Meticulous design remains at the forefront of Aesop’s aesthetic. With every new store that opens, thorough research is done to ensure that the brand philosophy is immersed in the local culture and history of the city.
Sustainable design is part of every facet of the Aesop brand, with every small detail taken into account to make sure the store is a delight to the eyes of the customer. Its first store opened in 2003, in an underground nook in St Kilda in Melbourne, Australia, and set the benchmark for other structural ambitions. The Aesop store in Adelaide features 7,560 amber glass bottles on the ceiling while for the New York store in Nolita, 400,000 sheets of reclaimed copies of The New York Times were used as a building material.
While on the press trip in Sydney, we were taken to the new Aesop stores in The Rocks neighbourhood and in Balmain (pictured). The store in The Rocks was created in collaboration with March Studio architects, which designed the 48 sq metre space.
The interior at The Rocks store has a self-supporting tensegrity structure which bears the product shelving, a wash plane and light fixtures. The structure is in alignment with the strict heritage overlay of the 148-year-old building, which stipulates no fixtures on the walls, floor and ceiling. The structure is constructed from natural aluminium joints, custom-turned timber dowels and orange nylon rope. The newly opened store in Balmain features accents such as tinted concrete terrazzo and pale native embers paying homage to the local neighbourhood.
For more information on the design of Aesop stores around the world, visit http://taxonomyofdesign.com/
