PALMERS PARADISE
SHOP DESIGN
2007
WITH:
DASUNO (GRAPHIC)
.
PALMERS PARADISE
The Genesis
The Austrian textile company Palmers Textil AG wished to develop a shop especially for a young, fashion and price conscious target group based on “Paradise”, the trendiest of their four lingerie collections. Once again they turned to the Austrian architect office LABVERT, the people responsible giving architectural expression to Palmers’ new brand image.
The start was marked by the opening of the 120 m2 Paradise flagship store at the well-visited Vienna location on the Rotenturmstraße in May 2007. This is to be the first of many more branches to open in the downtown area and in shopping malls.
The theme for the lingerie shop was conceived by LABVERT to be a new and distinctive experience, one of temptation and discovery. The new line of lingerie designed especially for young women is presented in a unique, luxurious and colorfully refreshing atmosphere with an air of seductiveness. In order to enable a fusion of the spatial elements with a visual and illustrated world of paradise, LABVERT worked in cooperation with the graphic and advertising agency dasuno.
Paradise as a Central Theme and Background for Variety
The result of the cooperation between LABVERT and dasuno is an illustrative landscape full of details, complete with lounging fauna and blossoming flora. The visual world forms the conceptual brackets of the design, fills the brand name with contents and lends the shop its identity. With a blink of the eye, the paradisiacal scenery with the photorealistic women wearing Paradise lingerie comes to life. The graphic artists from dasuno turn the proportions of illustration and photography upside down and create a playful space in which everything is allowed. Thus a sensuous, spontaneous and playful lightness is created that is appealing to the young target group of the new concept.
In the middle of the room an elliptical “waterfall” formed by strings of crystals serves as a spatial element that lends atmosphere to the area and also directs attention to the gallery above.
Two main colors set the mood of the visual impression: pink and the token Palmers color; paradise-green. The anthracite-colored caoutchouc floor provides the calm foundation for an otherwise fanciful Eldorado of lingerie.
Custom Shop Design
A large amount of custom planning went into the first Paradise Shop. Custom furniture was made to display the wide variety of goods that not only include lingerie, but also beach wear, jewelry and cosmetics. LABVERT developed a particularly airy track system that enables a large number of goods to be hung on display without blocking the view of the paradise illustrations in the background.
Elliptical, free-standing display tables complete the lingerie presentation. The shop furnishings were conceived such that the various elements can be individually combined and used to create the optimal solution for the given space available.
The magenta illuminated cashier counter is both functional and atmospheric. A “fan-like” cabinet wall behind the cashier counter fulfills a number of functions at once: a series of off-set, overlapping cabinets rotate outwards to offer space for storing and displaying goods and the fan-like front surface of the cabinets combine to form an exchangeable billboard sized display of the latest lingerie collection.
LABVERT paid special attention to the design of the changing rooms. They are central to the shop as it is exactly here where temptation metamorphoses into a purchase decision. Subtle details, sufficient space, and the pleasant lighting provided by the illuminated ceiling make trying on the clothes a sensual experience.
The Façade
With a façade completely of glass, LABVERT succeeded in creating maximum transparency and thus turned the entire shop into a display window. The transparency to the street is designed to help do away with any barriers for potential customers and to create an impression of fluid transition.
Six moveable blind elements behind the glass façade can be used for exchangeable graphic displays. By changing the position and content of the blinds, the façade is transformed into an ever-changing visual experience consisting of pictures and information. They allow a view of what is inside, but can also hide enough to awaken the curiosity of customers as they pass by.
This unusually simple ability to change the façade design makes the Paradise Shop stand out from the rest and is sure to attract the attention of more than just young customers.