Design Crushes-Aesop Lamb's Conduit Street
‘I am rooted, but I flow.’ Viginia Woolf
Water runs peacefully from shelf to shelf, in today's post about another stunning Aesop Store. At this point I have given up on choosing a favourite store, as each and everyone of them has its own unique approach to creating a peaceful harmonious atmosphere. Just a little while ago I was admiring the beautiful Covent Garden Aesop, which I will share with you here very soon..., and now I am completely mesmerised by the work of the talented James Plumb in this Bloomsbury District Space of art.
Once a centre of influential writers, artists and philosophers such as Virginia Woolf and John Maynard Keynes, the location perfectly aligns with Aesop’s cultural interests. James Russell and Hannah Plumb, the masters behind, were invited to re-imagine the 86-square-metre space on the historic street of London. What drew upon the design duo was the history of the street, where in the 16th century William Lamb founded a conduit in order to bring water to the area.
"The conduit was brought to the street, and the residents would tap into it to bring water to their home. We found a description of a 'quill of water' and really loved that phrase. It became one of the key elements in our design process." the architects explain for Dezeen.
The layout of the space provides three separate immersive experiences of water. The main retail area, with its signature and so crucial for the design copper taps. Through a set of small steps one is invited into what is more a dimly lit sculpture room. A single copper pipe suspended from the ceiling in one corner, from which water slowly and steady drips into a small copper reservoir in the floor, brings customer on a journey back in time. Dark walls heighten the dramatic tension of the gleaming, spotlit sculpture.
Transition to a relaxed lounge room leading onto a rear garden. It suggests the ambiance of a traditional conservatory, with a subdued stone colour palette and plants adding verdant bursts of colour. A vintage garden chair and chaise longue encourage meditation.
Deep grey and brown reclaimed quarry tiles cover the floor in varied shades and continue throughout all the spaces. Custom-built copper shelving staggered at various heights lends the wall texture and sheen. Warm flesh colour of the walls and ceiling and a quiet stream of water flows constantly around the perimeter, reflecting soft incoming sunlight. Bar-height joinery units cordon off one section of the room, the dark bases topped by timber from reclaimed church pews and inset with trough sinks, which also have slender copper tap ware.
As changeable as the element by which it is inspired, Aesop Lamb's Conduit Street is a fluid spatial journey that truly calms the mind.
Read more about the store on Dezeen and Taxonomy of Design.