Railston are finlists in the Retail week interiors Awards 2010!
Recently we entered the National Association of Shopfitting Excellence Award and have been shortlisted as finalists. We entered the competition in conjunction with Quinine Design for the work we both completed on the Orange Multi Media Store in Milton Keynes.
Here is our infomation about the store and if you keep scrolling down you'll fin some images:
INFORMATION
Name of Shop: The Orange Multimedia Store
Location Of shop: Milton Keynes
The Retailer: Orange
Main Designers: Quinine Design
Shopfitter: Railston
DESIGN BRIEF
Railston survey the store and interpret the full extent of works and report this back to Orange. It is essential that the most economic solution is found to site-specific issues or the project will simply not be financially viable. With special projects, such as Milton Keynes, sites can vary dramatically in their nature and the work that is required. For example Milton Keynes had both innovative materials and cutting-edge design. Railston worked extremely closely with the appointed designer to interpret the concept and then developed the ideas to ensure the designs were able to be made.
Orange asked for a fully interactive store that not only showcased the products to their fullest but that also excited visually, whilst working practically from both a technological and social aspect.
On the Orange Multimedia store, Milton Keynes, Railston worked closely with Quinine Design whose specification of materials and ideas were often difficult, if not initially impossible, to interpret. The store features huge screens with interactive cameras, the floor is rubber and bouncy and there are curved seating and features, all of which were part of the brief and necessary for Railston to create.
PROBLEMS/ CHALLENGES
Railston and Quinine Design were asked to produce a concept store which was different to any other of the 401 stores within the Orange Portfolio. Media had both cutting edge design and new and innovative ways to interact with customers. The design and utilisation of new materials was an amazing challenge for both shopfitter and designer. Railston and Quinine had to find new materials in order to create the finish that the retailer required. Railston also had to understand and then create ways to translate Orange’s ideas of using interactive software into useable and aesthetically pleasing designs. The end result and the true synergy between design and build have created one of most unique mobile communication stores in the world.
DESIGN INTEREST
The Orange Multi media store situated in Milton Keynes was Orange’s first ever UK Multimedia Store, delivering a completely new dimension of multimedia services to the community in the area. It was designed specifically to encourage 'engagement' between consumers and the incredible range of multimedia technology that is available through Orange.
The Orange Multimedia Store in the centre: mk is a digital 'playground' - ranging from its giant 70-inch cinema style screen and seating at the front of the store to the bouncy rubber floor when you first walk in. The seated area has been created for new product demonstrations, basic education workshops and film previews, as well as offering it to the local community as a unique platform for endless possibilities, such as book signings and product launches.
The store also featured live handsets for customers to engage with all the services available from Orange while the showcase screen on the main wall, which is one of the biggest in the UK, is the place where all the mobile technology that is available in store will be brought to life on a large scale. This screen will also play host to two of the stores most unique interactive features. A giant virtual Mexican Wave was made up of customer’s films that they recorded in store via the available mobile devices.
Since the launch day, people have also being invited to send in pictures of 'what symbolises Milton Keynes' to feature on the screen, creating a 'PhotoClock', which will display images at the time they were taken / sent from anywhere in Milton Keynes.
Sian Doyle, Director of Orange Retail said “Milton Keynes offers the perfect venue to launch the first ever Orange Multimedia Store. Its young demographic and forward-thinking population plus the estimated potential 297,000 mobile users in the city, tells us there is high demand for the latest mobile, broadband and digital solutions."
ACHIEVMENTS
In this instance both the use of space and innovative use of materials is a great achievement. Every project with Orange is different and every special project is effectively like developing a new brand/corporate design.
Orange Media Store, MK utilised a new type of mineral board to clad the entire store to create a very slick surface, and this material had never been used before in a retail outlet. It was a totally new material to cut, mount and fix and Railston completed the project to meet with the approval of both Orange and the nominated designer. The innovative use of bouncy rubber flooring was also a massive achievement as it is a material rarely used in this capacity in retail. And of course the massive integration of technically place aesthetically throughout the store such as the Mexican wave wall of HD screens and large scale showcase screen produce a massive aesthetic impact and is therefore another great achievement. We were also extremely pleased that although there are so many different elements to the store. The design and execution of said design means that the entire store is extremely aesthetically pleasing and every single element down to the orange chair coverings helps to reinforce the Orange brand.
WINNING DESIGN:
Not only was the Multimedia store in Milton Keynes the first of its kind for Orange, meaning translating it from concept to reality, but it utilises cutting edge technology which is integrated seamlessly in a strong brand driven design. Both Quinine and Railston have sourced and used unique materials not usually found in retail outlets in order to achieve a high end finish that met Orange’s requirements. The space has been used in an imaginative way in order to persuade people to interact with one another and the technology within the store. Basically The Multi media Store in Milton Keynes is a glimpse at the future of technology retailing.
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