Woods Bagot have repurposed a WWII storage woolshed in Sydney’s Alexandria into a new flagship store for furniture and furnishing company Living Edge.
The new shopfront at the Alexandria Woolstores is the latest addition to the transformed precinct that is fast becoming a dynamic retail hub.
Woods Bagot were employed for the interior fitout of Shed 74, which covers 1,900sqm of floorspace and sits within the proximity of “The Grounds of Alexandria”, a popular coffee store designed by Carolin Choker.
Challenges included a lack of street frontage and the building’s heritage nature, which Woods Bagot responded to by creating double height displays around the building’s perimeter and hiring an heritage consultant to ensure its character was preserved.
As a result the building’s original timber structural elements were preserved, and its aged patina left as a feature, while stained American Oak was added as interior mouldings to contrast with the concrete and base building products.
As Living Edge’s flagship store, the building houses residential and commercial operations under one roof. Woods Bagot utilised a mezzanine level for the contract showroom whilst the ground-floor serves as the residential showroom.
Woods Bagot Head of Interiors Todd Hammond says the design endeavoured to immerse visitors into the living environments established by Living Edge products.
“The design aims to deliver an engaging experience for customers. The showroom is all about immersion, creating volumes of space and providing the opportunity for visitors to properly connect with Living Edge products,” he says.
Image credits: Living Edge.
