Hasta La Ideas

French studio FREAKS freearchitects have inserted a rectangular timber tunnel inside this Paris cosmetics shop.

The shop, called Heliocosm, also features bright turquoise walls and a table where customers can mix their own natural cosmetics.

An opening cut away from the wooden box provides the location for a salvaged second-hand table, while integrated shelves display products.

The tunnel leads from this workshop area to a lounge, where a wall-mounted photograph creates the illusion of a window facing snow-covered mountains.

Another shop with a tunnel inside it was completed in London earlier this year – see our earlier story featuring an octagonal orange tunnel here.

Photography is by David Foessel.

Here’s some text from the architects:

Heliocosm – A Natural Cosmetics Shop in Paris

FREAKS freearchitects have been commissioned for the interior design of the shop for a new natural comestics brand Heliocosm located in Herold street, Paris 1st ward.

The program of the shop consists mostly in a big workshop table onto which the customers are invited to make up their own cosmetics based on natural products lead by professional tutors.

As the total dedicated budget of 100K€ was pretty low compared to the total 100sqm area to be refurbished, the project focuses onto one single space characteristic: the impressive length of nearly 20 meters, pretty rare as a shop setting within the typical parisian context.

The major efforts were made on the renewal of the first and the last rooms, linked with a wood-covered tunnel-alike space hosting all the display shelves and cupboards.

That space works as a theatre decorum into which doors and hole are managed to organize all the technical storage, access, restroom and extra display.

The chosen color is a light greenish blue, a so called “cool mint” color, applied all over floors, walls and ceilings, wrapping the visitors within a both refreshing and disturbing feeling.

The ending perspective of the shop is reinforced with a large scale print on plastic sheet representing mountains with a greenish lake dislocating the shop towards another parallel reality.

That ending room is a lounge space, used both as a waiting room and a coffee/tea room.

The furnitures have all been found in second hand shops and markets, to not to engage too much the visitors into an “over design” experience while offering them a comfy and homy atmosphere.

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Aesop at Merci by March Studio	Kyoto Silk by Keiichi Hayashi	Skin by Michael Young and Katrin Olina

Beijing Design Week 2011: visitors were served tea at a heat-sensitive colour-changing table in a pop-up teahouse for Beijing Design Week.

Design retailer WUHAO moved into the two-storey building in Dashilar Alley to host a sequence of installations, including plastic yellow canaries disguised as growing lemons and an arched opening lined with green paper butterflies.

The table by designer Huo Yijin could be found in a downstairs room and changed colour from brown to green when hot water was spilt onto its surface.

This excess water naturally drained into a disposal container through curved recesses that indented the tabletop.

Folding stools provided seats around the table, while wisps of bamboo formed lampshades that hung overhead.

Read our Beijing Design Week highlights here and see more stories about the festival here.

Here’s a little more text from WUHAO:

WUHAO’s special Beijing Design Week Project WUHAO @ The Teahouse

WUHAO Curated Shop prepares to go from its ‘secret’ peaceful surroundings of 35 Mao’er Hutong, to ‘public’ in-the-bustling-streets with an exciting pop-up project created especially for Beijing Design Week.

Set in Beijing’s historic Dashilar district, WUHAO @ The Teahouse will display an array of unique installations and lifestyle experiences with an everything-on-display-for-sale concept from cutting-edge fashion to unique tea products to playful toys.

These will include established WUHAO’s partners like Hangzhou-based Innovo design studio, exciting new furniture designer Zhang Chen, and exclusive labels like Kiroic from Shanghai. It will also go from ‘exclusive’ to ‘affordable’ with many products available in the 10 to 500 RMB range.

Located in a former teahouse, WUHAO has partnered with socially responsible tea company Tranquil Tuesdays to offer a new vision of this traditional space. Local creative talents will join, including designer Huo Yijin and his custom-made tea table, and designer Li Naihan with her new foldable furniture.

In keeping with its key values, WUHAO @ The Teahouse will continue the ‘5 elements’ concept of ‘fire’, ‘metal’, ‘water’, ‘wood’ and ’earth’. The space promises to offer a unique selection of WUHAO’s products and labels, a collection of ‘Beijing souvenirs’, a brand new installation, a variety of cross-branding experiments with companies like Beijing Sideways – a specialist of motorcycle sidecar tours who will customize a special Beijing design tour linking Mao’er and Dashilan – and much more.

It is once more a fine balance between traditional Chinese content and a consistent contemporary design experience. Let’s spread south towards the summer fire dynamics!

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Silent Heroes told by Zhou Xun	Moolin by Iasfera	LetThemSitCake! by Dejana Kabiljo

This shopping centre by Mexican firm Rojkind Arquitectos is nearing completion in Huixquilucan, Mexico.

The building for the Liverpool chain of department stores sits in the middle of a busy motorway intersection.

The façade is double-layered to protect stores and people from the car-dependant environment of Interlomas on the outskirts of Mexico City.

Light escapes between the layers of the folded façade at night.

The client, department store owners and operators Liverpool, are named after the city of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. In the 19th Century, much of the imported merchandise sold in the stores was shipped via the English port.

Other projects by Rojkind Arquitectos include the restoration of the National Archive museum in Mexico City, a new museum in Mexico City in collaboration with BIG, and A Nestle Chocolate Museum and a Skyscraper in Mexico City.

Here are some more details from Rojkind Arquitectos:

Liverpool Department Store

Understanding the new role shopping centers play in today’s society, in which they have become a magnet for social encounters and even cultural exchanges, Rojkind Arquitectos was commissioned to design a façade for the new 30,000m2 department store as part of a new era in the company’s pursuit for re-branding itself. Liverpool department stores, with a 164-year-old history, have for the most part always been one of the main anchor stores for large shopping centers in Mexico. Its strategic location plays an important role in the immediate urban context.

Located in the northern “car dependent” suburb of Interlomas on the outskirts of Mexico City, this relatively new suburb is characterized by a lack of open public space and a myriad of roads on which pedestrians are not welcomed.

The new facade responds to a fast pace of the everyday life in this isolated suburb, sitting in the middle of a very congested intersection of highways and overpasses, which give it a futuristic “Blade Runner-like” feel.

With an existing circular footprint, the customization process of fabricating directly from 3D models drove the ideas behind the façade design intent. Speed became a very important factor in the way the project is experienced. Flexibility, fluidity and dynamism drove the design process.

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The double-layered façade shelters the store and it’s users from its chaotic environment. It’s sleek stainless steel machine-like exterior, is intended to evolve in a very fluid way as the intense sun bathes it throughout the day. It’s a contradiction to the grit and chaos of its surroundings; a juxtaposition that becomes a new reference for this part of the city.

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At night the hollow cavity between the layers of the façade will be engulfed in light that will subtly escape through the fine reliefs formed at the folds in the skin. The façade transforms at night from its solid monochromatic appearance during the day to a dynamic form accented by light.

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As part of this new endeavor by the client, multiple design firms were selected to participate in the various parts of the project: the interiors were done by FRCH, the rooftop garden by Thomas Balsley and the gourmet space by JHP.

In the initial workshops sessions, it became clear that the main central interior space needed to reflect the dynamic nature of the exterior so the client retained Rojkind Arquitectos to design this space as well.

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As the visitor enters, they are met by a three-story atrium full of movement and filtered daylight that encourages the visitor to move throughout the department store.

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The curved backlit balconies are intended to be a reminder of the fluidity of the exterior façade but at a more human scale as opposed to the urban scale of the exterior façade. This play between the inside and outside is intended to create a sense of discovery for the user that culminates at the roof garden.

The roof terrace will contain a park-like setting that can be enjoyed not only by the store visitors but also by the surrounding local community, thus enhancing the social role that the department store will play.

The complexity of the project combined with a very tight schedule and a difficult urban site condition, required the combination of a highly skilled design team and collaborators in which the interconnectivity and digital design tools have radically transformed the way we design and construct buildings today.

Project: Liverpool Department Store
Architects:rojkind arquitectos Michel Rojkind [Founding Partner] Gerardo Salinas [Partner] Program: Retail ConstructionArea_ 30,000m2
Status: In construction
Design Date: July – December 2010
Construction Date: March – October 2011
Location: Huixquilucan, State of Mexico
Client: Liverpool

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Barceló Temporary Market by Nieto Sobejano	Gwanggyo Power Centre by MVRDV	486 Mina El Hosn by LAN Architecture

Polish architects Mateusz Adamczyk and Marcin Kwietowicz have inserted three gabled huts inside a Warsaw clothes store.

Garments for clothing retailer Fiu Fiu hang on railings inside each hut, while shoes are arranged on shelves that fill the windows.

The cash desk is located inside the first structure and abuts one of these openings.

A fitting room, storage and a staff kitchen are all concealed in the spaces surrounding the huts.

Adamczyk also designed a perfume shop on the same street back in 2009 – see our earlier story here.

Photography is by Jan Smaga.

Here is some more text from the architects:

Fiu Fiu concept store

Young architects dream about designing and building big houses. However, the reality is quite the opposite – they work on small scale commissions. FiuFiu boutique is one of those petite spaces and its concept is based on yearning for making homes even of paper-mache.

Bright forms on frigid blue background recall enchanted atmosphere of Scanidinavian landscape (or its imaginary archetype), because all the shop items originate from there.

Extra long gable house, looking like being freehand drawn by a child, is cut in three with red steel blades and slightly shifted to create complementary space for a cash desk, a fitting room and storage space.

Each of acquired spaces is furnished with same simple items such as rails, ledges and lamps.

Steel coulisses optically shorten long, enlighten only from one side room and encourage a passer-by to enter the shop and indulge in scandinavian atmosphere.

When looking at the small houses from the outside, it is finally possible to see their genuine nature- solid and beautiful wooden structure. Raw carpentry is emphasised by the use of snow white interiors of the volumes.

This nordic fairy tale cottage was put ‘ad hoc’ in an existing space, where the only inference was painting the walls and ceiling in one colour. The light reflected from these plains enters the houses, making the shop interior even lighter and more spacious. Nordic bonbon.

Koszykowa Street, Warsaw, Poland

Client: Fiu Fiu Concept Magdalena Wołosz
Architects: Mateusz Adamczyk, Marcin Kwietowicz

Total floor area: 31 m2
Usable floor area: 28 m2
Volume: 105 m3
Design: 2011
Construction: 2011

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Pop-Out House by Mut Architecture and Mahon	Dri Dri at St Martins Lane by Elips Design	Cornet Boutique by Kazutoyo Yamamoto

London designers Shed and creative director Nick Hart have completed the new flagship store for fashion brand Spencer Hart, located in a former bank in Mayfair, London.

Garments are displayed on a circular glass table suspended from the ceiling, arranged on long wooden steps and hung from circular apertures in a dividing screen.

A VIP lounge is locked away inside the former bank vault, and is so exclusive that Spencer Hart won’t release pictures of it.

We’ve previously featured Shed’s shoe salon for top London department store Harrods.

Photography is by Ed Reeve.

Here are some more details from Shed:

SPENCER HART FLAGSHIP LAUNCHES IN MAYFAIR A DESIGN COLLABORATION BETWEEN INTERIOR ARCHITECTS SHED AND NICK HART

After meeting with Shed, Nick Hart – Founder and Creative Director of Spencer Hart knew this was the right team to create his London flagship; This was however just the beginning of a two-year collaboration between the two creatives and the resulting store is the embodiment of the Spencer Hart brand today. Shed’s brief was to manifest Hart’s vision of a mid-century, modern utopia populated by the likes of Sinatra, Warhol and Kerouac, into a fresh and modern retail world for men.

Nick Stringer, Director at Shed says, ‘The Spencer Hart Flagship on Brook Street represents a huge step forward in men’s tailoring and the world of men’s retail. This true design collaboration between us (Shed) and Nick Hart has resulted in a stunning environment which defines and houses the many different ‘worlds’ of Spencer Hart.

Shed are leading experts in designing luxury, retail environments with originality and impact. Their first class credentials are reflected in the creation of flagships, stores, exhibitions and departments for global brands such as Vertu, Harrods, Barbour, Hunter and Nokia. Nick Stringer himself has delivered Miu Miu and Prada flagships worldwide as former Prada Project Director

The Spencer Hart Flagship will be presented within a period Neo-Georgian building, a former bank situated on the corner of Mayfair’s Brook Street. Shed has worked with many of the original features including the opening up of the highly fenestrated windows, impressive entrance Portico and retained the high bank ceilings. In addition the basement vaults are to house a seductive, VIP space (images and narrative not available for release).

The World of Spencer Hart

The different worlds of Spencer Hart have been reflected in the new flagship, with environments for the forward thinking ‘business’ man and Avante Garde ‘architect’. Shed was also briefed to devise spaces that worked commercially for showcasing and selling the new collections of denim, underwear, luggage, shoes and scents.

Nick Hart’s overall vision is a new culture for men’s tailoring where the ‘suiting’ core business is maintained against a backdrop of new product lines; books, films, music and art are presented as integral parts of the World of Spencer Hart and customers are encouraged to browse, purchase or just enjoy.

Spencer Hart Palm Springs

Nick Hart says, ‘The store is about Savile Row and Palms Springs; it began as an out-there reference but has become physical in terms of both store-design and products.

Spencer Hart Palm Springs is the casual wear, the scent – every non-suiting offering which will be at the flagship’.

‘It’s a sub-brand, a whole story and world about Palm Springs’ relationship to Savile Row which I have created. Palm Springs as the world of cool was the epicentre and in some respects it still is. Savile Row will still remain the core of what we do, however we are taking on a lot of new design challenges by applying specific rules to each new product category to deliver credibility across each sector’.

‘An example of this particular inspiration manifesting itself in the design process’ says Shed’s Nick Stringer, ‘is the stunning, handmade sculptured wall that will run through the middle of the store. The wall is constructed from geometric blocks inspired by Palm Springs’ Parker Hotel’.

‘This tessellated, iconic shape has become a 3D object; a mini sculpture and main feature born out of geometry. It is now the backbone to the whole store, the essence of which has now been applied to several elements of the brand.’
Luxurious and Holistic Design

Nick Hart’s underlying vision and iconic cultural references have impacted upon products, interior architecture, colour, shape, atmosphere and packaging. An abstract glass watch case sits on terraces of soft suede, adding a swath of luxury to every corner of the space;
A period, fibrous plaster ceiling finish, completes the modern delivery of a classic texture – punctuated by high performance luminaires.

The collaboration with Nick Hart has also become an opportunity for Shed to work in a holistic manner; For example the team were further commissioned to create a series of packaging, of which the visual iconography derives from ideas first explored within the design of the space. Stringer says, ‘This (brand work) was an unconventional route of ‘brand’ following ‘interior’ but the iconic mark, gleaned from the feature wall helps packaging and interior deliver a holistic vibe of mid-century cool. We are fortunate to have had a design hand in almost everything in the flagship’.

Hart says, ‘The Spencer Hart universe is an edited version of a world that doesn’t really exist. It’s a world I put out there ten years ago and was very much to do with the relationship between black American musicians and the United Kingdom’.

‘It’s the ultimate men’s world of design cool inhabited by various male icons from different eras – Miles, Bowie, Sinatra, Hopper and Warhol that have shaped rightly or wrongly, the modern concept of hip masculinity’.

Spencer Hart Flagship
62-64 Brook St,
London W1K 5DH.

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Harrods Shoe Salon by Shed	Mulberry Manchester store by Universal Design Studio	Stella McCartney Las Vegas by APA