Rajesh Pratap Singh Flagship Store

New Delhi, India

Photo © Shailan Parker

Retail + Stores

Architects: Studio Lotus

Location: New Delhi, India
Year: 2008

Situated in a high end mall in Delhi, this store houses the prêt collection of Rajesh Pratap Singh –a designer known for his impeccably cut, artisanal garments that stand apart because of their faultlessly clean lines and careful detailing. That is where the design inspirations of the store came from – to use a scissor, the tailors’ tool as a metaphor and create a space that had a simple yet distinct design.

Scissors were laid into motifs and patterns to create a lace like surface which was then wrapped on the walls and ceiling to form an enclosure. Thousands of scissors of different kinds made from iron to various alloys were sourced, for this metal lacework and in the process a large number of them were rejected too, as they did not have the structural strength required for the welded panels. The entire metal mesh and the building shell were then painted in an identical white and the grey sandstone floor was given a texture using shot blasting and brushing techniques. The stone also wraps around the cash desk and rises upwards in the center of the store to form a display block. Reinforcing the simplicity and rawness of the thought the lighting was done using basic lamps suspended through the mesh, neatly aligned along the metal framework giving the store the required ambient light level. The signage for the stone was cut metal letters mounted on the store floor.