ALSTERHAUS
THE NEW MENSWEAR DEPARTMENT DESIGNED BY NORM ARCHITECTS.
The latest project by the Copenhagen studio, Norm Architects features the refurbishment and reconceptualisation of the menswear department at the iconic Alsterhaus in Hamburg.
With the increasing competition between online shopping versus the traditional brick and mortar, the architects sought to design a retail space that would both engage and nurture the clients’ shopping experience. They set out to create an experience through embracing and using the architectural elements, furniture and materiality, which is impossible to attain through an online store.
The heritage department store, Alsterhaus, measuring 24,000 square metres, is a poetic composition of historical architecture that seamlessly blends contemporary interior design. For the refurbishment of the menswear department, Norm Architects designed the space to act as “a unity of different universes, each with its own expressions and materials.” This translated into each brand having “its own shop front, facing onto central town squares which both guide and define the user journey while helping express each brand.”
Within the program of the menswear department, the architects meticulously designed how the merchandise would be displayed through the extensive use of display units and furniture pieces that would enable the merchandise to be exhibited in the best possible way. The merchandise and furniture pieces were also designed as “key elements which substantiates sentiments of the different zones in the store.” In addition to defining each brand’s zone, the architects chose to use “a quiet, considered approach to signage and lighting” that was also both “simple and rational space defining features.”
Referencing the works of Mies Van Der Rohe and Adolf Loos, the architects took cues to create a space that was both timeless and contemporary. They achieved this by carefully selecting a diverse combination of materials that were rich to the senses in the form of stone, wood, glass, metal and velvet-like carpet. Yet, they curated these materials in a restrained manner using a neutral palette of monochromatic tones that were contrasted with golden and dark chocolate timbers. This helped to create a backdrop that would compliment and advocate the merchandise on display, without competing with them.
The architects also created beautiful compositions of contrasting warm to soft cool tones ranging in the spectrum from burnt orange and ochre, lemon yellow/lime and emerald green. These tones were introduced within the space as bold accents found in the form of marble plinths, coloured glass display units, as well as the luxurious emerald carpet. This has given the space a measured level of ‘colour-pop factor’, which adds to its contemporary aesthetic whilst also helping to define the various universes.
With this type of sensory experience found in an iconic department store, as beautifully crafted by Norm Architects, it would make one question why anyone would opt to make an online purchase when they can interact with the merchandise in such luxurious surrounds.
PHOTOS | JONAS BJERRE-POULSEN