Quique – Sinuous Retail Experience!

Compiled by Team IAnD

Photography: Luis Diego Matarrita; courtesy SYN Architecture

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At the refurbished Quique clothing store in Costa Rica, all common architectural elements turn into meaningful function, conveying key information to the visitor...

Sinuousness and a monochromatic palette seem to be taking almost every architect/ designer’s fancy as he plays with creating distinctive environments with fluid forms. Austria-based SYN Architecture proved no different in the renovation exercise of the Quique clothing store in San Jose, Costa Rica.

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Located in an exclusive shopping centre in Escazu, a trendy area for major developments in the city, the architects create a simple black and white vocabulary that is underlined by playful geometry in the form of stacked waves.

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Clientele is invited into the store via a supple free-flowing doorway, smoothly indicated by an overall gesture, where the movement gains its deepest relief.  Starting here, different frequencies are captured into the architectural elements via an expressive black ceiling, a light-weight strongly defined, prominent white sculptural counter and the vocabulary continues through to the interior envelope and the display shelves,  elegant and progressive, transforming the spatial elements into functional aspects of the store.  

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What started as a digital and parametric design, where at a conceptual level, a dynamic stream runs through the boutique, has grown into an intriguing, responsive space – the effect intensified by mirroring the ceiling and the floor to establish two distinct areas - one for beachwear, and the other for an urban clothing line.

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The monochromatic palette is a deliberate choice to highlight the colour, pattern, texture of the merchandise that Quique showcases.

Details

Overall, the retail experience connects the buyer with his product in an environment that is chic and trendy, augmenting brand identity and perceived value.