HMKM
14 - 16 Great Pulteney Street London, W1F 9ND
HMKM is probably best known by most for its design of department stores around the world.
Started in 1990, its founding partners met whilst working with George Davies and were part of the ‘Next’ store revolution – which used retail design to change the way that we shop, and had a massive impact on the bottom line. Rather than displaying product lines, they started showcasing ‘outfits’ within the stores, ensuring customers walked out of the store with a wardrobe, rather than a single garment.
Though the company may have grown and many of the faces have changed, their ability to create beautiful, commercially successful store design has not.
With Peter Moore and Christian Papa at its helm, their architectural background is evident in many of their projects.
We love their ‘Garden of imagination’ concept for Tryano in Abu Dhabi. Based around the seasons, tiles are used to great effect, creating a backdrop which defines each department; wrapping around columns and across the floors providing focus on magical pavilions at the centre of each space, whilst their store for Primark in Amsterdam blends brand cues with a graphic and interior design language that celebrate the store’s Amsterdam location.
To communicate Galeries Lafayette’s fashion credentials and French heritage for their Beijing store HMKM replicated architectural elements from the brand’s iconic Boulevard Haussman store, executed using contemporary design cues which would resonate with the younger Chinese market.
Other department store projects of note, include the elegant interior for Breuninger’s Libeskind Kö-Bogen development in Düsseldorf, and the distinctive structures which define each of the areas on the menswear floor of Bangkok’s Paragon department store. While More recently they have created a palatial concept for Singapore based department store Robinsons, for the retailers launch into Al-Futtaim’s Dubai Festival City and also Beymen in Istanbul, with elegant fixtures, beautiful flooring and subtle colour changes. The store plays host to over 700 brands from fashion and accessories to beauty and home, which is combined with a lively calendar of events, activities and pop-up experiences to make the store a constantly evolving destination.
Launching their first new store in over a decade, Fenwick chose HMKM, who have designed a store with departments which flow, seemingly effortlessly, from one to another. As in their store for Beymen and others, each department features bespoke fixtures, ceiling treatments and choices of materials that create distinction and define each area and therein it is possible to appreciate the detail and level of thought and consideration that goes each of their concepts.
Though based in London, their acquisition by Interbrand gives HMKM access to a global network of nearly 30 offices, which help them deliver their projects internationally.
Contact Roaya Garvey, who heads up HMKM’s new business.
Photography Credit:
Fenwick – Duncan Smith