Jigsaw commissioned Checkland Kindleysides to create a new concept for their Westfield, White City, their first mall based store in London. With a fluid, arched tunnel flowing through the interior, Jigsaw’s new store at Westfield White City makes an architectural statement.
The 120 sqm space, designed by Checkland Kindleysides, is located in the high-end retail area called The Village and is the fashion brand’s first mall-based setting in London
The space itself has an 8m high fascia, which provided a dramatic blank canvas for Jigsaw and the design team to create something exciting. In the interior the ceiling height drops by half, which, in addition to the structural columns drives the shape of the interior to be more asymmetrical; a space that we could curate in the truest sense of the word, to create a landmark statement at Westfield.
For inspiration, Checkland Kindleysides researched contemporary British design, art and architecture; spaces and forms that celebrate femininity. ‘We imagined bold sculptural forms and the use of materials which create a language which feels both feminine and crafted’, says Joe Evans, Creative Director at Checkland Kindleysides. Bold sculptural forms and the use of materials create a language which feels both feminine and crafted.
This culminates in a strong curvaceous tunnel form, which opens out like a bloom, framing the window and filling the space, drawing customers in. The streamlined slender wooden slats flow back the length of the store, creating movement, reminiscent of the atelier and the creation of toiles on a form or the boning used in the making of a corset: sculpting, shaping and enhancing, designing the space by making the most spatial attributes.
The form feels feminine, and the structure has a lightness, a delicacy, but with a great sense of movement – like the opening of a fan, or the blink of eyelash. In making such a bold statement with this sculptural installation, cutting away apertures in the structure provide framed canvases where products are displayed against the delicate aesthetic of duck egg blue walls, which enhance the femininity of the space.
The signage for the store is created from individual illuminated letters suspended on a chrome trapeze, which hangs like a piece of jewellery behind the glazed façade. Behind the window display, selections of accessories are presented against the slatted timber wall. Halfway down the store, the copper fronted cash desk is set against and deconstructed picture wall of brand imagery and curated moments partially eclipsed by the arc of the laths. A large lightbox with seasonal imagery of the ‘Jigsaw’ woman can be seen from the entrance, creating a destination point at the back of the store, it creates a break in the space which provides a degree of privacy and a sense of another room beyond the divide.
This is where further accessories and Jigsaw’s footwear collection is display as well as a relaxed seating area, which also facilitates the contrasting stark white, modernistic fitting rooms alongside, standing out against the natural crafted timber structure in which they are nestled.
Checkland Kindleysides
Founded in 1979, the largest design consultancies within the UK is specialised in the art of brand storytelling. It crafted digital, graphic and 3 dimensional thinking, to create category leading brand experiences that have meaning, relevance and deliver extraordinary value. Clients include: ASDA, Beats by Dr Dre, Barclays, Belstaff, Bentley Motors, Converse, Diageo, Fitness First, Joseph Cheaney, Nike, Levi’s, Sony PlayStation, New Look, Nixon, Pizza Hut, The National Lottery, The British Library, Timberland, Uniqlo, Virgin Atlantic and Wrangler.
Jigsaw
The Jigsaw Group, the high street clothing chain, includes The Shop at Bluebird, the cult design-led fashion and lifestyle boutique on London’s Kings Road, as well as the Jigsaw portfolio of over 65 stores across the UK at the luxury end of the high street. The Group has a growing international business including stores in the US, Dubai and South Africa.
by AN shopfitting magazine no.132 ©