Here/Nau/NYC by Siteworks
A sustainable store design for a sustainable fashion brand.
Whilst researching green retail interiors we came across this amazing pop-up store for sustainable clothing brand Nau which happened back in November of 2009 and lasted for 6 weeks.
Designed by Siteworks – a design and build firm based in Portland run by Jean-Pierre Veillet, a Sculptor-cum-architect who works with and promotes the use of environmentally friendly materials. Veillet was tasked with the job of designing a retail concept which would reflect the brand’s values on sustainability and function. They neither had the budget for or wanted the space to be filled with flashy new high-spec equipment as it would only end up adding to NY landfills when the pop-up finished. Instead, Veillet scoured the streets of Brooklyn for materials from it’s waste stream to construct the stores interior furnishings and VM – so that when the store came to an end, at least the rubbish wasn’t new.
Scraps of wood, metal, cardboard and cable where reclaimed as where discarded and unutilised items that had been found on train tracks and in abandoned warehouses. They went under a transformation process by Veillet to become tables, clothing racks and shelves. The rough, raw honesty of the materials contrasted well with the white walls and floor of the existing architecture – all tying in beautifully with the exposed ceiling beams and rear skylights. There were also experimental video projections realizing the brand in moving images behind the cash point and a coffee space in the basement.
We love this project. There are so many elements of the design which can be applied again in both temporary and permanent commercial interiors. Truly inspirational stuff – well done guys!
The following is the press release from Nau:
Veillet’s Manhattan project is ”pop-up,” a type of temporary store that has become a sign of the times in cities that have experienced higher-than-usual retail vacancy rates. During a pop-up’s brief life span, a store is designed, built, used, disassembled, and discarded—-with many of the materials ending up in landfills. Instead of throwing away items, Veillet opted for an ecological approach. The end result: Designer-quality clothing racks fashioned from metal pipes, casters, old beams and tense cable. Ceilings where fashioned from tree limbs, furniture derived from sheets of thrown away cardboard, discarded crates and repurposed ladders.
When:
12 November-31 December 2009
Where:
Here/Nau/NYC
69 Mercer Street
New York, NY 10012
For further information please visit:
Images from Siteworks except fith image which is from Core77
I love NAU. Good aesthetic, good people, good cause. Thanks for posting this!
Us too! We think they’re amazing – glad you like the post 🙂