Page 99 - AIT0923_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design blocher partners, Stuttgart
Bauherr • Client Engelhorn KGaA, Mannheim
Standort • Location O5.8, Mannheim
Nutzfläche • Floor space 1000 m 2
Fotos • Photos Joachim Grothus, Herford
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 134

WOMEN‘S FOOTWEAR

IN MANNHEIM

With considerable interventions, blocher partners pro-
duce a new bright world in the familiar one. In the
traditional Mannheim store of the Engelhorn fashion
house, almost every dream of the perfect shoe and
matching accessory can come true. Like on a beach
promenade, shoes from the most famous designers
and labels are presented in a playful and elegant way.

T he aim was to tie in with the existing architecture, to appreciate it
and to continue it. The flooring, wall designs, the existing leather-
wrapped supports and the ceiling lighting were merely “optimized”.
The new shoe universe is divided into three areas and very smoothly
combines these three so different worlds of the “high-end labels”, the
“sneaker world” and the “lifestyle area”, as it were. The atmosphere
is cheerful and airy – whereas the window front has always been
open in the accessories department, daylight now also falls through
the newly opened-up façade in the section for exclusive shoes. One
almost feels transported to a beach scene somewhere on the Mediter-
ranean coast, not only because of the chosen colour spectrum ranging
between blue-green and sandy tones but also because the organic
shapes of the seating and display furniture conjure up images of air
mattresses and swim rings during past summer holidays in the mind’s
eye. Customers are greeted softly and elegantly, the petrol-coloured
carpet takes its flaneurs into a cheerful world of shoe delights as if
they were riding on a wave. The terrazzo shelves make every shoe dis-
played on them look as if it has been laid down on an actual pebble
beach. The already existing marble cube is casually encased in white
backlit expanded metal, and you can literally feel the skaters whizzing
by. The most remarkable achievement of blocher partners is probab-
ly that of responding to all spatial expectations of atmosphere, from
“cool” to “hot”. The customers are allowed their personality and their
own style, the salesroom and the range of products speak a univer-
sal and diverse language, so you can go on the search for your own
dream shoe. Not to forget the champagne bar located in the open
space, which will ensure an upbeat mood even if your wish for a shoe
is unfulfilled. The Who’s Who of shoe brands will then also meet in
the sales area, which now covers almost 1,000 square metres across
the entire wing of the building. A little drop of bitterness, however,
remains: Unfortunately, in the end it will be your wallet that decides
Grundriss • Floor plan whether you can have the shoes or not.

AIT 9.2023 • 099