Bang & Olufsen Flagship Store

Position: Studio Manager, Johannes Torpe Studios

Duration: 12 months

Location: Denmark

Core Team:

Creative Director: Johannes Torpe

Senior Designer: Helle Maach

Senior Architect: Matthias Kisch

Design Team: Annika Göransson, Emil Thomsen Schmidt, Brian Ulbrichsen

Area:

• From 50 m2 to 200 m2 and above

Materials:

• Wood, brass, leather, textiles, stone, marble

Goal: Manage a studio of architects and designers to design and build a retail design concept for the Bang & Olfsen flagship stores globally.

Outcome: The first store with the new retail concept opened in Copenhagen in April 2013 and the concept has since been rolled out across several other locations globally.

Learn More: http://www.johannestorpe.com/projects/bang-olufsen-flagship-store

Context:

Drawing on a legacy of innovative and foresighted design, the luxury audio and design brand Bang & Olufsen’s new store design concept was created with the intention of translating the brand’s innate ability to create unexpected and magical user experiences into the overall retail experience.

Modularity

One of the key considerations in the design process was the design’s modularity and scalability, so as to allow for easier flexibility and international expansion. The design team thus created an extremely streamlined modular system that ensures a high level of familiarity, whether you enter a store in New York, London or Shanghai. To accomplish this, the team created three ‘zones’ within the store, which enable easy implementation in spaces of various sizes.

Sound As The Hero

As a brand that is renowned as being a pioneer in the audio industry, the store concept is suitably designed with impeccable acoustics in mind. Large acoustic wall panels mounted in fabric were created as modular elements that can be customised to all room sizes. An interactive speaker wall is designed to provide a simplified sound-testing experience. Speakers are hidden behind individual wall panels and revealed one set at a time, giving each model its own limelight and allowing the customer to focus on only one source of sound at a time.