For the reorganization of the KaDeWe department store in Berlin, the Karhard studio was entrusted with the task of redesigning two quadrants of the food floor “dìe Sechste”.
The design of quadrants C & D of the sixth floor resembles the organization of a city with the elements of roads, squares and facades. Durable and authentic materials were used with the aim of accentuating the goods.
What is innovative compared to the previous layout is the fact that the sales areas have been compressed so that more space can be generated for paths and viewpoints. The presentation of goods in the sweets sector was particularly challenging as sweets come in a wide variety of formats, materials and sizes.
The solution devised by the studio is a gondola system in which the sweets are being presented. Suspended from a rail structure, the single gondolas can constantly be rearranged, groups can be formed, paths and spaces can be defined. Their colour scheme is based on colourful sweets packaging.
This required a particularly high level of creativity, as this gondola lift had to be developed as a prototype from scratch. Together with a metal worker and the client we sampled it in order to then develop a construction method that met the requirements.Particular attention was paid to guiding customers along a varied and exciting path through the departments.
Throughout the space many different materials were combined. These include differently coloured terrazzo floor coverings, steel and wood systems for the wine racks, a metal construction for the candy gondola system and various counters for bread and cakes made of natural stone and built-in display cases. In both quadrants were used bricks as a structuring element.
The Karhard studio paid particular attention to the functionality of the sweet gondolas because they have to work for differently sized packaging and multiple colours of the goods, so an overall concept was developed which can be adapted time and again.
Sustainability also plays a major role in the design, in fact, long-lasting and genuine materials have been used, easy to clean and immune to damage.
