A store with attitude. Wormland stands for stylish fashion in a sovereignly masculine environment. The new store in the Mall of Berlin at the Leipziger Place is just like the Wormland customers: easy-going and cool – and at times readily emotional. At the same time, the planers of the Stuttgart-based architecture and interior design offices have made the creative urbanity of the state capital tangible on 2,500 m². Berlin. Those who shop at Wormland buy not only fashion, but masculine lifestyle. Trendy brands meet striking campaign motifs, in-house music meets books and perfumes, and cool store design meets spatial art.

An easy-going microcosm for the man, brought to life by the experts from Blocher Blocher Partners, now also in Berlin. True to the guiding principle of “A Piece of Berlin”, the historic Mall of Berlin at the Leipziger Place turns into the melting pot for two icons: the leading fashion trailblazer, Wormland, and the creative scene of the state capital meet on three storeys and 2,500 square metres of sales floor – including elements of street art and with references to the architectural diversity of the city.

Already the façade concretises the self-assurance of Wormland. The designers have adapted the entrance areas to the curved walkway of the mall, recessing them slightly to draw the stream of passers-by directly into the shop. Each is flanked by two protruding shop window boxes with a depth of up to 2,20 metres, framed by platinum-coloured metal. The dark metallic façade banner with a generously backlit logo also ensures a strong presence. On the sales area on the ground floor, round arches on the left hand side with a brick finish or a concrete surface create references to the historic environment.

Designer brands are displayed in the niches, at the same time large windows create visual references to the court yard with a café, and vice versa. The industrial look benefits from the open dark ceiling with the galvanized piping, suspended white polygonal-formed fields lend a sense of scale to the high-ceiling spaces. In general, polygonality plays a large role: furniture made of wood, concrete and black steel, keeps being at a slant, just like the rear walls, too. And position themselves as a self-confident dissidents for the prevailing culture of symmetry. Dark grey natural stone, screed and oak floorboards hint at urban scenarios – just like the walls made of concrete, wood or rust-coloured metal surfaces. On arriving on the first floor, it feels like being in an art gallery.

Suspended oblong art prints are arranged in series wave-like along the window front. Depending on one’s angle of vision, new perspectives are opened up to the arts, to which Wormland has dedicated itself to with its own foundation. Someplace else, a room-sized box made of old floorboards lends an aura of robustness to the jacket division. Equally impressive: the house-in-house construction made of wooden beams and a semi-transparent grid latticework. This is where the denim range of Wormland is displayed, supported scenically by black stage spots. Illumination, generally, plays an important role in the store.

Industrial designer-chic lighting can be found on all floors, at times as an exclusive one-off special production – making the ceiling landscape as worthy of discovery as the entire interior. The second floor, presents a Panopticon made of concrete and brick-like surfaces, rear walls made of wood, and furniture which is functionally and optically attractive. Such as the focus elements made of concrete slabs, seemingly randomly stacked, on which the products are displayed in cross-merchandising manner.

The central bar area radiates its very own charm – also thanks to the special floor covering with a black-and-white 3D-cubic pattern. In close proximity, the in-house publications are displayed on dark metal shelves. The changing rooms are as multi-faceted as the individual design elements. Each one is individually staged: at times entirely unpretentious with a “Wormland” logo scribbled on the bare wall. Others, artfully and elegant, with a gaily coloured diamond-shaped graphic, becoming an optical illusion with a room-sized mirror.

The flair of Berlin together with the wild aura of the brand: The new Wormland presents itself equally self-confident as well as attractive. And it is so much more than merely a store: but a place with Attitude for trendsetters and hipsters, bloggers and design fans. Here, Blocher Blocher Partners and Wormland have successfully continued their partnership. The dependances in Frankfurt, Hannover, Munich and Oberhausen, too, were conceptualised by the Stuttgart-based offices.

Photography: Joachim Grothus
Design by Blocher Blocher Partners