The Cardinals Motor Corporation approached Creative Shop Retail Shopfitting to design an up-market vehicle showroom to showcase its range of premium motorcycle and car brands. The brief was to create rich, masculine showroom interior to compliment the performance vehicles on display and enhance the Cardinal’s brand experience. Cardinals wanted the space to be evocative of the American muscle-car era, but without crossing over into period or retro-reproduction style.

To achieve this combination of heritage, class and contemporary style, the Creative Shop design team incorporated rich wooden finishes into the feature walls, reception counters and coffee bar area, and contrasted this understated elegance with pops of bright red perspex and exposed strip lighting to add a bit subtle of rock and roll style to the space. Most of the industrial-style high ceilings and ceiling trusses were left exposed to give a garage-like feel to the showroom. At the same time, the underside of the dropped ceilings installed over the reception, retail apparel section and bar areas were constructed from warm, raw wood to add a layer of intimacy and privacy to the spaces where customers sit down to interact with Cardinals staff members.

The floors were covered with high-gloss light ceramic tiles, which created a reflective surface to highlight the vehicles displayed in the show room to full effect.

Design: Brandon Williams / Creative Shop Retail Shopfitting
Photography: Malan Kotse