projects | Viabizzuno progettiamo la luce

the project was for a shoe shop with women's, men's and children's departments. the existing shop had a floor area of about 1,000m² and the client asked for a restyling and expansion of the shop, which included an extra floor. this floor is used to accommodate suitcases and leather goods. the shop had to continue as three separate departments and the number of seats in the shoe fitting area had to remain unchanged. customers had to have enough privacy in the fitting areas, which meant that larger fitting areas had to be subdivided. all shoes are displayed in the shop-window and, in view of the large number of items (about 5,000) a way had to be found to keep this well organised. the shop also had to provide enough space to display the goods. the upper floor had to be visible from the ground floor, inviting customers to go up the stairs. the cash desks had to have an overview of the whole shop. suitable lighting was also very important. the existing shop consisted of three separate areas, connected to each other with a number of passageways. the three shops were decorated quite differently; there was no consistency and hardly any natural daylight. there were three major aspects to vvd's design: creating consistency, the design of the frontage and the organisation of internal space. consistency: it was essential to create the same atmosphere in the three different shops and to bring natural daylight inside to create a feeling of much greater space. façade: one long façade was designed for the new building. it was clad in natural stone. on the ground floor, a colonnade was provided, as requested by the client. the large natural stone sections were interrupted in several places for areas of glazing. the existing tiled roof was retained. one continuous shop-window was adopted, as a sort of gallery. on the street side, a number of smaller display cabinets were installed along the walls to display the more expensive shoes. the shop-windows on the side walls and in the children's shop were made of large panes of glass. different sections were created in these long display windows using aluminium partitions (enamelled in bronze colour). these sections contain shelves in grey oak veneer, with the front section finished in aluminium (bronze enamelled). five large display cases are located in the gallery, made entirely of glass and containing fittings constructed in exactly the same way as those in the side windows. interior: the women's and men's shops were designed almost symmetrically around a central patio. in both cases, a large void was formed, making the first floor clearly visible from the ground. this also serves to break up the enormous area of ceiling. the children's shop gains natural light through the shop-windows. one central axis runs through the entire shop, linking the three departments. this axis creates sections within the shop. on one side of the axis are the cash register areas in the three departments (with stone flooring) and on the other side the (carpeted) fitting areas. the fitting areas in the shop were designed as large glazed structures and niches with benches. individual benches were also positioned so as to create different corners in the shop. on the upper floor, the women's and men's departments are separate. on the central axis, where the furniture is located, the design provides the opportunity to enjoy an extensive vista. the following materials were used throughout the shop: natural, sandy-coloured limestone, both for the external façade and to replace the old greyish beige carpeting; glass for the display shelving; natural stone for the plinths of the fittings; grey oak veneer wall covering; benches in grey oak veneer with white leather cushions and cash desks in natural stone. the children's shop was furnished with islands made with yellow leather blocks of different sizes and details in bronze-coloured enamelled aluminium.