WHITE / OUT
EXPERIENTIAL RETAIL SPACE
PROJECT TYPE: INTERIOR DESIGN
TYPOLOGY: RETAIL / COMMERCIAL
11/2019
WHITE/OUT is a concept for an experiential retail space focused on showcasing winter and extreme weather apparel. The space embodies an arctic atmosphere not only in its aesthetics, but more distinctly, in its ability to generate simulated climates. The continuous inner shell deforms to create spaces, displays, and bulkheads; evoking snow-covered architectural and landscape features with a seamless white-plaster finish to further enhance that effect. The resulting space diffuses the cool-temperature light and reduces visual contrast, recalling “whiteout” weather conditions only highlighted by the brand’s products and graphics.
Sitting centrally in the retail space is WHITE/OUT’s feature experiential component, the “Climate Chamber”. This glazed, mechanically-isolated room is able to chill the space down to arctic conditions, allowing customers to be virtually “teleported” to such locations and “test drive” the weather ratings of the brand’s products prior to purchase. In addition, this experience could be enhanced by augmented reality technologies, like holograms or VR, allowing the “Climate Chamber” to replicate almost any context.
Encased in insulated double-pane glazing, customers become protagonists of immediate, real-life advertising and product engagement; visible to all in the store and throughout social media. Consequently, this scheme has the potential to buttress an entire marketing campaign displaying brand confidence, as well as an innovative approach to revitalizing physical retail.
While the specific layout shown in the attached scheme is site-less, the design strategy and experiential features herein proposed could be adopted to a wide array of locations, scales, and formats. To that extent, WHITE/ OUT could be built as a temporary pop-up space or a permanent retail location, in commercial centers or urban storefronts, within existing stores, and even as a stand-alone structure in outdoor spaces.
