Located on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring, an avenue well known for its exclusive leading design and furniture stores, the new spectacular Occhio flagship store finds its new home in Cologne. On an area of 330 m² over two floors, the customers find a perfect retail experience, combining showroom, information hub and an exciting brand presentation. The flagship store is divided into three areas – a street-level showroom in the front, a multifunctional training, event and exhibition space in the rear and a combined work and living environment on the upper level. Entering from the promenade, the visitors are welcomed in an invitingly bright and contemporary space.

The soft tone of large oak floorboards laid in a large-scale herringbone pattern goes perfectly with the rough surface of the internal walls treated with a fine-grained, mineral based plaster. The protagonists of the showroom are certainly the Occhio products themselves, displayed on so-called „space-stations“ – representing the Occhio universe. The cantilevering tables, combined with touch screen equipped steles, showcase the product on both, digital and physical level and create an overview of the product range across the space.

The whole sales progress takes orbiting around the „space stations“ – first contact between customer and product, the consultation from vendor to client until the configuration of the perfect luminaire for each specific purpose. The newly developed wall mounting system on the internal walls of the showroom allows easy exchange of the luminaires and provides a flexible arrangement for the exhibition without using any form of wall-mounted display. This highly sophisticated plug-and-play system is unique on the market of lighting design.

The so-called brand wall, made from dark and rough-hew basalt slates and laid in a waterfall pattern, is accompanied by rich greens hanging from a ceiling recess and reflects Occhio’s philosophy „light is evolution“. In front of the impressive wall, the customers find comfortable seating at a large wooden table for further consultation and discussion with the sales staff. A large multifunctional area for training courses, lectures and special exhibitions is calmly placed in the rear of the store. The light lab demonstrates the effect of different color temperatures of light combined with the full color range.

An inspiring work and living environment awaits the customers on the upper floor, showcasing the product in its natural surrounding equipped with selected furniture pieces from major design brands. Moreover the upper floor offers up to eight temporary workplaces for Occhio staff. Occhio Cologne is one of the two company-own flagship stores besides Munich and the pilot for the new »store by« concept, which will be implemented throughout Europe starting in 2017.

Design: einszu33
Photography: Robert Sprang