The jury’s comment:

“Faradays is a store that not only complements its beautiful heritage architecture but takes it to new heights, embodying a contemporary take on a 1920s’ department store retail experience. A strong, confident concept that borrows from and is influenced by artists Christo, Jeanne-Claude and Lucio Fontana is translated into organic forms that guide the shopper experience and showcase the product. The clever use of canvas – a nod to the building’s history as a textile centre – provides a unique, sustainable building material and a dramatic display area within its reveals. This ribbon of fabric elegantly offsets handmade island plinths of stone, polished brass and roughened timber, which direct flow and create eddies of privacy. Blending craft, theatre, service and hospitality into one immaculately detailed space is one thing but to deliver them with such skill is the work of a studio at the very top of its profession.”

PROJECT DETAILS:

Location: Ground floor, Textile Centre building (est. 1920s), Parnell, Auckland

Client: Faradays

Building area (m²): 510m²

Project brief: The brief was to reinvent the 1920s’ department store experience within the Textile Centre. A place where people could experience a broad collection of objects and brands that hadn’t previously been available in the southern hemisphere. Cheshire had worked with the client previously, making two menswear stores. These stores were monastic in their atmosphere, sparse and brave in their material selection. Faradays needed to be inviting, elegant and more feminine. In addition to fashion, footwear, homeware and fragrances, it also includes a florist and a bar and is home to selected artworks.

Credits:

• Project principals – George Gregory and Emily Priest, in collaboration with Nat Cheshire
• Project visualiser – Mehul Patel

“Faradays is an entirely bespoke environment. It relied on our ability to leverage craft within the contractor’s team. Because we were creating something that hadn’t yet existed, prototyping became essential. The curtain and its displays are the single-most potent spatial tool within Faradays. We recognised the importance of how the fabric reacted when sliced and pulled taught, relying on Leigh Jackson’s knowledge of fabric, or the scale of each of the openings and how each of the display vitrines appear within. Faradays as an idea is simple in conception, but it relied on the clarity of execution. Our close relationship with these makers is central to Faradays’ success.” - the Cheshire team

Watch the finalist presentation here:

With thanks to our Interior Awards 2023 sponsors. Find out more about each of our sponsors here.