Cubitts eyewear store in Leeds taps into seminal design movements throughout history

London design practice Child Studio has combined Victorian-style joinery with modernist and art deco touches inside the Cubitts eyewear store in Leeds.

Cubitts occupies a corner unit of the city's County Arcade shopping mall, which was constructed in 1898 and retains an array of original detailing from pink marble columns to mosaic ceilings.

Cubitts' Leeds store is set inside a 19th-century shopping arcade

Child Studio was brought on board to design the eyewear store's interior with the aim of honouring the arcade's Victorian origins while stirring up nostalgia for later design periods.

"New interiors within historic structures often fall into a pastiche or offer a sterile minimalist look that doesn't attempt to engage with the context," explained Che Huang and Alexy Kos who co-founded Child Studio.

The arcade still has a number of original details such as marble columns

"We wanted to take a more subtle approach and build a layered narrative that would acknowledge different chapters in the building's history," the duo added.

"We tried to imagine how the space could have evolved organically over time, fusing the Victorian cabinetry features with the art deco elements and modernist references."

Victorian-style display cabinets line the store's walls

The store is fringed with three-metre-high cabinets featuring brown-lacquered bordering and different eyewear models displayed on backlit shelves.

A 1930s bakelite clock produced by British company Genalex, which used to supply timepieces to factories and schools, has been placed on top of the cabinets.

Vintage furnishings have been placed at the centre of the store

At the centre of the room is a bespoke service counter. Based on the writing desks popularised by British designer Robin Day in the mid-20th century, it features a black glass tabletop with steel legs nestled over a cherry-wood storage cupboard.

Next to the counter sits a black leather edition of the Monk chair by Italian design duo Afra and Tobia Scarpa, which was originally created in the 1970s.

A domed lamp by Irish modernist Eileen Gray sits perched on top of the counter.

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Read:

Child Studio's store for eyewear brand Cubitts is inspired by Soho sex venues

](https://www.dezeen.com/2021/06/13/child-studio-cubitts-eyewear-store-soho-london/)

Glossy chestnut-coloured paint covers the store's ceiling, while tiles in beige, terracotta and umber have been arranged in a geometric pattern across the floor.

Child Studio said it incorporated the tiles to pay tribute to the tin-glazed ceramic detailing that once featured inside the County Arcade.

Tiles form a geometric pattern on the floor

The entire interior is visible through Cubitts' ornate mahogany shopfront, which is inset with expansive windows.

Just above the lintel, the eyewear brand's logo is rendered in gilded glass using a traditional technique known as verre églomisé, in which gold leaf is applied to the rear face of glass to leave a mirrored finish.

Glasses are displayed on backlit shelves

This is not the first retail space that Child Studio has designed for Cubitts.

The studio was also responsible for the eyewear brand's branch in Soho, London, which features cheeky neon signage and a deep-red basement in reference to the sex clubs and adult cinemas that once populated the neighbourhood.

The photography is courtesy of Child Studio andFelix Speller.

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#retail #all #interiors #uk #england #leeds #shops #childstudio #eyewearstores #cubitts

Child Studio channels peep show booths of London for Soho glasses shop

Featuring linoleum floors, Formica-clad walls and a deep red basement, Soho's peep show booths served as inspiration for the atmospheric interior of this London eyewear store by Child Studio for spectacle-maker Cubitts.

Perched on the corner of Marshall Street in London's Soho neighbourhood, the store occupies one of the early 19th-century buildings that form the area's narrow streets.

Black and white checkered linoleum flooring features throughout the store

The store is spread out over a small ground floor and basement space lined by a narrow staircase.

In terms of practical requirements, the store needed to incorporate a display of the 100 different coloured acetate chips that customers can choose from to create bespoke frames.

London-based Child Studio designed a space for Cubitts that aims to reflect the history of the local area and create a customer journey that would encourage people to explore the basement space.

A wall-mounted display case holds 100 different coloured acetate chips

"Cubitts wants each of its shops to have a unique design reflecting the history of the local neighbourhood," Child Studio co-founder Alexy Kos told Dezeen.

"The brand has a strong connection to London, where its glasses are made, and to Modernism as the guiding principle to its design aesthetic."

To design the interior, the studio drew upon Soho's colourful history as a destination for massage parlours, adult cinemas and sex shops in the postwar era.

"Gambling, drinking, religious and political dissent, clubbing and prostitution were all, at varying times, peculiar Soho specialities," said the studio.

"We have focussed our research on Soho's heyday in the postwar era, looking at the interiors of the neighbourhood's iconic venues, such as the Formica-clad Bar Italia and the legendary jazz venue 100 Club, with its all-red interiors."

Formica laminate partitions with aluminium trims divide up the space

Referencing the peep show booths of Soho, the store incorporates low partitions clad in a wood-effect Formica laminate and trimmed with aluminium to form a maze-like environment.

Display areas with illuminated acrylic shelving that showcase the spectacles and the colourful acetate chips are recessed into the walls. Lightbox signage integrated into the metal-trim cladding and black and white checkered linoleum flooring add to the store's nostalgic ambience.

An antique Caori cocktail table designed by Vico Magistretti in 1961 serves as a focal point on the ground floor.

Featuring a brushed aluminium tabletop and several concealed compartments for records and magazines, the piece was specially sourced by Child Studio and adapted to include a raised podium so that it is better serves the retail environment.

The basement is saturated with a deep red colour

"Every project tells a unique story and we always look for rare and unusual furniture pieces to add depth and authenticity to the narrative," said the design team.

"The desk lamp is another mid-century find, created by the Czech designer Josef Hurka for the manufacturer Napako in the 1960s."

Limited-edition sunglasses are displayed on shelves clad in aluminium-effect Formica

A narrow staircase leads to the basement, which is saturated in a deep red colour. Customers are guided to an eye examination room concealed behind a velvet curtain by neon signs.

Cubitt's moody basement lounge area is lit by the Conelight floor lamp by the British designer Ronald Homes and furnished with chrome and leather chairs designed by Giovanna Modonutti.

A collection of limited-edition sunglasses is displayed on illuminated shelves clad in aluminium-effect Formica that create a theatrical effect in the dark red surrounds.

A neon peep show sign hangs at the entrance to the eye examination room

Previously, the studio run by Kos and Che Huang has channelled the look of a 1950s cafe inside a vegan pizza restaurant in west London and transformed a former London post office into a sushi restaurant with a 1960s interior.

"We like to use the word 'cinematic' to describe the spaces designed by Child Studio," Kos told Dezeen. "With every project, we aim to capture a particular mood and atmosphere, rather than trying to recreate an interior from a specific era."

Photography is by Felix Speller and Child Studio.

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#retail #all #interiors #uk #london #childstudio #eyewearstores

Child Studio transforms 60s London post office into Maido sushi restaurant

Child Studio has used a glass block wall, dark cherry wood panelling and a soft blue coffered ceiling to channel 1960s London in this sushi restaurant.

Located in a former post office, Maido is an eatery in London's Saint John's Wood neighbourhood with interiors designed to honour the heritage of the late modernist building.

A curved glass brick wall divides the space

"We were fascinated by the unique story of this building and aimed to capture the nostalgic atmosphere of 1960s London, paying tribute to the modernist public spaces of the era," said Child Studio founders Alexy Kos and Che Huang.

"The design evolved around the bold geometry of this period and the juxtaposition of simple materials: wood, glass, clay and steel."

Maido is anchored by a steel-panelled bar

The walls across the entire space are clad in cherry wood while shallow alcoves are decorated with a rotating selection of artworks.

A suspended coffered ceiling hangs overhead, its grid pattern echoed in the black quarry tiles on the floor and the semicircular glass brick wall that divides the space.

The curved partition wall also forms a generous, leather-upholstered seating booth at the back of the space.

Shallow alcoves are decorated with a rotating selection of art

The focal point of Maido's interior is a central island bar clad in reflective curved steel panels.

Here, the sushi master prepares and serves authentic Japanese dishes while customers perch on polished aluminium bar stools by Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa.

"It was important for us to create a range of different seating scenarios and balance the convivial atmosphere with more intimate nooks and crannies," Che explained.

To complete the space, the studio sourced a selection of classic midcentury furniture pieces. These include antique MR10 tubular steel chairs by Mies van der Rohe and moulded plywood armchairs by Norman Cherner.

Pipistrello table lamps, designed by Gae Aulenti in 1965, sit on the island bar and on a large communal dining table while antique wall sconces produced by Italian manufacturer Stilnovo create a cosy ambience.

Mies van der Rohe's MR10 chair was used throughout the interior

Founded in 2017 by Che Huang and Alexy Kos, Child Studio has previously completed a 1950s-style interior for a vegan pizzeria in west London, which was shortlisted in the 2019 Dezeen Awards.

All photographs are by Felix Speller and Child Studio.

The post Child Studio transforms 60s London post office into Maido sushi restaurant appeared first on Dezeen.

#restaurantsandbars #all #interiors #uk #london #restaurants #bars #childstudio

Child Studio transforms 60s London post office into Maido sushi restaurant

Child Studio has used a glass block wall, dark cherry wood panelling and a soft blue coffered ceiling to channel 1960s London in this sushi restaurant.

Located in a former post office, Maido is an eatery in London's Saint John's Wood neighbourhood with interiors designed to honour the heritage of the late modernist building.

A curved glass brick wall divides the space

"We were fascinated by the unique story of this building and aimed to capture the nostalgic atmosphere of 1960s London, paying tribute to the modernist public spaces of the era," said Child Studio founders Alexy Kos and Che Huang.

"The design evolved around the bold geometry of this period and the juxtaposition of simple materials: wood, glass, clay and steel."

Maido is anchored by a steel-panelled bar

The walls across the entire space are clad in cherry wood while shallow alcoves are decorated with a rotating selection of artworks.

A suspended coffered ceiling hangs overhead, its grid pattern echoed in the black quarry tiles on the floor and the semicircular glass brick wall that divides the space.

The curved partition wall also forms a generous, leather-upholstered seating booth at the back of the space.

Shallow alcoves are decorated with a rotating selection of art

The focal point of Maido's interior is a central island bar clad in reflective curved steel panels.

Here, the sushi master prepares and serves authentic Japanese dishes while customers perch on polished aluminium bar stools by Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa.

"It was important for us to create a range of different seating scenarios and balance the convivial atmosphere with more intimate nooks and crannies," Che explained.

To complete the space, the studio sourced a selection of classic midcentury furniture pieces. These include antique MR10 tubular steel chairs by Mies van der Rohe and moulded plywood armchairs by Norman Cherner.

Pipistrello table lamps, designed by Gae Aulenti in 1965, sit on the island bar and on a large communal dining table while antique wall sconces produced by Italian manufacturer Stilnovo create a cosy ambience.

Mies van der Rohe's MR10 chair was used throughout the interior

Founded in 2017 by Che Huang and Alexy Kos, Child Studio has previously completed a 1950s-style interior for a vegan pizzeria in west London, which was shortlisted in the 2019 Dezeen Awards.

All photographs are by Felix Speller and Child Studio.

The post Child Studio transforms 60s London post office into Maido sushi restaurant appeared first on Dezeen.

#restaurantsandbars #all #interiors #uk #london #restaurants #bars #childstudio