The Telenor flagship store in Astoria was remodeled based on the plans of Pyxis Nautica, and they are already working on the remodeling of additional stores nationwide. László Monori and Igor Valastyán talk about concept creation and how an idea becomes an image that can be extended to the stores of an international multinational.
Approximately a year ago, Telenor launched an invitation-only tender for the transformation of its two flagship stores, based on the guidelines of which visual plans and ideas were expected from the applicants. We just had a rather busy period at the company, we kept postponing the task. Finally, a week before the show, we decided to have a creative week where we would all put everything aside and focus exclusively on this workshop for a whole week. The result was achieved, because everyone thought of the task as a reward, which was reflected in the final result. They soon called us to say that we won.
There was a basic concept, we set out on a journey, then we always stood around someone's monitor and came up with ideas together. It was absolute teamwork because, as Laci says, "we may go in six or six directions at the first step, but after that we choose the path in which we all see a perspective together." Additional ideas are constantly incorporated into the winning idea, and every small change is specially examined and examined, and we are in constant interaction with the model.
The essence of our concept was to make customers feel like they are coming to a friendly space with a cafe atmosphere instead of a harsh high-tech store for administration.
Originally, the task was to design 300 square meters, but at the start of construction, the customer decided to add the back office part as well, which meant an additional hundred square meters. The enormous space of the store underwent a transformation not only in terms of design, but also in terms of its function. Based on the guidelines, we divided the former store space into two parts, on one side the store continues to operate renewed, and on the other, endowed with new content, a new space opens up, going beyond the limits of telco functions: we have created an open working space, which, paying attention to safety, will soon be open to the general public can take possession. Telenor also handed over a larger part of the back office space to future customers: a four-person and an eight-person meeting room, as well as a conference room.
For the exciting detailing possibilities and the friendly atmosphere, we cut plywood we used_11100000-0000-0000-0000 -000000000111_on the walls, and the furniture was also made of it. "Compared to traditional, series-produced, laminated furniture, this is more exciting in that a layered structure is revealed when you cut it. For this reason, the edges, openings, perforations, cable passages all present an exciting picture," said Laci.
This material was already chosen during the creation of the concept, which the carpenter accepted with moderate joy, because it is not an integral part of traditional carpentry. This material "requires more attention if we want the details to be beautiful," noted Igor. – The pattern on the surfaces is different everywhere, it is not printed, as with the furniture panels. Plywood looks best in the edge formations, where we did not use 45-degree miter connections, but instead the plates meet at 90 degrees.
Birch plywood softens the elegant, slightly cooler anthracite surfaces and makes them feel homely. But equally important are the many plants and the pastel colors of the plant lighting lamps, which solve the concrete-like structured plaster and the anthracite surfaces. "We were counting on a lot of product displays, screens, and illuminated logos, so we tried to make the environment as neutral as possible, so as not to get a noisy end result," says Laci. This design will hold its own for a long time and is thus compatible with newer and newer brand content.
Telenor delegated a professional, young and constructive project team to finalize the plans. The submitted design almost only needed fine-tuning, and we had to adapt them to Telenor's technical needs (screen placements, product protection, access solutions). Pyxis was also responsible for the electrical and building engineering plans, and also performed project management tasks project preparation and implementation under.
It all happened so quickly and energetically that an outsider might think that the team didn't really face a serious challenge. But that's not true.
When the matter reached the implementation plan phase and the standard product protection solutions and security protocols used by Telenor arrived, we found ourselves faced with an inordinate amount of cables that we had to hide somewhere. It was quite a challenge to figure out how to solve this nicely, how to remove it without affecting the appearance of the furniture, Igor revealed. – There was no need for great tricks, but we had to come up with slightly different solutions; simple, feasible ideas that bring the visuals we wanted.
Designing such a flagship store is in itself a big challenge and a nice result, but the design team and Telenor have already moved on: we are currently working on how to make this design a large can be produced in quantity, economy of scale, and carried forward in a more or less modular system. We are already working on plans for five more - smaller, rural - stores, the construction of which will begin soon.
Photo: Bálint Jaksa / Archition