AÈSOP SENSORIUM

Aèsop Pitt Street marks a world-first for the fragrance brand and new place for the senses to feast. Introducing the Sensorium.

PROJECT CREDITS

Architect Snøhetta Year Completed 2021 Location Sydney, NSW

/ APR-JUN 2022 PROJECTS ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN / ...the Sensorium invites an envelopment of the senses – just as the name suggests.

As the global flagship store, Aēsop Pitt Street is one of the largest in terms of floorspace and drew attention for its raw and visceral fitout by Snøhetta when it opened in 2019.

Aēsop Pitt Street used the extended lockdown of 2021 to its advantage, creating a new kind of immersive space for its customers. The Sensorium is an intimate experience that focuses solely on smell and aroma. The Aēsop team collaborated once again with Snøhetta to bring the concept to life.

Conceived as a space within a space, the new Sensorium is a direct contract to the rest of the store in terms of aesthetic. Cocooning, warm and free-flowing in form, the Sensorium invites an envelopment of the senses – just as the name suggests. The bulbous and curvaceous form is inspired by the aspirating molecules of perfume.

The layering of the zones within the shop speaks to the same layering that occurs within the fragrances. Much in the way that the Sensorium invites you to move through the store and step into a new world, the range of Aēsop fragrances take ideas of conceptual realms and float them within distilled natural ingredients.

The dedicated consultation area showcases the full range of Aēsop fragrances, as well as candles and home fragrances. Interactive elements such as tactile displays of raw ingredients sit alongside videos with master perfumer Barnabe Fillion, who is the mastermind behind many of the seven fragrances.

Inviting people to follow their curiosity, the Sensorium features a special cabinet called the Fragrance Armoire, where a coat or a scarf is hung while you discover the perfect fragrance.

The Sensorium evokes equal parts intimacy and theatre, it’s a liminal space that explores something new for bricks and mortar retail.

Proving Sustainability: The Importance of Environmental Product Declarations for External Facade Materials

As the global consumption of natural resources grows at an alarming pace, the specification of environmentally-responsible building products has become a “must have” rather than a “nice to have”. Architects, designers and specifiers can take action by choosing manufacturers that reduce the environmental impact of their products across the entire product lifecycle without sacrificing form, function or performance.

This is why using cladding products with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) is becoming more common. Cladding materials like aluminium composite are often touted for their eco-friendliness, but only products with EPDs have sustainability claims backed up by independently-verified environmental data. Mitsubishi ALPOLIC™ NC joins the ranks of such products, with its EPD produced by Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) in August 2021.

An EPD is an independently verified and registered document that communicates transparent comparable data and relevant environmental information about the lifecycle environmental impact of a product. Multiple environmental impacts are considered, including carbon footprint, air, water and soil pollution, and resource depletion. Product performance, the company’s management system and other environmental certifications are also included. The EPD should be a key requirement for specifying external facade products for all projects (re-clads and new builds) that are concerned in any way about the environment.

All EPDs registered with EPD Australasia, who are responsible for the development and communication of EPDs in Australia and New Zealand, are independently verified to ISO 14025, a relevant Product Category Rule (PCR) and the General Programme Instructions. For building products, the PCR is based on EN 15804 “Sustainability of Construction Works”.

All stakeholders benefit when a building product’s sustainability claims are validated against objective and transparent criteria. With the range of cladding products on the market, it simplifies the process of making informed and direct comparisons among similar products. It also explains important aspects of production, distribution, usage and end-of-life options. Exclusive from Network Architectural, ALPOLIC™ NC is a fully compliant range of non-combustible external facade materials suitable for use both internally and externally wherever non-combustible materials are required. It also comes with a 20-year Full Rectification Warranty backed by a globally-trusted manufacturer in Mitsubishi Chemical Infratec Co Ltd. It is characterised by high rigidity, light weight, excellent flatness, and being easy to cut and fabricate. Not only high performing, ALPOLIC™ NC panels are recyclable and environmentally-friendly, which are facts supported in its EPD. The EPD supports the sustainability of the product from the cradle to the factory sector, and allows industry professionals to use ALPOLIC™ NC as an important basis in the sustainability assessment of buildings.

Contact Network Architectural for a copy of the Mitsubishi ALPOLIC™ NC Environmental Product Declaration.