Parisian studio RDAI has designed a store on Tokyo's prestigious Omotesando Avenue for fashion house Hermès, which was designed to evoke aspects of Japanese nature and culture.
The 488-square-metre store is the first freestanding Hermès outlet in Tokyo since the brand opened its Ginza emporium in 2001, which was also designed by RDAI.
Above: a Hermès store on Tokyo's Omotesando Avenue. Top image: it has a gridded steel facade
The latest store occupies a prime spot on Omotesando Avenue ? one of Tokyo's most luxurious shipping destinations.
The street is lined with high-end boutiques including a Jil Sander store with an interior designed by John Pawson, and an OMA-designed store for Coach featuring herringbone-patterned glass facades.
The facade references bamboo groves The Hermès store occupies two storeys of the Jingumae Ota Building, which has a stone plinth that prevented the store from having a fully glazed facade.
As the store could have traditional window displays RDAI chose to wrap the building's base in a geometric screen made from pieces of copper-coloured stainless steel.
It occupies the stone plinth of another building
Small window displays are incorporated into the patterned cladding, along with lighting that illuminates the stonework at night.
According to Hermès, the grid gives the facade a modern look that "adds depth and light to the exterior, just as light and shadows intermingle in a bamboo grove."
The store features curved walls inside
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