Hermes Retrofitting an Art Deco Swimming Pool in Paris

From time to time I come across the intriguing relationship between architecture and fashion.  This time I like to share a few thoughts and pictures of the famous Hermes store opened last year in Rue de Sèvres in the fashionable Paris Saint Germain neighborhood.

The interior design has been celebrated in several articles – like this for instance – where you can find more information, better pictures than mine and even videos. I am not going to add anything about it,  just a couple of nice surprises I had visiting the place.

The aura of having being an art deco swimming pool has been skillfully retained in the store, which has a very pleasantly relaxed atmosphere, in terms of space, materials, light and sound.

According to the laid back atmosphere the store is in fact very welcoming:  the guards at the entrance are kindly discrete, you can enter and look around all over the place and even take pictures of the store without any permission (you are just kindly advised not to shoot Hermes items). You can really feel like a human being in a public space instead of a lousy consumer in a horribly expensive fashion store.  

The flooring in the lower ground, the level of the former swimming pool, is nicely composed by mix of mosaic stones in white, grey, green,  blue, gold, silver etc.  The borders seem to be the original pool edge in worn concrete.  

The wooden amphoras subdivide the space being no hindrance to the free movement of people and overall visual impact of the store. 

Thanks and congratulations to Hermes, architect Denis Montel, Director of RDAI agency and also the German engineers Bollinger und Grohmann.