Presented with a 1000 sq/ft wedged shaped space, it was not immediately clear how to develop a store, or indeed how to access it, as at that moment there was none except through the as yet unbuilt party wall with the neighboring store.
Project Name: Malin+Goetz DTLA
Studio Name: Messana O’Rorke
Location: Los Angeles, United States
Photography: Eric Laignel
Being LA and a distinct lack of people wandering the street, we determined that we should orient the space toward the development’s court yard, where a pedestrian mall was being anticipated, and present our store as a window display to Santa Fe Avenue along the wide end of the wedge.
The M+G products fall into four categories, hair, skin and face, plus candles and fragrance. The store fixture developed as an idea of a single ribbon structure, reminiscent of that perfect moment when a new concrete building is just floors and columns. The serpentine form runs its way around the store made up from straight runs and 30° curves, the ten shelves in each bay are held in place by a single floor anchored column.
The structure exists independently of the white plaster perimeter walls and windows. The exception being a mirrored partition the juts into the space providing a small storage room. The reclaimed oak and marble sales counter is the only fixture to occupy the floor of the space, which has raw concrete floor and ceiling.
