This luxury concession in Selfridges was an opportunity for a whole new demographic of customers to become enamoured with the famous red heel. The inspiration? Mr Louboutin's Parisian apartment which was brought to life by bird-cage wardrobes, a trompe-l'œil staircase adorned with family photos, mussel shell doorways and many objet trouvé from his worldly travels.
A velvet and satin seating area for trying on shoes forms the centrepiece of the main space, while a second room showcases limited-edition collections. Customers trying on shoes are presented with their choices on hostess trolleys brought to them by the salon assistants.
I worked closely with Christian himself to deliver this concept which balanced the theatrical personality of the brand with the SKU requirements and seating practicalities of a high traffic retail environment such as Selfridges.
Credits: Household Design
Operated by Dixons Retail, this 22,000-square-foot tech department sprawls across the third floor of the iconic Knightsbridge store. It's an aspirational showcase designed to target the 'Connoisseur' and 'Status' mindsets of the Jet-Set; 4% of the total Harrods customer but with a massive 51% spend. For example products on sale range from 'impulse' £99 digital cameras to an 11ft tall, £330k iPod dock designed by Jean Michel Jarre, and a 152-inch Panasonic plasma TV - a snip at just £600k.
Key to delivering the worlds ultimate technology department would be in creating a seductive environment of refined opulence. The perimeter features a fluted plaster curtain into which Brands are framed with mirrored amber glass. The floor is composed principally of wide pale oak planks with a marble walkway connecting key vistas, onto which carbon-fibre clad midfloor units sit. Mannequins are located off of the marble, dotted around the space and styled with the latest fashionable tech products.
Credits: Household Design
This trial store for Dixons Retail was conceived to target the 'Design-Aware' consumer - traditionally underserved but now found to be the highest value technology buying segment. It was an opportunity to create a destination format where customers could engage differently and more emotively with products that are now integral to their daily lives.
Accordingly the design required a dramatic departure from the standard Currys / PC World high street format; from the branding, name, identity and communications toolkit, through to the retail environment, service offer, product mix and merchandising – as well as in-store events and campaigns, that form a key part of the ongoing experience.
The store takes aesthetic cues from fashion boutiques – mannequins display mp3 players, cameras and laptop bags, with items presented in seasonally updated collections. Workshops are advertised on the brand’s Facebook page and in-store. A chill-out zone features sofas where shoppers can drink complimentary coffee and use the internet. In- store touchscreen kiosks allow customers to search and compare products, and read other shoppers’ reviews.
Winner of three Retail Interiors 2011 Awards for 'Best Retail Interior', 'Specialist Store Design' and 'Non Food Design of the Year'
Credits: Household Design
This 26 room hotel attached to the exclusive Shoreditch House members only club can be found on the site of a derelict Victorian pub called The Swan Tavern.
Inspiration was drawn from the buildings history, expressed through a soft material palette with traditional glazed tiles and a warm contemporary shaker-style to create a space that feels like ‘a boutique room above the pub’.
Since launching the rooms have been booked out with extensive coverage from reviewers citing the hotel as their 'favourite new place' - Unrecognisable from the pub days back in the late 19th century where rooms were let out to 'whoever would pay for them...'
Credits: Household Design
With Blue Cow we took a fresh look at Yoga. We thought about the bits that work really well and made more of them. We also isolated the bits that aren’t so great, and taken the time to re-interpret them. Its about recognising how Yoga should be practised in the real world with our busy lives at work and play.
Founders Fran Gilliband and Mark Evans were brought together through a shared love of Yoga but came from remarkably different backgrounds. Fran used it as a way of unwinding from her hectic schedule working in the city, whilst Mark had seen first hand the mental and physical benefits of Yoga whilst serving as an Officer in the Coldstream Guards.
The idea really started to take shape when they took some well deserved holiday at the Lotus Yoga Retreat in Patnem, Goa. As they told us,
“Lotus wasn't your typical Yoga/ Ashram experience of 5am meditation, cleaning rotas and austerity. There was a bar, two Yoga sessions a day, and no one was going to give you a lecture if you drank too much the night before and ended up watching the dolphins rather than focusing on your sun salutations”
With this ideal in place we helped them deliver a Yoga concept that felt less worthy, less exclusive, more dynamic, and more empowering. Yoga practised in a dedicated space in the heart of the city, with ultimately flexible studios through pavilions that shift to accommodate different size classes across varying levels of experience.
We acknowledged that people have a life outside of Yoga by providing a welcoming reception lounge where you are free to socialise, catch up on work emails or watch the world go by with a beer. And in the changing rooms we provided all the essentials required to get ready for work or even a night out with friends after a personalised session.
Blue Cow is about a way of life and categorically not about making lifestyle sacrifices.
Photography by Simon Kennedy:
www.simonkennedy.net
Credits: Household Design
In 2006 NTL:Telewest and Virgin Mobile merged to become Virgin Media and take on the competitive quad-play market, TV / Broadband / Mobile / Phone. The concept 'Our Neighbourhood' was created to help Virginise more than 50 of NTL's existing buildings, from Head office to call centres and shift the emphasis from ‘them’ to ‘us’.
Key spaces looked at were often neglected and underused communal areas such as kitchens, breakout spaces and meeting rooms. These were all designed to improve the staff's everyday lives by creating an environment that they could feel really proud to be a part of.
"This is not just a veneer, there's a reason why all the design components exist"
Adrian Spooner (Creative Director, Virgin Media)
Credits: Household Design
Poke are an award winning website and interactive design agency based in London and NY. To design Poke’s loos in London, we first had to understand the basic rule of going to the bog. The toilet is an escape from the office and a space to clear your head. This insight helped form the foundation of the concept: At present loos are all give and no take. Nothing in life should be like that, so we decided to give something back.
Credits: Household Design
Multi-brand group Aurora Fashions (formerly Mosaic) needed a space that could showcase, on a daily basis, Oasis, Coast, Odille and Whistles, whilst providing a working hub for the PR team and an outpost for head office. The space was to entertain investors, journalists, and fashionistas by creating flexible design solutions from which to project up and coming seasonal collections across all brands. Our challenge was to find a design language for Aurora Fashions to enhance, not overpower the brands, and communicate Aurora Fashions as a group with its finger on the fashion pulse.
The concept was to create a space that feels more like a party than a showcase. We worked with the existing domestic feel of the apartment to create a footprint that works together as a holistic space or smaller segments. This affords ultimate flexibility, changeability and pace for brands with different and strong personalities.
The result delivers a hybrid work–come-entertain experience ready to host any fashion party or brand launch. It has been booked as a studio backdrop for BBC’s ‘What not to wear’, with journalists citing the space as a destination on their fashion map.
Credits: Household Design
