London design studio JamesPlumb blended handwoven bulrush cabinets with earthy hemp accents to create the interiors for this Aesop retailer in Cambridge, which takes cues from the close by River Cam.
Positioned on town’s Trinity Road, the Aesop outlet was conceived as a “woven studying room” that gives a spot to buy and leaf by way of books, in keeping with the Australian skincare and cosmetics model.
The shop’s understated shopfront is painted a darkish brown hue knowledgeable by well-worn leather-based, which nods to vintage e-book bindings in reference to Cambridge’s historical past of academia.
Inside, a curved and slatted window seat doubles as a plinth for potted pelargoniums that body the shop’s light-filled, street-facing room that includes earthy-toned partitions.
This area is outlined by outsized, textured cabinets created from freshwater bulrush vegetation – regionally sourced and handwoven by rush weaver Felicity Irons of Rush Issues.
“Town itself and the encompassing panorama have been the start line for our design,” studio founders Hannah Plumb and James Russel informed Dezeen.
“The River Cam performs an enormous half in that – we have been more and more drawn to it and felt strongly that it units the tempo and the heartbeat of town of Cambridge.”
Different shelving on this room is comprised of hemp grown on the close by Margent Farm, which was mixed with bio-resin to kind geometric slabs of cabinetry that show numerous Aesop merchandise, in addition to a big sink.
“[The hemp] absorbs an enormous quantity of carbon because it grows, and to be so native to the venture was great,” acknowledged Plumb and Russel.
“We wished to make use of supplies that have been as native as potential, and bulrush being actually of the native waters made sense – each due to its magnificence and tactility, and likewise due to the prospect to make use of a cloth that may journey so few miles, and use so little vitality in manufacturing,” they added.
In the back of the shop, one other room options partitions painted in a darker hue than the street-facing area, which takes cues from the brown flowers of bulrush vegetation.
Guests are invited to take a seat in a low-slung vintage armchair upholstered in floral cloth or browse the varied books displayed on the identical hemp and bulrush cabinetry that exists all through the shop.
Authentic nineteenth-century polished picket floorboards additionally function in each rooms and intend to echo the outlet’s emphasis on native historical past.
“Every Aesop retailer has its personal character, and for this one, we responded particularly to its location within the coronary heart of Cambridge,” concluded Plumb and Russel.
This Cambridge department isn’t the primary Aesop retailer designed by JamesPlumb. The studio additionally created one in London’s Bloomsbury the place water runs from shelf to shelf and a stone-based retailer in Tub that celebrates town’s architectural panorama.
Different Aesop shops worldwide embrace a Tokyo department outlined by plaster and metal and a Toronto retailer that includes Victorian balustrades.
The images is by Oskar Proctor.
