Revamp Your Retail Game with Francesca Perani's Bloomscape Architecture and The Reversible Shop!

Studios Bloomscape Architecture and Francesca Perani Enterprise have teamed up to create a stunning new store for multi-brand retailer ON-OFF in Milan, using flexible and scalable display solutions borrowed from the construction industry for a circular future. The 100sqm space features an exposed structure in bright blue, anodized steel drywall framing, combined with inserts and shelving in poplar wood, creating a playful reinterpretation of industrial and natural materials.

The designers were faced with the challenge of time limits for execution and a limited budget, but they identified easily available construction solutions to create a new fit-out prototype inspired by the building world, with a focus on waste reduction and enhancing existing materials. The brief from the owner was to create a new brand identity while providing high-flexibility displays that could be quickly rolled out and replicated in different contexts.

The design of the store revolves around a coloured metal grid descending from the ceiling and covering all the walls, creating a vibrant and dynamic visual impact. A series of adjustable shelves and a single wood rail for hanging are placed on the grid, while prefabricated concrete blocks, mirror features, and methacrylate surfaces complete the material mood board, with the characterizing blue protective treatment taking centre stage.

With their innovative and sustainable approach to retail interiors, Bloomscape Architecture and Francesca Perani Enterprise have created a new standard for future store designs. Their use of flexible and scalable display solutions has not only resulted in a visually stunning space but has also provided a more cost-effective and efficient way to roll out new store designs. Overall, the ON-OFF store in Milan is a testament to the power of creativity and innovation in the world of retail interiors.

As the world of retail continues to evolve, designers and architects are tasked with creating spaces that not only showcase products but also promote sustainability. Enter the Bloomscape Architecture and Francesca Perani Enterprise collaboration, which has resulted in a unique, reversible retail space concept called The Reversible Shop.

The Reversible Shop boasts an open distribution layout that showcases hangable and folded items along the perimeter walls, turning products into a significant architectural element. The back wall is dedicated to corporate communication, while the central area is divided into freestanding displays for hanging items and focus islands for folded goods. Customized clothes rails made of structural steel and wood are used on the perimeter walls, and prefabricated chimney cement blocks make up the display islands, which can be repositioned to suit commercial needs.

The cash register unit is designed with mirror finishes and integrated with the shop, making it light and purposely disguised from its context. The sales counter is centred on the backlight end wall, while the dressing rooms near the cash register are built using light polycarbonate partitions with structural metal and wood frames. The result is an intimate space that connects with the sales floor through continuity in materials.

The internal circulation guarantees a complete depth of vision, with a clear central path around which communication panels hanging from the ceiling accompany the user to identify and choose the brands available. The existing architectural space remains unchanged, with an essential skeleton structure defining the area and the new ON-OFF corporate image. The metal-cyan structures, wood, polycarbonate, and mirrors complete the space.

What sets The Reversible Shop apart is its flexibility and sustainability. The design is reversible in two ways: it offers the opportunity to develop any commercial premises while limiting demolition and reconstruction costs. It also creates the possibility of repositioning or recycling the display elements back into the world of construction. The project designers aimed to identify a single language strongly connected to the materials used to express contemporary dynamics in a creative vision that answers the need for waste limitation and reduced access to refined materials.

According to Francesca Perani, "This is an experiment in reversibility where the crude steel is reinvented in a funky style using an electric blue in synergy with the comforting poplar plywood." Rosario Distaso adds, "Too often, the world of retail is still insensitive to sustainability. However, its life cycle is too short to continue being ignored."

The Reversible Shop showcases a forward-thinking design that incorporates sustainable practices while providing an aesthetically pleasing and functional retail space. As retail continues to evolve, projects like The Reversible Shop will undoubtedly pave the way for the future of retail interiors.

Architects: Bloomscape Architecture, Francesca Perani Enterprise

Area: 100 m²

Year: 2023

Photographs: Francesca Perani

Lead Architects: Rosario Distaso, Francesca Perani