- Stella McCartney
- Fashion
- Business Design
A sensational façade for a flagship store
Stella McCartney asked us to concept, design, build and install a one-of-a-kind, maximum impact storefront in Beijing’s premiere mall.
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Stella McCartney
Grandeur and intent
Working directly with Stella McCartney – alongside her store planning and architect teams – Moving Brands was asked to create a façade for her first directly-owned store in Asia. The design needed to draw on the textural, geometric and handmade characteristics of the Stella brand, to which we were to bring an undeniable sense of ‘grandeur and intent’.
Technology tempered by nature
Two interconnected considerations we had to factor into our approach were McCartney’s commitment to sustainability and the environmental credentials of the store’s location – Beijing’s Parkview Green (China’s greenest mall). We needed to make an impact on tech-savvy customers, without resorting to the cliché of energy-greedy video screens. In an environment described by the mall owners as ‘tempered by nature and committed to contemporary art’, we had to design a storefront that receives data but is energy efficient, on a scale that grabs attention while reflecting the natural world.
Diamond Sky
Taking inspiration from the brand’s emblematic ‘Stella Diamond’ (sketched by our team during a visit to the London store) our solution was Diamond Sky – a responsive skin for the store, 10m x 15m, and made from 700 bespoke and signed aluminium tiles.
An interactive, moving mosaic
The diamond tiles were engineered to be individually articulated, creating a surface that responds to natural stimuli (such as wind direction, temperature and the movement of the sun) and people (triggered by sound, movement or even text message).
The tiles form a moving mosaic which can also be programmed (by a staff-controlled in-store interface or via a podium controlled by passers-by) in patterns such as wave, ripple, spiral and maze at speeds such as calm, energetic and random.
Moving a building with the move of a hand
Commanding its quadruple-level space, and maximising viewing angles throughout the open, light-filled atrium, this interactive experience is a shining example of how Moving Brands creates the sensation of a screen, a surface – even a whole building – can be moved by something as subtle as a hand movement.
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