[interview] the project story
Image Credit : All Photography by Sharrin Rees
Project Overview
We collaborated with New Zealand fashion brand Glassons to re-launch the retailer on Australian shores with a new retail format at Macquarie Park. This location is now Glassons’ best trading location per square meterand its success has lead to the commencement of an Australian and New Zealand rollout of our design.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Landini Associates is a multi-disciplinary design and brand consultancy consisting of strategic planners, architects and interior, graphic and product designers. We produce world class, simple yet effective work that lasts. We are interested in the classic over the fashionable and many of our projects have a longevity that exceeds the market norm. Strategically driven but creatively led, we are equally at ease inventing new brands as we are evolving and redefining existing ones. We bring about a fusion of multiple disciplines resulting in an end product with a singular vision. This results in the best possible outcome for both our clients and their customers.
Landini Associates is based in Sydney and is currently working in North America and Canada, the UAE, the UK, Asia and Australia. Clients include Loblaws, T2 (Unilever), Jones the Grocer (LVMH), Harrods, Amore Pacific (Primera, Mamonde, Innisfree, Lirikos), Hilton Hotels, Westpac Bank Australia, Jurlique, Crumpler, McDonald’s, Burt’s Bees (Clorox), Coles, Woolworths and various independents.
Project Brief
The brief was to better present Glassons’ great value product such that collections were more intelligible and the perceived quality higher without reducing SKU’s. In response, we chose
to create more walls without merchandising the real ones, and hid the changing and stock rooms behind a mirror on one wall and projected film floor to ceiling on another.
We wanted to create a clean, sharp and fresh interior with a touch of urban feel. Featuring a warm white palette, the design utilizes light oak timber, concrete and mirrors.
Also unique to the new retail format is the celebration of the local Glassons identity.
On one wall, floor to ceiling projections showcase local imagery and create a sense of locality , bringing authenticity into the Glassons retail experience. This is reinforced by brand identity words used throughout the store: “Made for here.”
Project Innovation/Need
It is in the planning that the revolution occurred. We challenged traditional display methods by removing all the product from the walls and creating wardrobe-like display units throughout the store. Our design eliminates the cluttered feel of many high-street fashion stores, creating a clean look whilst cleverly maintaining a high volume of product. In fact the design allows for 50% more product on the floor.
The display units effectively frame the collections and give the impression of a mimalist aesthetic rarely seen in high street chains where the norm is product fighting shoulder to shoulder. A wall of mirrors enhances the sense of space and perceived minimalism. Full height glazing to the store shop front allows the latest collections to be easily viewed and will be on rotation every two weeks.
Design Challenge
The design challenge centered around how to reduce the cluttered feel of high-street fashion chains, where the norm is product fighting shoulder to shoulder, without reducing SKU’s.
In overcoming this challenge, we believe our solution has redefined its category. Low price, mass market fashion is often sold from a sea of chaotic eye high racks, which whilst supporting the stock required, makes it look shabby and of poor quality. Our solution created walls within walls, has increased the amount of stock normally carried, whilst making it look of a higher quality and thus better value. The result has been an increased turnover on plan by nearly 300 per cent.
Sustainability
Throughout the interior we have used classic, honest and raw materials that will last. We never design to trends, instead we design to create something special that will last and as such it is not unusual for our designs to live up to and beyond 20 years old. This is a studio philosophy that allows for sustainable design, and one that we applied when designing Glassons' new retail format.
Interior Design - Retail
This award celebrates innovative and creative building interiors, with consideration given to space creation and planning, furnishings, finishes and aesthetic presentation. Consideration given to space allocation, traffic flow, building services, lighting, fixtures, flooring, colours, furnishings and surface finishes.
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