Situated above street level, the designer for Longchamp’s first contemporary flagship store in New York faced the dilemma of how to draw shoppers from the street below into the retail space above.
Heatherwick Studio rose to the challenge with style.
Abandoning the concept of the traditional staircase or escalator, the space is defined by a spectacular ‘stair landscape’.
Constructed in 1 ¼” hot-rolled steel, the stunning staircase weighing 55 tonnes took six months to build and forms a striking installation of ribbon-like forms that divide and converge to create a topography of walkways, landings and steps.
For the balustrades the designers rejected the traditional rigidity and flatness of conventional sheet glass and used aerospace windscreen technology to create a series of uniquely-formed panels that wind and drape around the staircase with the fluidity of fabric.
A large glazed core constructed through the building floods the entire space in natural light, creating an extraordinary interior that is drawing the crowds in.
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