Gabellini Sheppard

Jil Sander's Hamburg Flagship opened, replacing her original boutique in the designer's hometown.  Located on Neuer Wall beside an old canal in the heart of downtown, the boutique occupies a corner position of a modern building that offered generous 16-foot ceiling heights. Immense window openings spring from street level, affording magnificent views to the interior- seemingly an extension of the city sidewalk.

This first Jil Sander boutique designed for the presentation of both men's and women's collections, took advantage of the luxurious volume while maintaining a sense of human scale. The 4,000-square-foot floor plan is modulated to form a series of distinct but loosely defined areas, without obscuring the space as a whole. 

Suspended walls and narrow, light-filled passages enhance the sense of magnitude and invite the visitor deeper into the boutique.  Fragmentary enclosure gives way to a sudden glimpse of the farthest corner of the interior volume, or a surprising view of the canal or street.  Finally, a vista like that down an allée brings all of these spaces together along the inner-most wall of the boutique, acting as a second storefront turned inside out.