W&Cie has designed a 4,500 m2 shopping centre in Charles de Gaulle airport, terminal 2. This week, as part of the renovation of terminals 2A and 2C at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, Aéroports de Paris will open a futuristic new area of more than 16,500m2, connecting the two terminals.

A new zone, 4,500m2 shopping centre designed and produced by the agency W&Cie, is designed to offer passengers an authentically Parisian shopping experience. Increasing the quality and fluidity of passenger flow After checking in on the ground floor, all passengers go up to the first floor boutiques, bars and restaurants (2,300m2) for a perfectly Parisian shopping experience in the largest shopping centre to ever open in a Paris airport (1,300m2), designed like a department store. From here, they arrive in the “Avenue”, inspired by the avenue Montaigne, with the finest luxury brands and restaurants.

Every high-quality detail translates the attention given to the passengers, a refinement and elegance of the French art of living, an idea of modern luxury: high suspended plaster ceilings, marble floors, oversized lampshades with gold trim, leather upholstery, stainless steel finishes are all part of the statutory façade ornamentation.

Comfortable, welcoming spaces allow shoppers to sit down for a snack. One can find refined bars and food offering a wide range of gourmet experiences: Caviar House, Fauchon, La Maison du Chocolat. A magnificent chandelier designed by Ross Lovegrove for Artemide, hangs surrounded by a white leather atrium.

Moving upmarket
Aéroports de Paris had two main objectives:
– offering passengers the best of Parisian shopping before boarding their flight,
– attracting prestigious brands to a “luxury avenue” to satisfy the demanding customers flying with Emirates, Cathay Pacific and XL Airways.
These objectives seem to have been reached, as Prada, Burberry, Hermès, Bulgari, Ladurée, Dior, Guerlain and Chanel have all taken part in this new centre.

W&Cie’s mission
W&Cie was commissioned to define the positioning and for the architectural identity of this new shopping area, and handled the general design and detailing of the architecture for the entire 4,500m2.

About W&CIE
14 years after being founded by Denis Gancel and Gilles Déleris, W&CIE is pursuing its development by confirming its position as a brand agency. W&CIE is fully dedicated to brands and has, ever since its creation, put design at the heart of the various fields of communication. W&CIE supports its customers in all fields that enter into the creation, adaptation and maintenance of a lasting, equitable relationship between the brand, its audience and its communities.