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    Holky Rády Architekturu creates “fun” but compact ice cream shop in Brno

    Arches and undulating surfaces fill this small ice cream parlour, which Czech studio Holky Rády Architekturu has designed in the city of Brno.

    Called Ještě Jednu, the shop has a footprint of just 29.5 square metres but accommodates a kitchen, ice cream bar, freezer and coffee corner.
    Arched forms feature in the interior of the Ještě Jednu ice cream shop in BrnoLocal practice Holky Rády Architekturu – meaning “girls who like architecture” in Czech – said it wanted to make the interior a “fun” environment using the building’s arched openings and ceilings as a starting point.
    This motif is picked up throughout the shop in the form of sweeping lighting fixtures and stainless steel sinks, where staff and customers can wash their sticky hands.
    Its serving counter is fronted by a fluted white concrete panelThe prep kitchen is separated from the main ice cream bar using a glass partition, which reflects the shop’s pendant lights and makes the space appear larger.

    “People behind the glass become the alchemists who prepare the frozen delicacies,” said Barbora Kudelová and Kristýna Sirováa, founders of Holky Rády Architekturu.
    A reflective glass partition separates the kitchen from the ice cream barA calming palette of desaturated pastel colours was selected to allow the ice cream offering to stand out, while cool stainless steel surfaces reflect their surroundings.
    The studio also incorporated subtle design references to the local area and to Italy – the birthplace of gelato.

    Little Sky ice cream shop in Melbourne aims to capture the “theatre of gelato”

    These include the serving counter, which is fronted by a fluted white concrete panel that recalls both classical columns and the pillars of a 13th-century church nearby in Brno.
    Similarly, the shop’s stainless steel sinks nod to the water fountains that are often found in the streets of Italian towns and cities.
    Stainless steel sinks offer a place to wash sticky handsOther ice cream shops featured on Dezeen include Little Sky in Melbourne, which was designed to capture the “theatre of gelato”, and an Instagram-friendly store in central London that features cloud-like ceilings and neon signage.
    The photography is by Barbora Kudelová.

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    Yuko Nagayama & Associates creates trapezoidal glasses shop and community hub

    Tokyo studio Yuko Nagayama & Associates has completed a copper-clad eyewear store for brand JINS in Maebashi, Japan, which contains a cafe and rooftop terrace.

    Named JINS Park, the shop in Gunma Prefecture was designed to act as a space for the community to gather whether they are shopping in the store or not.
    Yuko Nagayama & Associates has created a glasses shop in Maebashi”We proactively created public spaces that are not part of the sales floor, which encourages community members to come for reasons other than shopping,” the studio explained.
    “In stores of this type, the second floor is typically not open to customers, [we] utilised it as a terrace and also included a bakery-cafe in the store.”
    The shop contains a cafeYuko Nagayama & Associates envisions the space being used as an indoor community plaza with food and coffee served along with glasses being sold.

    A large triangular staircase divides the space in two, with the glasses store located on one side and the cafe on the other.
    The large central stairs lead to a first floor terraceThe widening staircase, under which the cafe’s servery and the shop’s consultation rooms are located, leads to an additional seating area and a triangular, outdoor terrace.
    This space is intended as another community area, offering benches and a generous amount of open space where children can run around.
    Timber units were used to display glassesBroadly lit by floor-to-ceiling windows with the roof supported by angled columns, the interior is broken up by a number of freestanding timber units.
    For the eyewear shop, these are used to display the glasses on sale, while for the cafe they contain pastries and other food
    The trapezoidal building is topped with a roof terraceThe trapezoidal building is topped with a sulphurised-copper facade that was designed to mimic the reddish-brown Mount Akagi that can be seen from the shop.
    Visitors approach JINS Park through a neatly landscaped garden, before being greeted by the central fan-shaped staircase which provides seating with views of the store, garden, and street.

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    “We began by reversing the typical layout of roadside stores, with a parking lot located in front, and instead located the parking lot behind the building,” said Yuko Nagayama & Associates.
    “As the landscaping matures and the copper facade blends more fully into its surroundings, we hope the store will become part of everyday life in the neighbourhood,” said the studio.
    The ground level opens onto relaxed outdoor spacesRecent glasses shops featured on Dezeen include Stephanie Thatenhorst’s playful pattern-filled interior for a children’s opticians in Munich and a shop clad in colourful sheets of locally sourced plastic waste by sustainable materials company Plasticiet and Amsterdam eyewear company Ace & Tate.
    Other recent developments include eyewear stores by Child Studio for Cubitts, a company that asks for each shop to be designed in a unique style that reflects the history of its local neighbourhood. The studio’s Leeds store is inspired by Victorian joinery, whilst another store is based on Soho’s colourful postwar reputation.
    The photography is by Daici Ano and Tomoyuki Kusunose.

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    Child Studio transforms 19th-century London townhouse into Cubitts eyewear store

    London practice Child Studio has created an “intimate and domestic atmosphere” inside this store by local eyewear brand Cubitts, which occupies a townhouse in Belgravia.

    Taking over the building’s basement and ground floor, the shop was designed to draw on both the modernist aesthetic of Cubitts’ frames and the history of Belgravia.
    Cubitts Belgravia has a front room with a cast iron fireplace (top and above)The central London neighbourhood was first established in the 1830s in line with plans by Georgian master builder Thomas Cubitt, who also gave the eyewear brand its name.
    “It was important for us to build a layered narrative for this project and to connect the townhouse architecture with the modernist ethos of the brand,” said Child Studio founders Alexy Kos and Che Huang.
    The store’s display stands are designed to look like room dividersThe studio reinstated many of the building’s Georgian design features, which had disappeared over years of renovation works.

    The original wooden floorboards were uncovered and restored, while the walls were painted a chalky yellow hue that was typical of the period.
    Most of the doorways were either extended to reach three metres in height or adorned with ornate architraves that complement the interior’s wall mouldings and cornices.
    Some of the doorways reach three metres in heightIn the store’s front room, the studio installed a cast iron fireplace that is meant to foster an “intimate and domestic atmosphere”.
    “We imagined a contemporary interpretation of a classic drawing room – an elegant living room where guests may be welcomed and entertained,” explained the studio.
    “We were particularly inspired by the pioneering designer Eileen Gray, who lived in this part of London in the early years of her career in the 1900s.”

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    On the other side of the space is a custom concertina display stand that’s meant to resemble a traditional room divider.
    This stand is lined with creamy linen-like wallpaper while another stand at the rear of the store was crafted from mahogany and finished with brass edging.
    Domestic decorative items like lamps and armchairs were placed throughout the storeOther homely design features like mirrors and upholstered armchairs were dotted throughout the store as decoration.
    There are also a number of antique light fixtures including Gray’s domed Jumo lamp and a golden leaf-shaped desk light by 1970s Italian designer Tommaso Barbi.
    This includes a leaf-like brass lamp by Italian designer Tommaso BarbiChild Studio has designed several of Cubitts’ eyewear stores across the UK.
    Among them is a branch in Leeds that takes cues from different design periods through history and an outpost in London’s Soho, which draws inspiration from the neighbourhood’s infamous sex shops.
    The photography is by Felix Speller.

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    Twisting bamboo installation weaves through Barcelona's Casa Loewe

    Spanish fashion brand Loewe has reopened its Barcelona flagship, which it has transformed into a gallery-like space with an undulating bamboo installation that winds across its surfaces.

    Casa Loewe is set inside Casa Lléo Morera, a modernist building created by Catalan architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner off one of the Spanish city’s major shopping streets.
    Loewe has reopened its flagship store in BarcelonaThe flagship was renovated to create a gallery-like space and restored to highlight the 19th-century building’s original features, including gold-leaf detailing that adorns the ceilings.
    Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson interspersed art collections and curated furniture across the store’s interior, alongside the luxury fashion brand’s ready-to-wear collections, accessories and fragrances.
    Casa Loewe features a bamboo installation by Tanabe Chikuunsai IVAs craft is an integral element of Loewe’s identity, a key goal for Casa Loewe’s interior scheme was to showcase various artists and artwork.

    Anderson filled the store with installations and objects that the brand explained epitomised innovation and craftsmanship, including sculptures by winners and finalists in the brand’s Craft Prize.
    The store was designed to look like a galleryA centrepiece of the interior is a twisting bamboo installation by Japanese artist Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, which weaves across the store’s ceiling, walls and structural columns.
    The installation, titled Yūgo, was crafted from 6,000 pieces of tiger bamboo woven together to create the winding tubular forms.

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    “It was important for me to express Loewe’s tradition and innovation while creating a work that merges the building and the bamboo installation together,” Chikuunsai IV told Dezeen.
    “[Anderson’s] essence is his passion for materials and creating innovation while maintaining tradition,” he said. “Thus, I wanted to create something that fuses art, fashion, and nature together in order to form a futuristic and creative universe.”
    It incorporates decorative furniture and artwork. Photo is courtesy of LoeweAlongside Chikuunsai IV’s bamboo installation is a macramé structure by Catalan artist Aurèlia Muñoz. It is suspended from the ceiling of the ground floor in front of a blue tile-clad wall, which was created by Ceràmica Cumella.
    Ceràmica Cumella also erected ceramic-clad columns across the store in varying shades of white and blue to reference the Mediterranean Sea.
    Chikuunsai IV’s installation was crafted from 6,000 pieces of bambooIconic furniture pieces are dotted throughout Casa Loewe on top of its concrete floors, including Gerrit Thomas Reitveld’s Utrecht chairs and an oak arts and crafts armchair by William Birch.
    Other recent projects by Loewe include the costume design for an immersive installation at London’s Tate Britain in 2018, developed in collaboration with Anthea Hamilton.
    Tiles in shades of white and blue reference the sea. Photo is courtesy of LoeweCeline creative director Hedi Slimane recently employed a similar interior scheme across his London flagship store for the French fashion house – balancing historic Edwardian features with contemporary art and furniture.
    Other retail spaces recently featured on Dezeen include a Balenciaga store clad in pink faux fur, which is featured in our roundup of ten weird and wonderful shop interiors.
    The photography is by Adrià Cañameras unless stated otherwise.

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    Attitude of “permanent renewal” drives retail success says Colette co-founder Sarah Andelman in Liganova talk

    Promotion: Sarah Andelman, co-founder of Parisian concept store Colette, has discussed the unexpected approaches needed to succeed in the future retail landscape in a talk hosted by Dezeen and brand retail experts Liganova during Milan design week.

    Andelman was in conversation with Dezeen’s chief content officer Benedict Hobson at brand and retail experience company Liganova’s Salone Club, a live event held in a lounge overlooking the rooftops of Milan.
    The event explored the topic of the future of retail and how brands can create relevant and meaningful experiences in stores through curation and collaboration, with Andelman drawing on her decades of experience helming Colette alongside her mother, Colette Roussaux.
    The talk included Mathias Ullrich, Ben Hobson and Sarah AndelmanThe Paris boutique – opened in 1997 and widely considered one of the most influential stores in the world – brought together fashion, streetwear and beauty products. The space also included a gallery, bookshop, cafe and “water bar” serving more than 100 varieties of bottled water.
    Mother and daughter kept things fresh by changing the windows and displays every week, and Andelman said that it was the fact that they would always “renew ourselves” that meant people would come back to see what’s new.

    “We would always push and try to introduce things we haven’t seen yet, and this permanent renewal,” she said. “It was a mix of brands and mix of events. I think this energy helped create what Colette was.”
    Andelman is the co-founder of Parisian concept store ColetteColette closed in late 2017 when it was almost at the height of its popularity and Andelman says going out on a high when the time felt right was “the best decision we took”.
    The next year she founded her consulting agency, Just an Idea, which has worked with brands including Valentino and Nike to produce unique and tailored retail experiences.
    Andelman considers collaboration one of the keys to current and future retail success but says it has become harder than ever to make an impression in the space.
    Sarah Andelman was in conversation with Ben Hobson at Liganova’s Salone Club at Milan design week 2022″Now there are so many unexpected collaborations that you’re not surprised anymore,” she said. “It’s really everywhere.”
    “We had so many collaborations of brands with artists, brands with brands, I think now maybe we’ll talk to writers, to architects, to hospitality, to find new ways of developing a new format of collaboration to bring a new dimension to the classic collaboration,” she continued.
    Curation is also key according to Andelman, who urges curators to embrace their idiosyncracies without fear. It is something she and Roussaux were known for at Colette, which presented high-end labels alongside undiscovered emerging designers.
    Andelman spoke in front of an audience of Liganova partners, clients and friends”For a good curator I think you need knowledge, you need to know what exists, you need to be super curious, to have to go to multiple trade shows, showrooms, anything,” she said. “You hear, you read, you follow information, you really just follow your instinct, to not try to duplicate something you have seen somewhere else.”
    In the future, she believes the real world and metaverse will come to intersect in the retail space, requiring continuity of approach from brands.
    At the same time, there will continue to be a place for bricks-and-mortar stores, especially “retail experiences” that capture the senses and are almost museum-like in their approach.
    The live talk took place in a rooftop lounge looking out over Milan”I think bricks and mortar are here to stay if there is this extra touch to make it the opposite of the internet, this human service, maybe a drink, this extra service that you won’t find online,” she said.
    “I think it’s fantastic for brands like Jacquemus to have a concept like its pop-up at Selfridges,” she said. “It’s a focus on one bag. You feel the water, you hear the sound.”
    “In an experience, I think you need all of these: the sound, the smell, the touch and the fact that it’s not a system that they will duplicate in Tokyo, New York, but they really take the time to design something different for each market,” she continued. “The challenge is to keep it short and to renew and do something completely different next time.”
    To learn more about Liganova, visit its website.
    Milan design week 2022
    Salone Club took place on 8 June as part of Milan design week 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
    Partnership content
    This article was written by Dezeen for Liganova as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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    Geometric metal fixtures feature in Wuhan's QYF fashion boutique

    Chinese design studio Sun Concepts Office has accented the pale interior of the QYF boutique in Wuhan with straight, curved and squiggly metal fixtures.

    The interior’s clean, geometric look is meant to reflect the modern womenswear on offer in the store, which occupies two storeys on a prominent corner plot of Wuhan’s Tianyuan Street.
    The store features creamy walls and matching stone floorsAs customers come through QYF’s entrance, they’re welcomed into a large open room.
    Here, the floor is lined with cream-coloured stone tiles while a matching shade of paint was applied to the store’s walls, ceilings and chunky structural columns.
    A curved bench sits at the centre of the floor planAt the heart of the plan is an arced bench, comprised of a shiny metal base and seating cushions upholstered in burnt-orange velvet.

    Nearby, a cream-coloured sideboard is outfitted with a built-in bench and a small stool.
    Clothes are hung from linear metal railsOtherwise, Sun Concepts Office left the store free of bulky display solutions so as to “protect the integrity of the space”.
    Garments are showcased on metal rails at the periphery of the store, some of which are finished with squiggly crossbars. A couple of clothing rails were also concealed behind alcoves in the walls.

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    Accessories are presented on tiered platforms that run along the outer edge of the store, or on circular metal stands that are affixed to the central bench.
    Extra rows of metal shelves can be seen on the store’s rear wall, positioned beneath an illuminated sign that reads QYF’s French brand slogan.
    Several rectangular mirrors were added to enhance the interior’s sense of depth.
    Curved stairs lead to the second floorA curved set of stairs leads up to the store’s second floor, which was finished in the same style.
    Sun Concepts Office also updated QYF’s facade, installing a huge metal door and several expansive glass windows to tempt passing pedestrians inside.
    Mirrored panels help give the room a sense of depthOther striking retail spaces in China include KVK, an all-black jewellery boutique that plays with customers’ spatial perception, and Harmay, a cosmetics shop designed to resemble a 1970s office.
    The photography is by Liu Zheng and Wang Minjie.
    Project credits:
    Design team: Sun Concepts OfficeChief designer: Liu ZhengLighting: Wuhan Lighting Design

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    Atmosphere Architects creates optical illusion in Chengdu jewellery store

    Geometric grids cover most of the surfaces in this futuristic jewellery store in Chengdu, China, designed by local studio Atmosphere Architects to play with customers’ spacial perception.

    Located in the Jingronghui shopping centre in Chegdu’s Jinjiang district, the 180-square-metre concept store belongs to jewellery brand Kill Via Kindness, abbreviated as KVK.
    KVK is a jewellery store in Chendu’s Jingronghui shopping centreThe store features a dimly-lit entrance lined with green resin panels, which leads through to a windowless display space where the walls are clad in matt black tiles.
    A gridded black framework is installed across the interior’s luminous, frosted acrylic ceiling and matched below by white floor tiles. At one end of the room, a mirrored wall creates the impression that the interior stretches on to infinity.
    Glossy black tiles cover the store’s modular display units”The core concept behind KVK is ‘the reorganised philosophy of art’,” Atmosphere Architects told Dezeen. “Therefore, the client wanted a space that is flexible and easy to reorganise with flexible and adaptable modules.”

    In response, the studio created display units clad in glossy black tiles, which can be divided and joined together to form different modular configurations.
    Drawers hidden in the walls illuminate when openedDrawers integrated into the shop’s tiled walls provide additional storage and double up as adaptable lighting features.
    “When the drawers are pulled out, the light turns on immediately,” said Atmosphere Architects, which is led by designer Tommy Yu.

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    Spiders are a reoccurring motif in KVK’s jewellery. The brand’s concept store nods to this idea via the spindly legs jutting out from the entrance and the black gridded framework that covers the floors and ceilings like a web.
    “There are many elements about conflict, consciousness awakening, aggression and sharpness in KVK’s product concept,” the studio said.
    “In the space, materials and colours with different lights and shades, depths and textures are selected to express the ideology and beauty of collision.”
    The entranced is lined with green resin panelsOther futuristic monochrome interiors featured on Dezeen include a space-themed cafe in central Shanghai by design studio Linehouse.
    The photography is by Chuan He of Here Space.

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    Natuzzi's Fabio Novembre-designed concept store celebrates the brand's Puglian roots

    Promotion: designer Fabio Novembre’s concept store for Italian furniture brand Natuzzi celebrates the brand’s Puglian roots with an interior that reflects the culture, colours and traditions of the southern Italian region.

    Novembre, who was born in the Puglian city of Lecce, has created a “new retail concept” for Natuzzi at its Milan flagship store that will be launched during Milan design week next month.
    Designed to make the furnishings stand out, the renovated store interior is anchored by a square-shaped central lounge area that sits at its heart. This piazza-like space is lined with lights and arches that recall traditional Apulian architecture.
    Natuzzi is an Italian furniture brandThe central space is used for meetings with customers and also provides an area where they can try out the brand’s virtual 3D shopping experience.
    Arranged around the central space, various room sets can be accessed through the arches, creating easy and free-flowing pathways through the space.

    Four of the room sets are dedicated to the living area while another three spaces set out total living proposals. The Apulian landscape – which is characterised by farms, olive trees and a particular warm light – is conveyed through the soft colour choices and tactile materials that create a relaxed mood.
    Natuzzi creates a range of high quality furniture”There is a deep connection between Fabio and Natuzzi: we share the love for our roots, for what Apulia taught us,” said chief creative officer of Natuzzi Italia, Pasquale Junior Natuzzi.
    “When we decided to rethink the concept of our showrooms we immediately thought he would be the right choice, as he has a unique ability to translate into architecture those values we share: hospitality, warmth, Mediterranean beauty.”
    “Natuzzi is the perfect interpreter to narrate Apulia to an international audience,” commented Novembre. “Places have a soul, and Apulia has always been a crossroads of different cultures that live together in harmony. We are a symbolic bridge over the Mediterranean.”
    The concept will be launched during Milan design week next monthDuring Milan design week, the courtyard spaces adjacent to the showroom in Palazzo Durini Caproni di Taliedo will host an installation called Germogli, which translates as sprouts or shoots in English.
    Conceived by Italian artist and designer Marcantonio, a series of gigantic golden olive tree sprouts, almost four metres tall, will appear as if they are emerging from the earth.
    The golden olive tree sprouts intended to explore humanity’s connection to natureThe installation explores the idea of rebirth and our connection to nature.
    “The sprouts I have represented are the olive, the symbolic tree of Puglia,” said Marcantonio. “Its wood is precious, it is strong, its fruit is an emblem of fertility and memory for all towns dotted across the Mediterranean, and it provides a unique cultural connection between them”.
    Giampaolo Sgura’s photographic exhibition called TRE(E)PIDATION will also be on showThe brand hopes that the installation will also throw the spotlight on an urgent problem facing olive groves in Puglia where a bacterial disease called Xylella is causing substantial problems in the olive groves and risks compromising crops across Europe.
    Also on show is Giampaolo Sgura’s photographic exhibition called TRE(E)PIDATION.
    The exhibition will present three photographs of olive trees that showcase a landscape that “risks disappearing forever” due to the Xylella epidemic and was created to promote public awareness of the issue and support scientific research.
    Fabio Novembre has collaborated with Pj NatuzziIn 2019, the Italian furniture brand embarked on what it called “a new era of advanced, white-glove customer service” by launching a virtual-reality shopping experience.
    Natuzzi’s showroom takes place from 10 am to 8.30 pm from 7 to 12 June 2022.
    To learn more about the brand, visit its website.
    Partnership content
    This article was written by Dezeen for Natuzzi as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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