Camper Store, Lyon

24 July 2013

A display staircase is used to showcase the Camper brand products, while the stair concept is repeated in line drawings on surrounding walls

A display staircase is used to showcase the Camper brand products, while the stair concept is repeated in line drawings on surrounding walls

A display staircase is used to showcase the Camper brand products, while the stair concept is repeated in line drawings on surrounding walls

A display staircase is used to showcase the Camper brand products, while the stair concept is repeated in line drawings on surrounding walls

A display staircase is used to showcase the Camper brand products, while the stair concept is repeated in line drawings on surrounding walls

The simple design makes the most of the limited floor space of the store.

The simple design makes the most of the limited floor space of the store.

The simple design makes the most of the limited floor space of the store.

The simple design makes the most of the limited floor space of the store.

The simple design makes the most of the limited floor space of the store.

Short flights of steps are used by customers to try on the Camper shoes.

Short flights of steps are used by customers to try on the Camper shoes.

Short flights of steps are used by customers to try on the Camper shoes.

Short flights of steps are used by customers to try on the Camper shoes.

Short flights of steps are used by customers to try on the Camper shoes.

The clutter free interior appears bigger with the addition of large mirrors.

The clutter free interior appears bigger with the addition of large mirrors.

The clutter free interior appears bigger with the addition of large mirrors.

The clutter free interior appears bigger with the addition of large mirrors.

The clutter free interior appears bigger with the addition of large mirrors.

Product is neatly displayed against black walls

Product is neatly displayed against black walls

Product is neatly displayed against black walls

Product is neatly displayed against black walls

Product is neatly displayed against black walls

Stairs on which to display the client’s shoes and for customers to sit on while trying them, and pretend ones as wall graphics, are the key ingredients in this simple but effective shop interior design

Client: Camper
Design: Studio Makkink & Bey
Size: 70 sq m Completion
Time: 9 months

The commonly heard gripe that designers and architects don't draw any more clearly can't be levelled at architect Rianne Makkink and designer Jurgen Bey. For their latest interior design project, a store in Lyon for shoe brand Camper, the pair decided to draw all over the walls, floor and ceiling, creating line drawings in red of stairways that seem to go on endlessly.

'The image of a staircase is the main theme in the interior,' says Bey, who with Makkink heads up design practice Studio Makkink & Bey. As well as the ones drawn in red on the store's white walls, there's also a real staircase made of chipboard panelled with with high-pressure laminate, used to display some of the product, and several smaller sets of steps on which customers can sit while they try footwear on.

'We started by thinking about shoes,' says Bey. 'We asked ourselves: If a shoe could redesign its world, what would that world be like?' The designers came up with the idea that stairs are the perfect terrain for shoes. 'Stairs are where you often put your shoes on and they are a great place to sit while you try on the shoes in the shop,' says Bey. 'I really think that if I were a shoe that's the kind of landscape I'd like to be in.'

The drawings on the walls give an illusion of depth, making the relatively small space feel much larger than it is. 'It's a small space, so it can easily get filled up when there are people in there,' says Bey. The designers aimed to keep the store clutter-free for this reason and used a minimal colour scheme - just red, white and black - so that nothing would detract from the product.

Camper asked Studio Makkink & Bey to create a store design that can be applied not just to this particular branch in Lyon, but also to new Camper stores opening up around the world and to existing stores that are due to be refurbished. Makkink and Bey had the idea of creating a sort of room within a room, so that the walls, which are made of panels of stretch fabric with graphics printed on to them, don't actually touch the existing walls of the shop. This means that the-panels can be removed easily if they were to be installed in another store. 'It's a kind of shop-inside-a-shop,' says Bey.

So that the graphics and the steps would have maximum impact, the designers kept everything else as simple as possible. The flooring is white acrylic and the room is lit with halogen strip lights. In addition to the steps, a simple white wood shelving unit on black is used for display.

Bey says that he and Makkink intend the store to function as a kind of club, a place where people who like the Camper brand will want to meet and socialise. 'We want people to go into the space not just to buy, but also to meet friends and because they enjoy being there,' he says.

RELATED NEWS

RELATED PROJECTS

Related Products

Email Newsletter

Login or Create account