The layout of the store was not intuitive. Walkways were complex and confusing, and it was difficult to navigate. To improve this, the layout of the indoor levels (G, 1st, 2nd, and 5th) has been entirely re-designed and smaller retail spaces have been added. The key to designing the individual levels was to think “empty” in order to enable the future implementation of an improved orientation system.
To this end, the atrium, with its escalator network, took centre stage. The atrium serves as the nucleus and has become the store’s central orientation point.
The atrium, which unites the horizontal and vertical visual axes, has becomes the store’s new nucleus and central orientation point. The ceilings of the individual levels are rounded and “rolled” upwards. In this way, the atrium expands up towards the retail levels, appearing larger and more open than the atrium in its previous incarnation. The atrium and retail areas seem to melt together, bringing the individual levels into a mutual dialogue and making the store into a special continuum.
The retail areas of the new store are distributed like ice floes on each story. These floes are marked by a change in floor covering and ceiling material, thereby forming a star-shaped pattern of paths on both the ceiling and the floor. In this way, the materials on the floor and ceiling facilitate orientation within the building. Paths and retail areas are explicitly marked and visible from afar: Large perforated metal areas in the ceiling demarcate the retail areas.
The façade of the new building forms the logical continuation of the interior: the ice-floe theme of the interior space continues on the new façade. To this end, large-scale, amorphous colour fields were applied. Leaving some space in between, an ornamentally designed, semi-transparent white area was then attached. Together, these layers form a conglomerate of light and colour. In the evening, this effect is reinforced by a lighting concept between the two layers of the façade.
Depending on where they stand, viewers perceive the façade differently: From a level viewing angle, it appears more like a white-ornamental field. As the viewing angle gets steeper, the background colour of the house comes more strongly into focus. This creates a tilting effect, which follows the passers-by.
Architect: LOVEarchitecture and urbanism
Project Team: Andreas Perchinig, Sigrid Derler, Sabine Sternbach, Uwe Unterberger
Contractor: Leyrer & Graf
Size: 52.500 m2
Year: 2010
Cost: 40 Million €
Client: Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH