Leanne Amodeo takes us inside RAD Studio’s latest retail project ‘Super Glue’ – a fashion concept store that tells many stories.
May 22nd, 2013
RAD Studio’s Richard Alexander knows that retail today isn’t just about selling stuff. “You have to give the customer an experience,” he says. “And you have to engage with them.” Heeding his own advice the Sydney-based design director has succeeded in creating an instantly appealing fit out for Super Glue.
The newest retail addition to Melbourne’s Highpoint Shopping Centre is an ambitious multi-brand store that sits within a stark 990sqm space. Alexander has masterfully used the cavernous shell to his advantage and his resulting design concept is as functional as it is memorable.
“I like to call it a shop with vignettes,” he explains. “So customers are met with these little ‘stories’ as they walk through it.” Each of these vignettes has its own clearly defined design identity, which differentiates one brand from the next. It’s a clever wayfinding strategy that essentially orders the space into six zones.
Bright colour punctuates each zone and Alexander has been inventive with his material palette. A red shipping container activates an otherwise dead corner of the fit out and shoes are displayed on glass panels that wrap around smart timber storage systems. The middle of the store even boasts a timber-lined blue shipping container that serves as a rustic espresso bar.
These design flourishes inject just the right amount of playfulness into the fit out, but the overall result is far from chaotic. The space has a lightness to it that is reinforced by generous circulation paths and elegant timber-clad columns. It is genuinely inviting and a lot subtler than what one would initially expect.
The lack of a traditional storefront also adds to this sense of lightness. But then again, Alexander didn’t want customers to feel like they were walking into a billboard. “We’re bombarded with so much crap everyday that if you give customers too much information they’ll just switch off,” he says. “But if they get a feel from an interior then they’re instantly engaged.”
RAD Studio
Glue Store
Images © Glue Store and RAD Studio
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Create a configuration to suit your needs with this curved collection.
In the pursuit of an uplifting synergy between the inner world and the surrounding environment, internationally acclaimed Interior Architect and Designer Lorena Gaxiola transform the vibration of the auspicious number ‘8’ into mesmerising artistry alongside the Feltex design team, brought to you by GH Commercial.
The Sub-Zero Wolf showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne provide a creative experience unlike any other. Now showcasing all-new product ranges, the showrooms present a unique perspective on the future of kitchens, homes and lifestyles.
Marylou Cafaro’s first trendjournal sparked a powerful, decades-long movement in joinery designs and finishes which eventually saw Australian design develop its independence and characteristic style. Now, polytec offers all-new insights into the future of Australian design.
Crowds of people could be seen wandering the residential backstreets of Chippendale, bee-lining their way to the precinct’s six showrooms.
The Pantone Color of the Year for 2022 is looking, well, Very Peri.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
From the trailblazer of Spanish industrial design comes a new collection of recycled rugs – a powerful exploration of the concept of waste, a keen celebration of imperfection, and a new underfoot symbol of responsible design.
In the pursuit of an uplifting synergy between the inner world and the surrounding environment, internationally acclaimed Interior Architect and Designer Lorena Gaxiola transform the vibration of the auspicious number ‘8’ into mesmerising artistry alongside the Feltex design team, brought to you by GH Commercial.
Welcome to the year of the Design Effect. This year’s theme aims to showcase the profound ripple effects that exceptional design can have on people, place and planet. Join in shaping this narrative by contributing your perspective before May 3, 2024, and become a part of the Design Effect movement.