Harvey Nichols unveils new Birmingham store
By Cate St Hill
New 45,000 sq ft store designed by Virgile + Partners opens in Birmingham's Mailbox
Luxury retailer Harvey Nichols has unveiled its brand new, sumptuous 45,000 sq ft Birmingham store designed by Virgile + Partners. Housed within the Mailbox complex, in the centre of the city, the new store features an 'all-in-one floor' layout combining women's and men's fashion and beauty alongside a restaurant, glamorous cocktail bar and private dining room - double the size of its previous store, opened in 2001.
The Menswear department
Part of the wider £10 million regeneration of Birmingham city centre, it is designed as a blueprint for all future Harvey Nichols stores. 'The design approach aimed to break rules and challenge the predictable imagery and established principles that define luxury shopping environments, replacing them with a new visual vocabulary - more experimental, unconventional and creative - where style and technology work together seamlessly,' says Carlos Virgile, director of Virgile + Partners.
The Perfumery in the middle of the shop floor
Beauty bar and the beauty treatment rooms housed in a 'pod' above
Inside, shoppers are greeted by an immersive 12m-long 'tunnel' entrance featuring a digital art installation and a theatrical, oversized, baroque crystal chandelier. A Concierge area offers services such as a coat check and valet parking as well as a digital 360 mirror for shoppers to test out their new outfits and digital way-finding.
Womenswear footwear area, located around the perimeter of the store
At the heart of the design concept is the idea of 'controlled disruption' - natural, tactile and muted coloured materials such as marble, cork, brick and rough stone divide up shopping areas, while eclectic furniture - including a Mae West Salvador Dali red lips sofa and even a blue gorilla and pink sheep - creates unexpected moments of delight.
A Calacatta Vaggi white/grey Italian marble floor, especially water-jet cut to create a bespoke pattern, leads a route around the open plan and free flowing space. The central space is dedicated to Beauty with counters made from concrete slabs with white Corian tops and iridescent horizontal panels. Womenswear, menswear and shoe departments are located around the store's perimeter, with products displayed on an eclectic mix of utilitarian plywood boxes and terrazzo plinths. Mannequins, formed of cork and resin, further add to the material palette, while the 'wow' factor is heightened by a flashy ceiling of semi-transparent, shiny polycarbonate panels.
Womenswear department
Towards the back of the store, there is a sculpturally formed 'pod', split in two levels, that houses beauty treatment rooms and a hair salon. Adding to the luxury experience, and a pause from all the retail therapy, is the restaurant, with its open-plan kitchen, chef's table and menu created by Michelin-starred chef Glynn Purnell.
The sumptuous bar area
The restaurant
The store opens this Friday.