In 2016, luxury department store Jelmoli opened ‘the largest shoe world’ in Switzerland. Designed by Lanzi & Bartollini, the star Italian architects met a demanding set of retail requirements that included bringing to the foreground the quality of the product and the concept of each shoe as a work of art. Their concept included the use of Mosa’s Beige & Brown tile collection throughout the space. The refined and elegant appearance of the tiles contributes to the high quality specification and design, while ensuring focus remains on the product.
This ambitious shoe department in the heart of Zurich includes 40 shoe brands for men covering 400 square meters and 80 shoe brands for women covering over 1000 square meters. These brands range from Kurt Geiger through to Alexander Wang, Balmain etcetera. For Lanzi, who had already develop shop concepts for Prada, Miu Miu, Puccis and Tod’s, it was important to the design concept that ‘the customers should not feel like they are in a sales department, but rather loose amongst beauty.’
In achieving this concept, Jelmoli’s shoe department design features high quality materials and finishes along with a lot of space for strolling, seating groups that invite you to relax and the Café Fauchon Paris integrated into the shoe world to enjoy. Throughout the free flowing spaces, diverse types of footwear, ranging from the sneakers to superhero ballerinas to tempting high heels, are exhibited as art, taking their place as the stars of space.
To ensure that each shoe is indeed a star, Lanzi & Bartollini selected noble, contrasting materials with soft gradients in tone. In particular, the architects utilised Mosa’s Beige & Brown floor tiles to anchor the display of the store’s luxury shoe wares. The Beige & Brown tiles follow a smooth gradation of shades from very light beige to intensely dark brown. With their 60 x 60 centimeters square format, the tiles achieve a sophisticated chequerboard surface with visual nuance, interest and depth. At the same time, the smooth gradation and harmonious tones ensure that emphasis remains on the product at hand.
The areas surrounding the new shoe department were originally completed in 2010. An added benefit of selecting the Beige & Brown tiles is that these products merge beautifully with the Mosa Terra Maestricht tiles that were selected when the Jelmoli department store was first completed.
In short, at the new Jelmoli shoe department, design and product are a perfect fit.
