Matteo Thun, Architect - Hugo Boss Retail Store in New York City

Wednesday, 12 August 2009 06:35

Thun_Hugo_boss_ny_01 This Hugo Boss store is located in the Meatpacking district, New York. It brings together four of the HUGO brands together, creating a complete look at the brand. The architects wanted a shop that “mixes together urban surfaces, the texture of art, concrete and iron and pouring everything inside to state its own naked aesthetics into the spirit of the place”.

The interior is enveloped in a diamond-shaped pattern of wooden planks; a distinctive element that Thun had already used as a cover for Boss’s headquarters in Switzerland.

Plan

Section

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The interior is divided into two parts: the first part serves exhibition purposes, where the burnished iron and dark brown lacquered displays for the various collections, and the leather and glass showcases for the accessories, are all located; there is also a Corian till counter, where you can also enjoy refreshments against the backdrop of a metal wall; this area also modulates the hangers, racks and goods against spots on floor and the diamond-shaped sections of the wooden structure; it also reflects itself against the back wall, a reflective “focus wall”, which marks the boundaries of and doubles the visual field.

Beyond here, the second part can be seen in semi-transparency: this is where the fitting rooms are located, and here everything changes. The atmosphere is softer and warmer featuring rugs, red velvet curtains, a golden coloured ceiling, and wood.

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Light plays a mjor role in the concept. While strong and solid along the road, it becomes more intimate and private further back. The lighting mechanism for the display area is composed of dynamic light provided by programmable LEDs installed against the pattern of perimeter panels, radiating along the concrete and exposed brick walls. It progressively tones down while approaching the fitting rooms.

In the heart of a neighbourhood, which used to be the commercial epicentre of meatpacking, the Hugo Boss store mixes rough urban surfaces to state its own naked aesthetics. Concrete penetrates into the floors, provides a finishing touch for the walls together with exposed brick, then takes on a black colour for the ceilings, where it blends in with the metal of the electrical and mechanical conduits and the pattern of adjustable industrial spotlights. As described by the architect ”This is the shell, which fits in neatly with the spirit of the place.”