Bazar Noir | Hidden Fortress

End of 2014 the concept store named Bazar Noir opened in Berlin to showcase its selections of hand-picked objects and interior accessories. The shop targets lovers of design with a faible for extra-ordinary unique pieces from around the world. Hidden Fortress was commissioned with the spatial concept of the store as well as designing and realizing the two-floor interior.

In order to allow for a constant change of exhibits (often one-off pieces), the task was to design an extremely adaptable and flexible space, preferably leaving the atmosphere of the raw building and the lofty character of the space intact. At the same time Hidden Fortress was tasked with providing a result with a high degree of visibility and signature.

The color black is the anchor in the concept work for the store. The challenge was to realize the same tone/tint in a variety of surfaces, materials and production methods. The special presentation of the 2nd floor was achieved by separating it in a stark contrast from the rest of the store. Using maritime pine as a main component provides a strong image due to its large grain, in its original color light white/yellowish as well as in tinted black. While it became the main material for the upper floor in its original color, it was also used in black for most of the furniture of the main floor. Thus the upper floor with its strongly different atmosphere could at the same time be integrated and separated from the darker main floor. To this play of black and white, elements of copper, glass and high-quality fabrics were added, resulting in an overall warm and cozy atmosphere in spite of the strong minimalism of the store interior.

Another pillar of the strong symbolism/imagery used is the staircase itself. Defying gravity, it freely floats in the room with no connection to the ground of the main floor. Since it is also panelled in light maritime pine on the inside it draws in the light and becomes a landmark in the room as well as attracts the view and curiosity, subtly leading the visitor upstairs. The dominating areas and visual axis's of the main floor are the tea kitchen in the back part of the room and the presentation rack in the front, a glass-top counter, the side walls of the staircase, and a glass wall at the front edge of the balcony.

The divisions and connections between these areas and between the two floors, are designed to allow a variety of new perspectives while one wanders around in the space. This softens the division between the upper and lower area, and contradicts the stronger division of dark downstairs and light upstairs. The result is a strong feeling of a homogeneous space in spite of its division between the two floors, as commented by Catherine Pfisterer, the owner of Bazar Noir. Hidden Fortress has tailor-cut a flexible shop system for the presentation of objects in Bazar Noir. It consists of a structure of squared frames, which cover an entire wall of the front room, and which carry a variety of shelf modules with products to display. The shelves can be adjusted to the size of the products, and are therefore produced in 3 different sizes, while from the side they resemble identical silhouettes. Being made from laser-cut and powder-coated aluminum, the arrangement of the modules in the framework can result in a strongly geometrical image or in a playful seemingly more chaotic structure. Detailed smaller elements made from copper and glass can be used for displaying smaller items.

Due to an optimized use of the available space at the location it was decided to integrate the tea kitchen into the shops interior presentation. The kitchen therefore provides comfort and function to clients as well as the staff running shop. This allows it to be used in a double function as a reality resembling stage for items on display in the field of kitchen supply and equipment.

Bazar Noir, lighting concept: The store Bazar Noir is a concept store for the display and sale of one-off items and outstanding design pieces. So the name and the function of the place already gave a strong marker for an interior lighting concept as well. With the lighting set-up, besides the pure functional aspects, we also followed the idea of staging a black room where the items on display are meant to be the real highlights.

We had to handle daylight from three different spots, so we worked with an extra-matte wall paint, which absorbs most of the existing light from in- and outside, to set up light spots precisely. In the front room a rack of spotlights is placed under the 5m high ceiling. From there spots highlight the objects in the room and give them the desired distinguished positions. As the arrangement in this part of the store is changing constantly due to the flexible shop system, we needed the lighting solution to be as flexible as possible, while at the same time we wanted to prevent the dropping of uncontrolled shadows.

While the ground floor is a more conceptual room, the upper floor is meant to create the atmosphere of a habitat. Here the warmth, which radiates from the wooden walls, is accentuated by an indirect light source behind the paneling. This light, which is adjustable, paints the room in a soft, atmospheric quality. The light objects on display become part of the light concept for the upper floor by setting highlights in the furniture arrangement. On the mezzanine we have no direct daylight, but through visual axis and light shafts we created light areas that also work in various ways. Besides providing indirect daylight to the mezzanine, they become background lit display areas as well.

PROJECTINFOS
Task: Interior design for a Concept-Store, BAZAR NOIR
Designer: HIDDEN FORTRESS
Production shop system and interior: Majo Ertel
Production staircase: Livius Härer
Area: 60 sqm (ground floor) 25 sqm (mezzanine floor)
Completion: November 2014
Photos: Hidden Fortress