Selling fruit-extract granulate cubes for microdrinks plus high-quality drinking bottles, waterdrop® rose from a small startup to a successful international brand with a new branch in Germany. For the store on two floors not far from Cologne Cathedral, AllesWirdGut developed an interior design concept that took its inspiration mostly from the unusual ceiling heights of the rented premises and from waterdrop®’s clear brand promise.
In the center of the design is a shelf system extending across the entire vertical and connected along the ceiling. Like the gate to a Japanese Shinto shrine (torii), the wood construction creates a ground-floor level portal, which, behind the impressive glass façade, invites, literally, immersion in the world of waterdrop®. The thin wooden structures not only provide the aesthetic framework of the new flagship store—as overheight sales displays with integrated screens, drawer modules, and other usable presentation areas, the space-defining shelving also serves numerous practical functions of contemporary sales premises.
The slender oakwood structure is continued in reduced form on the upper floor, which gives center stage to the accessories on display as well as to the shop window, which extends over both floors. The wooden shelf system has its material counterpoint in the stone-look grey-sprinkled floor. Rising out of it in the middle of the room are simple counter islands with integrated sinks: waterdrop®, you see, is all about water—as is its new flagship store.