This project is about designing the Headquarters, Production Line and Showroom of greek fashion brand “Devotion Twins”.
The building is situated along the National Highway and uses the dynamic lights of fast moving cars as a unique source of inspiration.
The building's façade was conceived as a double-layered system corresponding to the different lighting needs of the building throughout the day.
The first layer consists of a louvre skin which blocks natural daylight and acts as a general neutral background.
The second layer is a steel structure of vertical and horizontal elements incorporating the brand’s logo that also serves as artificial night light.
During the day the steel structure resembles a foreground, a screen silently facing and watching over the city.
But during night time the structure gets activated creating a three-dimensional lighting spectacle which captures the eye of the driver as it matches perfectly the fast, dynamic movement of cars on the National Highway.
A rectangular steel volume sticks out and hovers gently above the ground signaling the entrance to a double -height void welcome space.
Once inside the building, the visitor faces a double height translucent glass surface which conceals the production spaces and grants a sense of tranquility and verticality.
The double - height entrance was designed as a carved out mass subtracted from the ground floor plan separating the public passage of visitors from the private industrial space.
The showroom entrance was designed to offer a dreamlike welcoming feeling. A custom made light frame acts as a luminous threshold to a golden gate that leads to the “black” showroom space. The light is reflected upon the steel flooring creating an almost fairytale-like sense and luring the visitor to pass through the glowing “door”.
The dedicated showroom occupies an entire floor and includes a meeting space as well as the main showcasing and sampling room. The design was based on “a room in a room” concept where the two spaces are separated through a slim steel frame bearing hidden light and also marked through the use of opposing colors and materials.
As one enters the Showroom,he/she is captivated by the dynamic linearity of a golden cylinder on the roof that acts as a shaped light apparatus unifying the black and white space. The cylinder captures the visitors' glance leading the eye to the far end of the space: a visual trick intensifying and reforming the showroom's perspective.
Moving to the “white” room, two roof hangers interlock with the cylinder respecting its role as main design element. Roof hangers and steel beams supporting lighting spots create a three-dimensional grid where light points become steel lines, lines become planes and planes dissolve back into light lines.
Supplementary to the whole, the two ground hangers serve as a unique source of lighting while revolving around themselves and generating a charming spectacle of clothes and light movement. They are called “dancers”
The “black” meeting space is characterized by smooth surfaces (concrete cast flooring, emperador marble, steel, velveteen couches) and atmospheric hidden lighting, while the main material used in the “white” showcasing space is hammered-finish tiling covering the floor as well as the hangers' walls.
The “black” space's lounge area wall also doubles as a massive projection screen followed by the appropriate lighting scenario.
In the office space, a continuous line of diffuse light that starts from the staircase triangular - like sculpture installation goes on to define the main office space. The custom - made couch with no apparent supports also serves as a partition between the main and secretariat office. The shelves are equipped with hidden diffuse light that makes them hover as luminous lines detached from the walls. The discrete color of the offices’ cement flooring matches the balcony plants creating a sense of continuity between inside and outside. A perfect complement to the canvas of carefully selected elements, materials and textures that form a relaxed space for work and fashion inspiration. Each and every object serves a unique design role while at the same time adhering to an overall cοhesive spatial vocabulary.
Both the ground and mezzanine floors are dedicated to the design and production process of clothes. Minimal working spaces were designed to facilitate the collaboration between the various stages of production line. Each floor is mainly occupied by a longitudinal table which functions as a matrix for an automated fabric-cutting machine. Medium-height partitions separate the tables from the rest of the supplementary functions while also serving as storage space for both working sides.
