UK. The Design Solution has said that the new retail environment at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2 extension brings to life “a powerful expression of the city of Manchester, its culture, heritage and people”. As reported, Dufry recently opened a new 1,980sq m walk-through store in the new T2 with a strong Sense of Place at its heart along with several speciality stores. The T2 investment is part of a £1 billion development programme by Manchester Airports Group.
The Design Solution (TDS) designed three of the Dufry-operated shops in the terminal, including an Express Store (129sq m) and Beauty Collection (231sq m). But, said the company, “the beating heart of the terminal experience is the vibrant new principal walkthrough store … an instant contender for the most exciting airport retail space in the world”.
Welcome to the party city…
With a wide and inviting entrance to the 1,980sq m store, the space has a “well-balanced length to width ratio, offering a fantastic 3D design canvas to refine a series of powerful concepts creating an uncomplicated, exciting passenger experience,” said the design company. The design of the main duty free store shares the space across two distinct halves that adopt contrasting ‘Night’ and ‘Day’ themes to reflect Manchester’s “24-hour spirit”.
The wide entrance area provides clear, focused vistas to provoke “a sense of discovery and pace to the in-store experience, the designer added. This effect is enhanced by the positioning of a peninsular wall at the end of the main P&C space, incorporating a large digital media wall.
‘Night and Day’
The ‘Night’ zone, dominated by P&C, includes the colourful Fab Lab, a space celebrating the latest launches and promotions. Across this space the liquor zone celebrates the city’s popular bars and clubbing scene, incorporating an open-space ‘VIP Room’ with a live DJ and club-style lighting.
The nearby fragrance offer is hosted in ‘The Magic Garden’, presenting an engaging contrast through a green celebration of the city’s flower markets and the natural landscape surrounding the airport.
The Nature zone also incorporates the iconic Manchester worker bee, a symbol of the city for over 150 years. The shopper journey continues into the cash desk area, backed by a bank of digital screens, in a space that shifts from ‘Nature’ to ‘City’ through the use of red brick designs that reflect the city’s industrial heritage of mills and warehouses.
Digital technology is integrated throughout the in-store journey, influencing the shopper experience and also providing ‘shareable’ moments throughout the store. This is enhanced by screen ‘walls’ incorporated into the event spaces to create theatrical backdrops for brand activities and a series of ‘digital echoes’ strategically placed to communicate marketing and sales messages at key points in the journey.
A personal reflection
The Design Solution Director Nick Taylor, who hails from Manchester, explained how the personal inspired the professional in the design. He said: “As a Mancunian, this project has been close to my heart and I was determined that it would share an authentic spirit of my city and its people.
“Our category worlds within the store celebrate a cosmopolitan city that is always on the go, night and day, with vibrant modern visuals and a huge musical influence. We also incorporate a variety of themes, such as the city’s industrial roots, engineering and architecture to inspire a series of installations and worlds that create an exciting duty free store experience with a spoonful of Mancunian attitude.
“Reflecting the airport’s core leisure audience, it is designed as a great party space. We used the columns down the length of the walkway as a runway of oversized, co-ordinated digital advertising culminating in the ‘Fab Lab’ pod where the latest launches and ‘must-haves’ are on display. A theatrical ‘curtain’ of shimmering metallic rods wraps the cosmetics area and dotted around we have neon soundbites where we share local colloquialisms, helping to bring the Manchester mindset to life for shoppers.
“We also wanted to share the raw vibe of the nightclubs and cool bars Manchester is famous for, so we sprayed out the ceiling services and used theatrical spot lighting, to give greater focus on the wall displays and vibrancy of the products. At the heart of the liquor offer, a second pod houses our ‘VIP room’ with resident DJ behind the decks to pump up the energy levels.
“This was also the first shop where we designed and executed the new World of Whiskies concept, with products sub-categorised clearly and featuring a discovery bar for sampling. In another first, we developed the new generation Suncatcher sunglasses concept here too.
“At TDS, we’ve re-defined the over-used phrase ‘Sense of Place’ as, to be honest, it has become almost meaningless when so many airports cite it despite their spaces carrying only token, cliched expressions of local elements. I literally grew up with the thematic elements we’ve used in this design. I believe Manchester transmits the most powerful sense of location I’ve ever seen at an airport.”
