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We travel the world to bring you case studies that are exemplars of contemporary retail design. Reports are by Emily Martin and David Tarpey.

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Galeries Lafayette, Beijing
'Abundance, joy, and fashion' are the DNA of the Galeries Lafayette brand, so when HMKM was commissioned to design the interiors for the Galeries Lafayette new store in Beijing it was important to create a design that communicated the brand's fashion credentials and history.

Photo Credit:Jonathan Leijonhufvud

'Being a new brand in China, the interior and store design needed to convey the essence of Galeries Lafayette and its French heritage, and to reinforce the sense of it being an established European brand,' says Mark Billington, senior associate director of HMKM.

Details and architectural references of a Parisian apartment, including moulding patterns, trompe l'oeil lacquer panels, grey timber panelling and engraved Corian, were used to create a sense of place. Covering seven floors, the store is divided into two main atria with escalators. 'The plan allows for strong vertical circulation and views through the space,' says Alison Cardy, MD of HMKM. 'Key walkways link the atria and offer clear sight lines, but the layout at the heart of the store is more about a sense of discovery. A strong architectural language, based on the Parisian apartment, anchors the brands to the perimeter.'

Each floor has a distinct palette, with each department creating a unique experience highlighted by a theatrical lighting scheme. Product displays were influenced by Parisian furniture styles and designed with 'hidden flexibility'. Says Billington: 'Each atrium was capped with a domed LED roof which contains the image of the coupole [dome] in the Paris store.'

LED technology and imagery of the dome played an integral part in the team's design for the store. Because of limited enhancements allowed on the building facade, HMKM used a large external LED screen to show aspects of the brand, along with large graphic images of the coupole within semi-circular glass windows and in the lift lobbies.

'The LED panels are exposed and constantly changing. There is a sense of movement...through the threshold that offers such conviction and sense of style,' says Billington. 'Creating a different and unique shopping experience to what is offered locally was very important. The store needed to have its own tone of voice in the design and offering. It has a French, and especially Parisian, flavour.' EM

Design: HMKM;
Size: 26,288 sq m;
Lighting: PJC Lighting;
Furniture: Beijing Tych Culture & Art Exchange Co

Lane Crawford, Shanghai

Surprise and discovery are leitmotifs that run through Yabu Pushelberg's prestige project at Lane Crawford's new Shanghai luxury speciality store. This China flagship, located in the city's Times Square, offers the country's most extensive range of luxury design brands and aims to impress.

The 14,000 sq m covers four floors is Lane Crawford's largest retail space and is gallery inspired. Yabu Pushelberg's aim was to breathe life in to the space with a delicately choreographed sense of discovery, guiding shoppers through the space with a series of open rooms peppered with artwork. This includes installations by artist Hirotoshi Sawada and two sets of stainless steel rings hung over the counters. George Yabu says: 'Art elevates our work. Commissioned art and custom finishes differentiate this store from any other.'

A simple vertical circulation guides shoppers upwards as they discover visual merchandising 'stories'. Clever sight lines and vistas on the third level link rooms and draws them through the interconnected spaces while custom glass-cube displays connect floors three and four. This highest floor is more masculine in tone and designed for male product displays.

The store's neutral colour scheme is punctuated by muted purples, blues, aubergines and oranges. Coloured chainmail cascades down the vertical spaces while the warm tones and beautiful grain of limestone and English onyx span all floors.

Amid the minimalist refinement technology has a role to play, with online purchases bringing people into the store with an in-store pick-up option.

Yabu Pushelberg told FX: 'Our inspiration comes from everything in life...We might find it in the way objects in a "five-anddime" are shoved together on a shelf or in the way objects in a gallery are beautifully lit...our goal is to find a way to use the best of both worlds.

Design: Yabu Pushelberg;
Flooring: Locally sourced English onyx and limestone;
Lighting designer: Inverse Lighting Design;
Special finishes: Moss & Lam

 

Durasafe retail store, Singapore

Photo Credit:Ministry of Design

Situated in a 6m-high modern warehouse space, MOD's design for the Durasafe store is a multilayered spatial experience that dramatises the entire process of shopping. The store's facade serves as a backdrop for an over-sized Durasafe logo (above), dominating visual impression.

Photo Credit:Ministry of Design

The main retail space is an entirely black environment that allows the multicoloured safety products on display to visually pop and take prominence. The space comprises a double-storey, scaffold-like structure surrounding a feature display and lounge area. Referencing the industrial environments and construction sites where Durasafe's products are generally used, the scaffolding allows products to be displayed in categories - these are further called out with MOD-designed graphic logos

Photo Credit:Ministry of Design

The store was awarded Best Small Store at the ISG Retail Week Interiors Awards 2013.

Design: MOD;
Size: 175 sq m;
Duration: Three months

 

Tangs Flagship Store, Singapore
Known as Singapore's grand dame on Orchard Road, Tangs has the enviable reputation of being one of Singapore's most-revered retailers, with a heritage dating from the Thirties. Still a family business, owner Tang Wee Sung faced the challenging task of taking Tangs forward while respecting its past.

Photo Credit:Ministry of Design

Ministry of Design (MOD) was asked to tempt a new generation of shoppers and refocus Tangs' identity and positioning to coincide with the store's 80th anniversary. Colin Seah, MOD founder-director, says: 'We wanted to create an environment that is not merely a space to shop in but a layering of experiences. Window displays are not static, but treated as a 3D stage to be used dynamically and thematically.'

The design for the main entrance pays due respect to the iconic Tangs roof by drawing inspiration from it and updating it to make it dynamic and eye-catching.

Large-scale, full-height window display walls extend into the store and flank either side of a 'centre stage' - an innovative display concept that provides Tangs an opportunity to curate interactive 3D environments and scenes.

Photo Credit:Ministry of Design

MOD's design for the beauty hall focused on providing each beauty brand a 'unique and memorable retail experience'. By creating a series of 3D 'pods', brands can determine the look and feel of their retail environment by manipulating their pod's floor, walls/columns, furniture and ceiling.

Already winning Best Retail Concept of the Year 2013, Singapore and Best Shopping Experience 2013, Singapore MOD is scheduled to renovate the upper levels of the store. EM

Design: MOD; Size: 1,500 sq m; Duration: 10 months; Architect: Aedas; Lighting consultant: Bo Steiber Lighting Design

Drummonds, Notting Hill

Photo Credit:Michael Franke

Winner of the FX Awards 2012 British Breakthrough Talent, designer Christopher Jenner says the Drummonds showroom signalled the start of a creative collaboration and has allowed him to showcase his love of craft. The environment demonstrates the artisanal, handmade heritage which is at the core of the craft process. Natural oiled oak, bevelled mirror fretwork, metallic polished plasters and extensive use of interchangeable metal surfaces allow for a type of material storytelling.

Photo Credit:Michael Franke

'Retail environments will need to explore brand values in more tangible and strategic ways,' he says. 'Our work for Drummonds is a perfect illustration of this, where materials and craftsmanship are evident throughout the design. Working in this way allows one to be more focused in regards to messaging. A result of a clear strategic approach is design that is more considered, more human and certainly post digital!' Jenner's second Drummonds showroom opened in London's King's Road last month, and next month the Clerkenwell Design Week will host his bathroom product collection as part of his wider collaboration with the Drummonds luxury retail brand of bathrooms.

Design: Christopher Jenner;
Project: 110 sq m;
Walls: European oak on white satin columns; metallic Venetian plaster; lattice panels with bevelled mirrors
Furniture: European Oak frame free-standing furniture with inset enameled panels and Arabescato marble; Upcycled Edwardian desk with leather insert;
Lighting: Bespoke glass lamp shades with spun brushed-nickel fittings and custom hanging chain

 

Penhaligon's, Singapore
Christopher Jenner has also completed a project for historic perfume brand Penhaligon's, in Singapore. His aim here was to draw on a quintessential English style with a playful and contemporary edge. The interior combines luxurious colours, textures, surfaces, forms and finishes - and the boundary between Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian design styles have been boldly disregarded. The result is a harmonisation through contemporary detailing.

Photo Credit:Michael Franke

Jenner says: 'Penhaligon's is an endlessly inspiring brand with a rich history of exciting design. We merged the English eccentricity with the youthfulness of Asia to discover a unique aesthetic. This project offered the rare opportunity to position and challenge the preconceptions of a luxury English brand in the world's most dynamic retail hemisphere.'

Design: Christopher Jenner;
Size: 50 sq m;
Walls: Bespoke linen-touch wallpaper, printed in London; Titanium mesh wall, marquetry panelling;
Furniture: White oak, American walnut, brass, titanium, vinyl, antiqued mirror, acrylic;
Lighting: Acrylic PU bottle lights, spun brass poles, turned walnut onion domes

• For both Drummonds and Penhaligon's, Christopher Jenner sourced his own materials for flooring, lighting and furniture.