Small Shop Spain - Design Bureau

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Small Shop Spain

Monday, August 27th, 2012

By Justin Ray

The architects call this project "Horizontal Showcase: Clothing Store in an Interior Passage," but we tend to think saying "Afterbang" is a lot more fun.

Located at the center of Granada, Puerta Real, the '40s-era Olmedo building's shopping arcade housed a perfume shop that didn't have much going for it. At only a marginal 35-square-meters, it could make Manhattan apartments look spacious. Worse still, it had poor lighting and unattractive windows with shutters. But potentially, foot traffic was good—as the space sits on the corner of a passage connecting Ganivet and Reyes Católicos streets.

However, out of extreme constraints come creative solutions. The "Horizontal Showcase: Clothing Store in an Interior Passage" project  is now a sexy clothing shop for a skate/ski gear brand. Serrano+Baquero architects created this sleek design that blends public and private space in the arcade. Rather than closing off the structure, the designers allowed the store to exist as an extension of the mall as if it were an exhibition. 

Homemade LED strips with clear fixtures allow the merchandise to serve as the only color in the store. The remnants of the perfumery such as the naked cement walls, brick vault, concrete pillars and plaster moldings of the ceiling form a rough, historic backdrop for the contemporary goods.

The store now takes advantage of its role as a point of passage, where retail, activities and space mix it up. The perfume shop may be gone, but the smell of success is strong.

 

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