CONCEPT PRECEDENT
Project: Longchamp Store
Location: New York, USA
Architects:Heatherwick Studio
Year: 2006
The two-storey building was large but was located at first floor level with most of the ground floor
level facing the street occupied by other retail outlets. Despite the unsual choice of site for a
flagship store, the design team came up with a design solution that turns this into an advantage; a
three storey void cut through the buildng topped by a glass skylight, allowing natural light through
the building to draw people upwards. Starting at the front door of the shop, steel ribbons the
width of steps create a ‘landscape’ that reaches up through the building. There is also that sense
od downward flow, like a waterfall. The generous curved surfaces of ribbons become stairs and
landings. These stairs are made with hot-rolled steel to form a topography of steps. ‘The ribbons
of the landscape’ have transparent ballustrades which have been warped, reflecting light into
different shapes.
I find this project interesting to me as the stairs reminds of waves which I’d like to incorporate
into my design. At first glance, I had thought the stairs were made up of wood, but this could be
because of the colour which suits the rest of the design’s material pallete.
Fig. 6-8
Longchamp store, New York
(Nikolas Koenig, n.d)
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