Following the successful launch of the Zip Bag, Heatherwick Studio was invited by Longchamp to design the company’s first contemporary flagship store. With a retail space situated above street level, the challenge was to find a way to draw people up into the store from the street.

The studio’s solution uses natural light, from a large glazed core cut through the building, to draw people up a landscape, rather than a conventional staircase or escalator, to the floor above. Constructed in 1¼” hot-rolled steel and taking six months to build, the stair landscape weighs 55 tonnes and is an installation of ribbon-like forms that divide and converge to form a topography of walkways, landings and steps.

The balustrades are formed using aerospace windscreen technology to create a series of uniquely-formed panels that drape with the fluidity of fabric, rejecting the familiar rigidity and flatness of conventional sheet glass.

The project also includes the construction of a new third storey, incorporating showroom, offices and roof garden, as well as unique display and lighting systems for the store.

Tags: Stairs