Cottet Óptica y Audiología. | Huuun [Retail loves us]

Cottet Óptica y Audiología, is a family business founded in 1902 (117 years of history) and a leader in the field of visual and audiology health.

The creative study specialized in the conceptualization of retail spaces, huuun®, has been responsible for the redesign of the commercial spaces of Cottet, this time embodied in its new flagship store in Rambla Catalunya (Barcelona) and which is developed on a surface of almost 1000 sqm, divided between the 440 sqm that make up the ground floor and the more than 500 sqm of the ground floor.

Parallel to the brand, the new store design has been projected with the objective of rescuing and enhancing Cottet's “heritage” while providing a completely innovative touch, which is considered the most modern concept in Europe, designed for its client. The store, located on a first-level street and in a centenary building, is now equipped with experiential areas including advanced technology and state-of-the-art machinery. Thanks to all this, the store is placed at the forefront of trends.

Inspired by the origin of the brand dated in 1902, this new concept adapts its early twentieth century’s design to today’s world. The (new) elegant and timeless design combines the tour and the atmosphere of the different spaces with the shopping experience, which meets optimal conditions to offer an excellent experience (the greatest satisfaction) of what is acquired in a well differentiated environment.

Entering the space, we find a large triple audiovisual screen in the form of a saw. This welcoming display/monitor shares space with a (the) showcase, an exhibition area of glass cubes which represents a digital and analogical coexistence also present in many corners of the two commercial floors.

Through the entrance we observe the first part of the store, where the beauty and visual strength so characteristic of cast iron columns can be easily valued. Together with the bare walls and the facilities, both a particular industrial landscape and the rawness of the skin of the place are enhanced, what contributes to highlight each of the pieces and elements designed for this store.

All the walls and floor fixtures are developed thinking on the exhibition needs of the optical and audio products, as well as on its functionality and ergonomics; thus, several aesthetic versions are worked/developed. On the one hand, a classic nuance adapted to a more contemporary world; and on the other hand, a version/variant where technology and the shopping experience are linked. It highlights, for example, one of the iconic elements of the project: a digital screen framed by an old design frame, located just behind the main cash counter.

Some types of pavement from the entrance, generated in the line of the classic flower tile of Barcelona known as “panot”, perfectly combined with the oak herringbone parquet, a timeless reference in interior design and essential in this project, and the exhibition furniture and the props. For the health spaces (such as cabinets, visual gym, lenses, etc.), a laminate in shades of cement gray is used since it gives a more “techie” appearance, integrating itself into the most innovative design of these areas.

The shopfitting design with the dual “classic-contemporary” aesthetic is conceptualized considering/based on/in accordance with the exhibition and storage of the product. A composition of sideboards suspended and made of birch wood, shelves of the same material backlit in white with brass edges, decorative appliqués with vegetation, white back, side pilasters and perimeter visor in the green Cottet logo; all these elements, together with the circular and rectangular mirrors, in addition to the various vertical brass tube bars fixed to the wall, generate a differentiating exhibition composition due to that heritage essence defined in the design proposal.

The lighting system, highly relevant in every retail project, works with different light tones. For instance, a semi-cold light is selected to illuminate and enhance a product; differently, a more punctual warm tone is chosen for some spaces like customer service and waiting rooms; finally, a more indirect tone is used to generate a uniform light envelope in space, where each corner has its importance.

The most technological part and the experiential concept are found for example in the sports area, where we find a large screen which simulate nearly realistic sport typologies such as running, snow, cycling or diving just using a special glasses. Both, this section and the street plant of the optical cabinet, have been generated with a more neutral design, but also including a timeless component. There are also didactic spaces where Cottet explains to the clients in a very informative and visual way the different types of lenses, filters and photochromic treatments. The opaque and darken glass of this cabinet gives the impression that there is a curtain, whereas in reality this is made by electrically lighting your translucent vinyl. Likewise, all the customer service tables and the counter follow the same aesthetics as the exhibition furniture but taking into account the comfort of both the clients and the optics staff.

To connect both levels, it is used the oak wood slats with a black bottom through the main stairwell. This element, together with shelves with different graphics, is used to generate the timeline of the heritage of the brand, which shows us a tour as if it were a journey through the History of Cottet and eyewear, with memorable icons and events which highlight the legacy and roots of the company/brand in the sector and in the city of Barcelona.

At the ground floor, there is a museum with frames and glasses of times and past fashions, which takes you through the stairs and the corridor, where the optics and audiology cabinets are located. Moreover, you can find other spaces more focused on health, visual training for children, an area dedicated to audio and the workshop. As the latter is not closed, the purchasing experience starts in the street. This is possible because the customers can perceive from the outside how all the details have been made with careful dedication during the manufacture and adaptation of the lenses to their frame.

In this floor, there is a large exhibition hall in the purest New York loft style. That is, a dynamic, diaphanous and versatile space to fully develop the direct experience between the professional and the client, the organization of meetings, special presentations of product and other acts of the brand itself.