Hofstede Optiek by Alexander Nowotny, An Impressive Optical Retail Interior Design

The Hofstede Optiek Headlines

An amazing retail space is completed designed for an optician/eyewear company in The Hague, Netherlands by the Dutch architect Alexander Nowotny. This retail shop is very exciting and experimental which are approaches to the shop design, so it is can be observed at the opticians as of late. Today, the glasses and the sunglasses are the fashion. All of the opticians are carrying big line of the designer brand, and though individual, an imaginative shop design increasingly is creating a unique selling proportion. If we enter to the Hofstede Optiek in the Dutch city of The Hague, the interior design of this shops maybe taken from some fantasy film. The shop on Hoogstraat recently is completed refurbished. The architect, Nowotny Architecten who’s come from Delft is commissioned to design and interior which s to be completely different from the others. The all pervasive organic forms catch the eye.

By his “fresh approach”, the architect is predestined for the job of developing an unpredicted design. Since for about 1997, the optician sector has undergone a metamorphosis to a retail trade which is employs flair and the atmosphere to sell according to Hofstede. The architect says this is also a response to the internet commerce: over-the-counter business must be able t do more today than sell the product; that is to say, they have to also take the haste out of buying and offer a good experience and the entertainment. Going out to shop is no longer a vital necessity, but a leisure activity for the costumers. By the architect, the new Holstede salesroom is designed has to be both entertaining and seductive, it is has to stimulate all the senses without being loud and vulgar. Which is overfilled the shop windows and endless display crack inside; the concept has to embody the opposite of monotous. The Hofstede is shows the frames without exception in display the cases, also in the shop windows. Because the customers themselves, the products are presented as unique items, of course it would like to e unique and buy something unique. Most of the shop frames are locked away and it is taken out for the personal consultation with the customer. The self-service is only applies to the sunglasses. The shop is serves as a stage where the customer should be served and be given the feeling which he or she is a “star” here. The interior design inside this shop is designed all of a piece in a harmonious composition, a walk-in sculpture. The organically shaped interior design is exerts an attraction upon entering it, it is also transports the customer gently through the room as it are. The pleasant feelings and the associations with the warmth and the security of the interior of a body is should be generated. The facing elements is covered all the load-bearing walls and the ceilings. The effect of this fascinating composition of curved, slanted, rising and falling changes as the perspective changes upon the every movement inside the shop. The use of the mirrors which is visually enlarge the room and seemingly eliminate its boundaries, the walls and ceiling are enhanced the impact.

The walkway meanders through the store past the display cases and it is corresponding to the lines of the floor, ceiling and lighting design, so the customer should move through the shop intuitively. The shop display cases are simultaneously integrated into the wall and also the mirrors, some of the showcase presentations even move. The white-plastered surfaces and strongly grained zebrano wood surfaces are the combination which design the dominant element of the shop. Besides, in addition, steel, chrome, glass and perspectivective are used. The white and black ground natural stone are made the floor, with an admixture of a silver metallic effect and looks medium-grey.

The white plaster has been combined with steel surfaces in the entrance area and here the open sunglasses display is positioned, it is designed to encourage the impulse buying. While the mid-shop area is lower and it is more ‘intimate’, here the consultation desk is placed. This area is features the protective wooden ceiling and wall paneling and a wall-mounted ova which is consisting of the dark-violet ‘glamour velvet’. The effect is enhanced by the violet leather, violet and naturally warm LED lighting plus relaxing lounge music.

The rear part of the shop reveals a second, open-sided floor. Images are projected onto the stair construction. Each consulting desk is equipped with a small flat screen on a pedestal to provide digital assistance in advisory talks.

The facade of the shop is replaced by a front made of the glossy black granite. The ‘Hofstede’ lettering is repositioned, so that it is now symmetrical to better comport with the classic facade and the in-shop walkway.

The shop window design with its combination of matt and clear glass, and the Perspex cubes behind this, create a visually exciting and tempting view into the shop, whose strong design is emphasized by its lighting architecture. The lighting uses mostly LEDs. This includes the lighting of the display cases: color-changing LEDs have been incorporated into their rear panels and shelf floors. Much indirect lighting is employed, becoming a part of the architecture. The 250 LED strips highlighting the floor, ceiling and wall architecture were developed specifically for this shop project.

About half of the interior finish of Hofstede Optiek in The Hague was produced individually and locally, all in all a refined concept including much custom construction instead of confection.
Visit the Nowotny Architecten website – here.

Photography by Raoul Suermondt

via

Hofstede OptiekEntrance Glass Showcase Interior Design