Brown Thomas & Co.

Brown Thomas is a flagship name in Irish fashion retailing. Feeling it needed “a progressive sensibility to international luxury retailing,” the company hired Toronto design firm burdifilek to update 27,000 square feet within its historic Grafton Street location in Dublin, Ireland. The renovated footwear and women's departments won first place in the New Shop Within an Existing Full-Line or Specialty Department Store category in the 2006 ISP/VM+SD Intetrnational Store Design Competition.

“We approached this with the idea that retailing at this level is about creating a fashion theatre for true style voyeurs,” said Diego Burdi, the firm’s creative partner. “The materials in this space needed to be completely customized with a global sensibility but also reflect the natural textural quality of the Irish landscape.”

The footwear department exudes luxury and lets the shoes take center stage. The design concept embraces an intimate shopping experience, culminating in an amphitheatre seating area. Custom arch-shaped seating is surrounded by Lucite sculpture partitions that refract light, creating what the designers call “a dreamlike visual experience.”

The warm silver palette is infused with layers of textured material and bursts of color. Suede paneled walls are set off by three types of zebra wood and hand-finished magenta feature walls.

The women’s designer area is infused with what the designers call international sophistication and a classic refinement. The 7500-square-foot space houses a premium selection of luxury fashion collections. The overall design incorporates an area that can be transformed into a runway for fashion shows. A palette of whites – including alabaster, frost and ecru – are manifested in refined architectural form and complex materials.

The environment is punctuated by coffee-toned lacquer walls and brushed steel and Lucite floor fixtures, softened by custom fawn-colored carpets.

“The redesign has a distinctly feminine attitude with a handsome and sophisticated architectural language,” says Burdi, “but most of all it is a beautiful contemporary interpretation of the retailer’s rich cultural history.”

Client: Brown Thomas & Co., Dublin – Graham McNaught, project manager

Design: burdifilek, Toronto – Diego Burdi, design director; Paul Filek, managing partner; Jeremy Mendonca, senior designer; Young Kim, senior designer; Jason Sweers, senior designer; Marika Nakagawa, designer; Diane Paz, designer; William Lau, designer; Michael Steele, designer; Anna Jurkiewicz, CADD; Edwin Reyes, CADD; Anthony Tey, CADD

Outside Design Consultants: Douglas Wallace, Dublin (consulting architect)

Curley Smith, Dublin (mechanical/electrical)

Lightbrigade, Toronto (lighting consultant)

PKS, Dublin (construction consultants)

JGA, London (fire engineering consultants)

General Contractor: John Sisk & Sons, Dublin

Metal Work: Simon Metal, Toronto

Fabrics: Primavera, Toronto

Telio & Cie, Toronto

Millwork: Pancor Industries, Mississauga, Ont.

Flooring: Sullivan Source, Toronto

Furniture: Louis Interiors, Toronto

Lighting: RSA-Cooper, Chatsworth, Calif.

Laminates: Formica, Cincinnati

Acrylics: Mark Littlejohn Acrylics, Toronto

Glass: Accura Glass, Toronto

Special Finish and Wall Art: Moss & Lam, Toronto

Photography: Ben Rahn, A Frame, Toronto