The well-known Belgian brand’s new store recently opened in Antwerp, designed by Piuarch architectural studios, is based on the concept the architects developed for the brand’s boutique in Milan.
Translating a brand’s values and image into architecture is the key to developing a flagship store concept, and this is what architects Francesco Fresa, Germán Fuenmayor, Gino Garbellini and Monica Tricario of Piuarch have done in the new Les Hommes flagship store that opened recently in Antwerp.
In line with the concept and brand identity created for the first boutique, which opened in 2014 in Milan’s Porta Nuova district, the architects of Piuarch have transposed a number of key concepts by stylists Tom Notte and Bart Vandebosch of Les Hommes into the spaces, colours and materials of architecture: careful choice of materials, contrasting noble materials with materials of “poor” origin, and attention to detail.
The Antwerp flagship store is located in a building on the corner of the city’s main shopping streets, and the spatial solutions adopted and arrangement of furnishings inside the store maximise natural light from the windows on both streets. The bright light is underlined by big mirrors in warm hues, while the furnishings are compositions of volumes made of smoked glass, white cloud marble and champagne-coloured steel, recalling the attention to detail that is the brand’s distinguishing feature. In the same way, the contrast between noble and poor materials is reflected in decorating solutions such as the structures in the store (a bare concrete staircase next to walls covered with marble), offering visitors visual contrasts and tactile experiences.
(Agnese Bifulco)
Architecture and furnishings: Piuarch. Francesco Fresa, Germán Fuenmayor, Gino Garbellini, Monica Tricario
Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Images courtesy of Piuarch
www.piuarch.it
