Natural wonder

The new showroom for hardwood flooring company Oggie, designed by C76 Architecture with interiors by HK Studio, explores a rich, refined approach to retail architecture.

PHOTOGRAPHY ELSA YOUNG

The new showroom for hardwood flooring company Oggie, in the Johannesburg suburb of Parkhurst, pushes retail architecture in the direction of a rich brand experience rather than a straightforward showroom for the display of products. As a retail experience, it aims to be inspirational rather than merely informative, and its combination of showroom and office functions allows for the subtle integration of purposes.

Set on busy 6th Street, lined with street-facing retail outlets, and perpendicular to the sociable 7th Avenue, popular for its restaurants and cafes spilling on to the sidewalk, the new showroom had to make

itself accessible and inviting to both pedestrian shoppers and customers arriving by car. Its open and accessible entrance and subtle but striking façade are eye-catching, while kerbside bays allow for the practicalities of finding parking along the busy street.

Outdoor terraces are clad in slatted timber screening made from Oggie’s outdoor product range incorporating a subtly integrated Oggie logo.

The brief involved creating a combined showroom and office space, which required a double-storey building on the 495m 2 site. Basement parking below the building provides space for staff vehicles while keeping the entrance clear for customers.

In keeping with the characteristic aesthetics of the suburb, a face-brick façade provides a pleasingly textured but muted presence, which not only suits the residential context, but also gently foregrounds the slatted timber screening made from Oggie’s outdoor product range, while incorporating subtly integrated branding in a timber relief sculpture on the façade.

A glass-walled boardroom allows soft, flattering natural light to flood into the interiors uninterrupted.

An open and friendly kerbside presence attracts customer arriving by car and on foot, while protruding window boxes frame the inviting interior.

Interest is created with protruding steel-clad boxes that frame the entrance, orienting customers and drawing them in, and a display window that faces directly onto the street, further enticing passers-by with a picture of the shop interior. A seven-meter-high vertically pivoting hydraulic timber door adds drama to the front-door, while also doubling as a canopy for shelter and acting as an added visual prompt towards the entrance.

In addition to the shopfront fenestration, the timber screens and permeable brick patterning filter soft dappled light into the interiors, which were designed by HK Studio.

A massive seven-meter vertically pivoting door marks the location of the front door, adding architectural drama and providing shelter from the elements.

The calming double-volume interior incorporates a range of Oggie products – including flooring, wall and ceiling panelling – without a sense of busyness. An elegant spiral staircase connects the ground floor with an upstairs mezzanine, which includes boardroom and office space. HK Studios have complemented the timber finishes with natural products, including metallics and stone in warm and calming atmosphere reminiscent of a domestic interior.

As such, Oggie’s new showroom provides an inviting, hospitable shopping experience – an immersion in the brand and its values, providing a sense of inspiration. The showroom manages the deft architectural trick of distinguishing itself with a clear and strong presence on a busy thoroughfare, while communicating a clear identity, and, at the same time, respectfully complementing the context of the street. It achieves all this while advancing the possibilities of the retail experience and providing a fitting home for the Oggie brand.