identity
Nuno Soares weighs in
h spot
SML gets sized up
search
Projects, products and eco-initiatives
report
*Designing big dreams
*Beyond Media festival
book review
Wood or stone? Both
project news
Projects in the pipeline – a fresh batch
folio
*Lansdowne Court, London by RHE
*Applemore College, Southampton by SHH
cover story
Talking shop – the latest in retail bliss
project file
*Two houses by SCDA
*A pool house gets the rural treatment
*Altitude’s oriental oasis in Shenzhen
*Asia’s gambling island receives an education
fulcrum
The Public by Will Alsop
global perspective
Studio Pei Zhu
out there
hinge takes a stroll around the social circuith

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RETAIL

For those designers not involved with it – and perhaps some who are – retail design might seem an exercise in masochism. Insanely short deadlines for construction,space values calculated down to the millimetre, perpetually constrained floorplates asked to display too many goods, lighting design trimmed to a science and clients known to be among the most ridiculously demanding on the planet. The only thing not pinched are the budgets. Well, that may be less than true as well. Even the Hermeses and Guccis of this world don’t like to waste money. And to cap it off, one’s design usually enjoys a pretty brief shelf-life, owing to the necessity within retailing for constant trend-catching. You make them a gourmet meal, the next day they’re hungry again...