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!

