” the duo explained.

      A series of cuboid and spherical plinths populate the centre of the store
      Brocas and Oudghiri applied Eyewa’s signature bright colour palette to wall display units made from powder-coated plywood. These are composed of repeated geometric shapes, complete with integrated LED strip lights and mirrors.

      Watch our talk with Deyan Sudjic and Adam Nathaniel Furman about the impact of Memphis

      The designers conceptualised the wall units as sculptural artworks, while cylindrical and cuboid display plinths populate the centre of the store to evoke the feeling of being inside a gallery.
      Made from plywood and clear acrylic, these flexible units can be stacked and rearranged to create different layouts.

      A series of screens allow customers to virtually try on sunglasses
      “The Memphis movement was an important reference for this project,” Brocas told Dezeen. “We love the playful and impactful work of Ettore Sottsass and we thought this approach was very suited to Eyewa’s unapologetic use of colour and its lighthearted spirit.”
      “We are also very drawn to minimal artists such as Donald Judd,” he continued. “You can see a touch of post-modernism and a bit of minimalism in the aesthetics of this store.”

      The lighting system is integrated between hanging ceiling panels
      Above, a ceiling installation made of 39 hanging panels draws customers further into the store, hiding pipes and wires while seamlessly integrating the lighting system. The panels are painted coral on one side and turquoise on the other to add “an element of surprise”.
      Interactive screens allow customers to virtually try on sunglasses and different coloured contact lenses while an immersive, turquoise-coloured exam room is located in the back of the store.

      An exam room at the back of the store is cast all in turquoise
      A series of convex mirrors line the sales counter, recalling the shape of optical lenses.
      “We remembered visiting Luis Barragán houses in Mexico and noticing that he places mirrored balls in the rooms to reflect and warp the space,” Brocas explained of their inspiration.

      Multicoloured shelving is integrated into the plaster wall
      Eyewa’s flagship is the duo’s first project together. Previously, Brocas created interiors for fashion retailers, while Oudghiri has designed a number of buildings in Morocco.
      They met while studying at California Polytechnic State University and said their collaboration allowed them to form an interior that is “halfway between eye-catching spatial design and long-lasting architectural principles”.
      Another brightly coloured eyewear store to feature on Dezeen is Ace & Tate’s Copenhagen location, where local studio Spacon & X used geometric shapes and primary colours to evoke the experience of entering an artist’s studio.
      Photography is by Hussain Khatim.

      Read more: More

    • 175 Shares139 Views

      in Rooms

      Ace & Tate uses colourful terrazzo made from local plastic waste throughout Antwerp store

      by

      Amsterdam-based eyewear company Ace & Tate’s shop in Antwerp has interiors clad with terrazzo made with colourful chips of recycled plastic sourced locally by Dutch startup Plasticiet. Ace & Tate collaborated with sustainable materials company Plasticiet for the shop in Belgium as part of their push to become more sustainable. The brand has pledged to […] More