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

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      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.

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      Aspekt Office designs bright white store with “Nordic atmosphere” for Chinese lifestyle brand

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      The minimalist, utilitarian interior of this store in Copenhagen by local studio Aspekt Office provides a neutral backdrop for the colourful clothing and homeware that it sells.Located on Niels Hemmingens Gade where it meets the city’s pedestrian shopping street Strøget, the OCE concept store occupies a building that dates back to 1736.

      Products are displayed across white and coral-coloured shelves in the home department
      OCE stands for objects, clothes and experiences, in reference to what’s on offer in the lifestyle brand’s roughly 50 Chinese stores and its growing number of European outposts.
      Terkel Skou Steffensen and Hans Toft Hornemann of Aspekt Office were asked to create an interior for the brand’s Copenhagen store that would help to attract Scandinavian customers.

      The steel storage units blend in with the white walls

      “The design requirements for the new store were clear and concise,” said the studio, which has provided creative direction for OCE for several years.
      “OCE wanted us to create a Nordic atmosphere and add a Scandinavian look, feel and expression to their brand, to be able to attract Scandinavian costumers. That was paramount.”

      An oak-panelled service counter provides visual warmth within the otherwise industrial space
      The studio decided to divide the store into different zones, one dedicated to fashion and the other to homeware.
      Upon entering at ground floor level, customers are greeted by an oak service counter that provides a warm counterpoint to the all-white interior while effectively splitting the area in two.

      Clothing is hung on simple white rails
      “In general, we have worked with as few colours as possible to make [OCE’s] colourful products stand out and take the primary focus,” said Steffensen and Hornemann.
      “To obtain the essential Scandinavian look and feel, we have worked with carefully selected materials. Scandinavian design is a design movement characterised by simplicity, minimalism, functionality and beauty, and we had to mirror that in OCE’s new store.”

      Snarkitecture creates billowing all-white pop-up store for Valextra in Milan

      In the home department to the right of the counter, the interior was kept “sterile and raw”, with products displayed on simple white and coral-coloured steel shelves.
      On the other side, the fashion department sees clothing hung on white steel rails and changing rooms concealed behind grey wool curtains. A grey linoleum floor, designed to resemble concrete, was used throughout to create a calm and relaxing atmosphere.

      Grey wool curtains separate the changing rooms
      Several of the shop’s display tables are topped with a speckled, terrazzo-like material that is created from recycled yoghurt pots by UK company Smile Plastics.
      “Since the store is very small and compact, we made it our mission to utilise even the tiniest little corner,” explained the studio, which has transformed the previously unused space under the stairs into an exhibition area with built-in shelving.
      “In this way, we highlight the stairs of the store and lead people to the first floor.”

      A staircase with traditional turned wood spindles was painted white
      The store’s minimal white interior was also designed to be respectful to the surrounding architecture.
      “The store is located in a pedestrian area, surrounded by historical buildings with bricks facades and stucco decorations,” the studio explained.
      “Another common feature of these buildings are the large, high windows that allow in as much light as possible, but also allow you to see the beautiful surrounding edifices,” it added.
      “We wanted the shop to have a look that blends in homogeneously, no dramatic pops of colour, no discontinuity with the neighbouring interiors that you can see through the windows. The soft palette blends in with the surrounding environment, the materiality chosen is simple and discreet, yet modern and fresh.”

      The oak counter separates the homeware from the fashion department
      Other designers who have attempted to capture a Scandinavian aesthetic in a retail setting include Ulrika Bernhardtz, the creative director of lifestyle brand Arket, who designed the brand’s Copenhagen store using an all-grey palette.
      In London, architecture firm Farrells conceptualised the interior of a mixed-use shopping and dining development to reflect Japanese and Nordic culture, while the Soho store of clothing brand Eytys references Swedish brutalism and postmodernism.

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