AREA LEXUS

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DISPATCHES FROM ARCHITECTURE, SPACES RETAIL & ENVIRONMENTS

RETAIL DESIGN

Lessons In Screaming Without Making A Sound

The elegance of luxury cars doesn’t start and end with engineering and technology. Lexus’ Manila showroom shows competitors that perfection should extend beyond a car’s four wheels. words COLTRANE DY

Consider this no-brainer: retail environments, when appropriately designed, can significantly amplify the brand values of products and services.

Add to the merchandising recipe a clever, innovative, strategic presentation and you’ll have a brand experience that crafts a deluxe dimension—more so if the product in question commands price points that would hemorrhage one’s trust fund. Fundamental understanding of this principle is considered a basic alphabet of luxury brands, yet it’s mystifying how majority of local premium car retailers insist on show spaces that rival a sardine factory.

Lexus gets it right on the retail front with a sinuous, contemporary take on architecture, interior, and display. The spaces are lighthearted and cordially buoyant in atmosphere, with bespoke furniture strategically appointed in every quarter. The unmistakable modern lines and supple edges blend with seamless lighting that is calibrated with meticulous precision, evoking a cozy emotional texture that complement the overall design schematics of the recently unveiled showroom in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig. photography MARK MULDER @ anythingfortheshot.ph stylist BONNAPART GALENG model GUI ADORNO @ im agency hair & makeup MC PASCUA @ hairshaft all clothes, bag and shoes from ben sherman at shangri la plaza mall

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AREA

DISPATCHES FROM ARCHITECTURE, SPACES RETAIL & ENVIRONMENTS

RETAIL DESIGN

Lessons In Screaming Without Making A Sound

The elegance of luxury cars doesn’t start and end with engineering and technology. Lexus’ Manila showroom shows competitors that perfection should extend beyond a car’s four wheels. words COLTRANE DY

Consider this no-brainer: retail environments, when appropriately designed, can significantly amplify the brand values of products and services.

Add to the merchandising recipe a clever, innovative, strategic presentation and you’ll have a brand experience that crafts a deluxe dimension—more so if the product in question commands price points that would hemorrhage one’s trust fund. Fundamental understanding of this principle is considered a basic alphabet of luxury brands, yet it’s mystifying how majority of local premium car retailers insist on show spaces that rival a sardine factory.

Lexus gets it right on the retail front with a sinuous, contemporary take on architecture, interior, and display. The spaces are lighthearted and cordially buoyant in atmosphere, with bespoke furniture strategically appointed in every quarter. The unmistakable modern lines and supple edges blend with seamless lighting that is calibrated with meticulous precision, evoking a cozy emotional texture that complement the overall design schematics of the recently unveiled showroom in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig. photography MARK MULDER @ anythingfortheshot.ph stylist BONNAPART GALENG model GUI ADORNO @ im agency hair & makeup MC PASCUA @ hairshaft all clothes, bag and shoes from ben sherman at shangri la plaza mall

57 The LEXUS showroom is a modernist platform showcasing the core brand values of elegance, simplicity and discreet luxury–fitting backdrop to the premium products that embody refinement, innovation and sophistication

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AREA Wayfinding system and navigation graphics echo the refined simplicity of the architecture and interior design–providing a striking visual punctuation to the modernity of the show spaces.

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The facade and exterior design of the LEXUS showroom is a harmonious interplay of clean lines and soft curves–a handsome merging of function and aesthetics

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Yuji Hirata is a key figure in design development whose firm, Nomura Ltd., was the principal consultant of the Lexus showroom. Teaming up with Manila-based practice, Recio+Casas Architects, the modernist structure distilled into an inspiring space what we have perceived and expected out of the Lexus brand: elegance, simplicity, luxury, innovation and refinement.

The interior is a masterful study on fluidity. Vertical slats of soft-colored wood create a polished, stylish and graceful flowing pattern that doesn’t take the attention from the products on display. They provide rather a calm fencing effect that is echoed by the equally fluid cascade of curved blinds—another well thought-out touch to shield customers from the prying, kibitzing scrutiny of passersby, once more clarifying Lexus’ brand promise of discreet luxury.

Interesting to note is the contrast of the business sections and the show spaces. Formality is at play in the office suites and meeting area. The palette is more decorous, almost stark, manicured and professional, which

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01 and 02 • The main show space is appointed with bespoke furniture randomly placed to evoke the concept of falling leaves.

03 • Privacy is top priority and the negotiation suite is seamlessly tucked behind a discreet door.

04 • The gallery showcases citations of excellence, awards, trophies and hand some hardbound publications on art, culture and motoring.

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provides an experiential distinction from the show spaces. With their gentle palette, these spaces embrace a certain coziness—much like stepping into a well-appointed living room, if the living room is displayed with aweinspiring gems that would make you clutch your heart…and your billfold.

Rounding off the architectural and interior elegance is another welcome stroke of car display innovation: the breezy indoor garden, a contextual

design proposition that endows the elegant, sexy, and premium cars a natural backdrop, shifting the presentation feel into a relaxed, open and more genuine framework.

Stimulating, contemporary, luxurious, subtle and tasteful are just a few adjectives that collide and rest well next to each other in an understated, elegant Lexus showroom—a smart piece of branding platform. Competition should take notes.

01 • The business section’s formality pro vides a distinctive contrast to the cozy feel of the show spaces.

02 • Clean lines blend harmoniously with organic shapes in the ceiling details providing interesting detail above the cars on display.

03 • The luxurious sheen of the Lexus logo is backdropped by textured wall, a dramatic contrast of materials and finishes.

04 • Indoor garden frames the car in a more natural complex, a breather from antiseptic showrooms of competitors.

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