Best of show: Retail

As a prototype flagship for Shan, a retailer of men’s and women’s underwear and swimwear, the new boutique in the Montreal suburb of Laval boasts a signature look that should be instantly recognizable as branches roll out.
Fitting rooms housed within a white-lacquered, elevated, central enclosure – a metaphoric beach cabana – create a feeling of warmth and intimacy despite the generous, open, 2,669-square-foot space. Flooded with natural light and finished in white, the main space evokes the luminosity, vastness and serenity of a beach. As a quiet background, it helps focus attention on the merchandise displays. Modular, custom-made ottomans, display racks and storage units surround the cabana fitting rooms. Clothes and accessories can be displayed horizontally under the glass tops of the central storage units or hung face forward on the minimalist racks along the perimeter of the retail space. Large photographic blowups were printed on the window shades, where they are visible from the nearby parking lot and expressway. A similar, back-lit photograph stretches along the beach cabana’s main face, adding a focal element that matches the scale of the main retail space.

Bullock: For retail, they’ve gone real simple on the lighting. That’s unusual.
Drobot: That’s pretty cool, the box-like change room and the ramp leading to it.
Schleeh: There is a Montreal sensibility to the use of materials.
Banse: It’s a John Pawson jigsaw!