Liberty

The redesigned Liberty department store on London's Regent Street, by 20/20 Ltd. (London), has been chosen as the Store of the Year in the 32nd annual ISP/VM SD International Store Design Competition.

Liberty's Regent Street department store is one of the grande dames of London retailing, with origins dating back to 1875. But in recent years, the once-powerful British department store brand had begun to lose some of its luster. So, the retailer hired 20/20 Ltd. (London) to help revitalize the Liberty brand by redesigning its three-floor, 40,000-square-foot space on Regent Street. (Liberty's adjoining Tudor House retail space is also slated to be updated within the next few years.)

Simon Stacey, 20/20's creative partner, says this was more than a facelift or modernization. The Regent Street project “involved a precise definition of what Liberty represents, and using this insight to remain faithful to the brand when creating the new store design.” That effort resulted in the creation of an “aesthetic emporium” that reflects the design-centered ethos of the store's founder, Arthur Lasenby Liberty, who began his business by selling silks, embroideries, furniture, carpeting and curios imported from Japan, China, Java and Persia.

To help pay tribute to the Liberty store's long history, 20/20 designers created a new, Edwardian-style entrance at the corner of Regent and Great Marlborough streets. Hanging in the entrance's porch/reception area is a light sculpture that pulses with varying intensities of light, to give the space a sense of movement.

Inside, the store's escalator has been moved to the front, giving customers using the new entrance easy access to either the women's shoes and lingerie departments on the second floor or to the menswear department in the lower level. The ground floor also features contemporary chandeliers and oak “play tables” displaying cosmetics and other beauty-related merchandise.

Visitors to the second story encounter a series of raised “shoe stages,” which encourage customers to pick up the footwear. The lower level is home to a new café/restaurant called Arthur's, and the adjoining menswear displays include a 100-foot-long shirt wall and red-lacquer fixtures holding neckties that harken back to the mod 1960s.

“There is a richness and color in the Liberty brand heritage,” says Liberty managing director John Ball, “which we think is reflected in the new store design.”

Client Design Team: Liberty, London – John Ball, managing director; Phil Looker, store planner; Barbara King, visual merchandising and product

Design Team: 20/20 Ltd., London – Rune Gustafson, managing director; Bernard Dooling, board director; Simon Stacey, creative partner; Jeff MacCall, client partner; Sarah Chapman, Sarah Hilden, Andrea Vaughan, designers

General Contractors: A.E. Hadley, Portsmouth, U.K.; John Richards Shopfitters, Saltash, U.K.

Architect: Landmark Architecture Ltd., London

Outside Design Consultants: Into Lighting, London; Neil Wilkins, Wiltshire, U.K.

Suppliers: Chorus, London (audio/video, ceiling, flooring); A.E. Handley, Portsmouth, U.K. (fixturing, furniture); 20/20 Ltd., London (graphics, signage, wallcoverings); Neil Wilkins, Wiltshire, U.K. (light sculpture)