Concept development and realization of a car showroom — Place du Marché Saint-Honoré, 75001 Paris, France — 560 m² — 06. 2016 — Audi AG
The conception of Audi’s new showroom depicts progress through digitalization
Near Place Vendôme, Audi has opened its showroom. The store designers of blocher partners designed and realized Audi City Paris. They also conducted general planning. The worldwide fifth digital showroom of Audi allows the customers to design their dream car by themselves on a tablet.
The result is depicted on so-called power walls, screens with the size of 40 square meters. The costumers can choose even the smallest details, like treads or the seams of the car seats. Through this, the conception of this store design elevates the interactive possibilities and creates a striking brand experience. After entering the building, designed by the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill, the customers reach a tunnel-like tapering that, together with a mesmerizing light installation, create a pulling effect thereby attracting costumers into the store. The planning office blocher partners designed a lighting concept that is freely adjustable and can be run in different modes for day, night and special events.
Showroom à la française
Inside, the interior designers combined a warm concrete look and Antelio glass framing huge screens that bring the experience of driving an Audi on open track into the store. Symmetrically shifted surfaces reflect these dynamics and convey them to spatial elements: The look of the whole store avoids 90° angles and replaces them with numerous obtuse angles and the typical Audi diamond structure.
It is used to decorate the stairway walls, to act as a room divider and as a visual cover for the glazed surfaces. The feeling of movement is almost tangible. The interior designers created an emotionally branded meeting point that brings customers, the brand and the city together. Take the Audi Lounges as a further example: Here, consulters and clients can discuss the contract signing in a quiet and relaxed ambient. Symmetric and elegant struts in front of the glass elements and windows act as a sight protection without having an insulating effect; Through the use of noise-reduced carpets, the interior designers gave this room even more privacy. »Progress through technology« – in Paris, the architects managed to turn this Audi claim into reality.
