Kirk Originals Flagship Store in London, UK by Campaign Design Studio

In stark contrast to the conventional clinical white box of traditional opticians, Campaign has created a dramatic interior for the London flagship store of global eyewear brand Kirk Originals, now officially open.

Kirk Originals Flagship Store

• Architects: Campaign Design Studio
• Project: Kirk Originals Flagship Store
• Address: 6 Conduit Street, London W1S 1XE
• Design: Campaign
• Design Team: Philip Handford, Neil Sharman, Aaron Richardson, Ben Ayres, Tatjana Jakovicka
• Client: Kirk Originals
• Size: 65 sqm
• Completed: December 2010
• Photographs: Hufton + Crow

Front View

Located in Conduit Street, in the heart of London’s west end, the new store showcases the Kirk Originals collection of stylish glasses and sunglasses in its entirety along with selected ranges by independent eyewear brands exclusive to Kirk Originals in the UK.
A convivial space has been designed to convey the brand’s heritage, ethos and be conducive to browsing and trying on the handcrafted frames on display, with full eye examinations and fittings available in the basement.

Flagship Store, Image Courtesy Hufton Crow

Taking inspiration from the brand’s latest Kinetic collections, the flagship store design features displays of winking eyes in various guises. A series of larger than life lenticular printed eyes are suspended in the front window, simultaneously winking and catching customers’ eyes as they approach and enter the store. A sense of interaction continues inside, as a wall display of human-like ‘winkies’ runs the length of the store, providing a ready-made audience to enhance the browsing and trying on experience. The ‘winkies’, 187 white powder-coated sculptural heads, each wear a unique frame and can be tilted and re-positioned to create clusters of onlooking craning heads.

Flagship Store Interior

A restricted palette of monochromatic colours and modest materials including blue-grey painted walls and a dark grey floor keeps the spotlight firmly on the ‘winkies’ adorned with frames as if displaying works of art.
Integral to the shopping experience, the Kirk Originals identity is interwoven throughout the space: a succinct account of the brand’s origins has been rendered in graphic text over two walls at the entrance; meanwhile a black and white projection on the back wall playfully reworks the Kirk Orginals logo through a continual kaleidoscopic loop.

Image Courtesy Hufton Crow

Side-stepping the expected, Campaign has transformed 65 sqm of interior space to create a memorable destination for eyewear aficionados.

Interior View

Campaign is a London based design studio founded by Philip Handford to push the boundaries of the consumer experience. The studio is hands-on in exploring different media and methods in order to tell unique and engaging brand stories, developing integrated brand
experiences through interior architecture and graphic design. Recent projects include collaborating with luxury men’s brand dunhill to realise their vision for a temporary installation during New York Fashion Week to re-create Bourdon House, the home of Alfred Dunhill in
London; a pop-up store for Dr. Martens in Spitalfields Market, East London; and Foldaway, a bookshop constructed entirely from cardboard for the London Festival of Architecture 2010. The studio is also collaborating with Christopher Bailey, Creative Director of Burberry, on new store concepts as well as a series of furniture for the headquarters in London and New York and to furnish stores globally.
www.campaigndesign.co.uk

Image Courtesy Hufton Crow

Kirk Originals It has been almost 20 years since Jason Kirk discovered a câche of his grandfather’s original spectacle frames. Since then, Kirk Originals has not stopped leading the way in innovative eyewear. Drawing inspiration from the past, present and future Kirk Originals strives to create unique and dynamic designs which breakdown the barriers between optics and fashion. “We believe that if we are passionate about what we design, people will be passionate about wearing the designs” says Jason Kirk. Jason and Karen Kirk design and run the business from their home near Bordeaux in France where they continue to expand Kirk Originals worldwide presence with distribution in more than forty countries.
www.kirkoriginals.com

Site Plan

Tags: London, UK

Category: Showroom

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