Alot of the time, retail design tends to be typified by generic racks and shelving within a fairly rectilinear space which offers a largely inflexible set up where the only thing that changes is the merchandise. This is, however, not the case for this little boutique in Lagos.
You may remember our visit to the Maryland mall, where we came across a store that “caught our attention”. Well, that would be the Little Weavers store, designed and fitted out by CMD+A (the architects behind the mall itself).
Within a space of 38sqm, the architects were able to create a flexible display system that is playful yet practical. It has texture and form that is simple in its presentation yet dynamic in its function. Doing away with typical ‘shelving’ one would find in a given shop especially for clothing, this new approach not only caters to storage and display, but also lends itself the entirety of the store creating a unique aesthetic that is a perfect fit for the brand, as it embodies contemporary African design.
Here’s a description for the architects,
Little Weavers is an Africa-inspired children’s concept store with a main focus of ‘Wear Africa’. We had to ensure that the aesthetic was not just clean but true to the continent. As the main purpose of the brand is retail, it was important that the focus remains on the merchandise and as such that our design aesthetic could not overwhelm the intent for the store. We have fondly used Akala wood, which has a light hue with natural streaks that do not over-power, but playfully compliment the pallet of the merchandise.
The shop is 38sqm and accommodates a small office and changing room. Our intent was to provide little weavers an adaptable merchandise display system to ensure a complete flexibility for the brand and allow for creativity in how the merchandise is displayed. This modular system allows for an adaptable and flexible display. A single module single is 450mm (length, breath and height) cube. We have a shelving system of 7 modules with the top and bottom modules fixed for storage, the remaining 4 are for display and for the basis for the flexible system. The top storage also holds the old school black boards where age categorization of the clothes is shown.
PROJECT DETAILS
- Floor area: 38sq m
- Duration: 4 weeks
- Budget: N4.5million
