(recycled newsprint, fluorescent tubes, perspex)
| On a recent trip to Japan, our client at Adidas was hugely impressed by the varied styles of concrete buildings and was looking to promote a similar aesthetic for the redesign of the no. 6 store in Soho, London. This icon store sells products which are unique and unobtainable elsewhere (and is now their only icon store worldwide not to designed by the Adidas studio).
One of a=r’s favourite design movements is Metabolism, and as “Japan” and “concrete” were at the heart of the brief, we were delighted to be able to employ its aesthetics and methods for this store redesign. Metabolist structures were devised to offer adaptability to the occupants, relying on then modern technology/materials, specifically concrete. Their buildings often resembled skeletal shelving systems where floors and rooms could be hung. The framework was always larger than required in the event that the building needed to house more rooms for additional dwellers and equipment. |
For the No. 6 design, we combined the use of concrete with the adaptability of the Metabolist movement and sense of a sports stadium, through the sweeping shapes of a rear light racking system that allows multiple display variation for shoes, apparel and mounted imagery. Perspex holders present the shoes with a line of light underneath, emphasising the exclusivity of the products.
An ‘add on’ timber cladding mirroring the store’s ‘concrete’ walls allows for instant shop change, with a firm wall upon which to securely mount a temporary store appearance. These ‘skins’ are stored in the basement room lining the walls, where they are used with their inside facing out so they may house shoes and apparel in the same way as their ‘concrete’ cousins do above. Unable to employ heavy concrete in the store, we used recycled newsprint which looks like concrete but is more adaptable, more environmentally friendly, and could be cut and spliced in a way that metabolism could not achieve with its materials. Adidas were pleased with the design and wanted to highlight the craftsmanship involved, which resonated well with their year of promoting craftsmanship in their design. Accordingly, we produced a book showing the design process and manufacture, in PDF form here. |
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