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Villa Moda Department Store

Project Details

£50M or more

New Build

Practice

Eldridge London

17 Calico Row , Plantation Wharf , LONDON , SW11 3TW

Eldridge London were recommended by Wallpaper* magazine and Wink Media to Sheikh Majed Al-Sabah, the dynamic fashion entrepreneur developing a new department store for luxury brands on the waterfront of Kuwait city. Eldridge London were responsible for the design of the main entrance area and lounge, public spaces and staircases, two levels of multi-brand fashion space, restaurant and café managed by the Caprice group, as well as the landscaping around the building. The design of the exterior sets the building itself in a sculptural landscape combining simplicity of surface with the richness of layering and shadow produced by a field of 12 metre high silver steel masts, designed to move with the wind, surrounding the glass envelope of the building. The theme has been repeated as a radial veil of slender masts around the service elements at one end of the building and then in the new landscaped park between the building and the waterfront. The Villa Moda Restaurant and Café overlook the waterfront and new landscape. The ground floor restaurant is calm and sophisticated. Eldridge London have designed a sculptural white structure within the single and double height volumes of the restaurant creating a mix of small and open dining areas. Villa Moda Café and Restaurant opens onto the Multibrand space notable for its dramatic rooflight running the full 30 metre length of the area flanked by hard wood slatted screens and generously sized changing rooms. The fusion of the layer of design brought to the scheme by Eldridge London coupled with Wink Media’s unique graphic identity helps capture the spirit of the Gulf region as well as producing a state of the art retail experience.