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Interior Designers: Atelier xy
- Area: 420 m²
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Photographs:Wen Studio
Text description provided by the architects. Traditionally, the archive is used by professional institutions or individuals to record documents and collections mostly for research or cultural dissemination. When people talk about the archive, the most obvious visual sign is the neatly organized shelves of great scale. The designers have taken the relevant visual elements and combined them with architectural theory to create a space that fits the NOME ethos. The retail space is seen as an archive, and the collection has been transformed from a documentary and collecting function to a display of design-inspired goods.
1. Form space and order. Atelier xy has involved and practiced the three aspects of architecture: form, space, and order. Form and space are important elements frequently used in architecture, and these elements are interlinked to form an integrated whole. When these elements are perceived, reinforced by each other, and fully subordinated to the essential features of the whole, a conceptual order emerges. This order leaves a lasting impression that is not comparable to fleeting perceptual observations.
For the existing space of the Nome archive, Atelier xy subdivided the layout of the displays in the shop based on the existing axial grid of the building. While taking into account the two main shopping flows, the arrangement is spread out in a matrix. While maintaining a unified order, the layout of the displays is varied according to the shopping flow of the customers.
The triangular central area is the core of the design and divides the shop into the central area, the clothing area, and the beautiful area. The large volume of shelving is arranged in descending order from the outside to the inside, from high to low, according to the axes, giving a sense of order from any angle. As customers move between the shelves, they will naturally move towards the cashier counter due to the flow of the racks.
The shelves are arranged in a matrix of stepped heights from high to low, and they sit neatly on a set axis, creating an interesting order. What is even more interesting is that the two sides of the shelves are designed in yellow and blue respectively. As the customer walks through the shop, the props appear in different colours depending on the angle of observation. The rhythm of the space is thus created. The biggest challenge for the designers in this project was to organise and store the tens of thousands of products in an orderly manner. The products that needed to be highlighted were placed in the prime viewing areas of the shelves, while the storage features were placed at the top and bottom of the shelves where they were not easily accessible to customers.
2. The basic rule of product display. "Things fitting perfectly into other things” is a series of art installations practiced by Swedish artist Michael Johansson. He is obsessed with the regularity and coincidences between objects that may only be linked by a common colour and shape. The designer takes inspiration from Michael Johansson's work on 'obsessive-compulsive disorder' and 'cleanliness' to find a breakthrough in integrating the tens of thousands of product types in the Nome archive.
There are 15 categories and 1,750 product types in the Nome archive, with a total storage capacity of 32,000. One of the most important design issues was how to display the large variety of products in a way that was visually pleasing and not overwhelming. The triangular area in the middle of the shop is used to group and display a large number of white shelves for lifestyle products. However, due to the different sizes of the products, different sizes of auxiliary props are needed to assist the display. The designer has designed a 'basic auxiliary' and a 'variation auxiliary' on the basis of white cabinets. The 'variation aids' were placed within the prime viewing area of the cabinet, while the rest of the space was filled with the 'basic aids'. The result is a uniform and orderly arrangement with a varied mix of shelves.
The shelves in the beauty area are trendy and modern, designed from the actual product display needs and customer experience, into several different types of stands and displays. The overall image of the retail is fashionable and modern while matching the product experience, enriching the overall retail environment. The shelves in the garment area are warm wood elements in a trendy and modern tone, more skin-friendly and closer to life. The shelves against the wall are designed to allow for flexibility in the display of clothing, with all wooden aids being easily dismantled to suit the different lengths of garments required for hanging. Several small stainless steel booths are stacked to create different booths to match the season's clothing display requirements.
3. Retail lighting. Modern lighting design has gradually evolved from traditional accent lighting to uniform lighting of spaces. This is exactly what is required for the lighting of the Nome archive, which has a wide selection of products. The shop lighting is subdivided into line lights, point sources, line channel strips, and downlighters to ensure overall illumination and light performance while taking into account the product performance of each area. The shop luminaires all use high colour rendering light sources with a colour rendering Ra>90 to evenly represent the entire space scene and accurately reproduce all product colours and textures. The overall lighting atmosphere of the shop is divided into 2 main tones: warm and intimate lighting in the central area, highlighting the products, and stylish and modern lighting in the clothing and beauty areas, with bespoke strip luminaires to showcase the beautiful curved lines of the ceiling. Space, props, displays, and lighting are the key elements of the new branding concept for the Nome archive.
