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Conradt OptikMosbach, 2009

We Helped an Optician Develop a Focused Product Presentation and Customer Guidance. Looking Good!

Expertises

Conradt Optik

The refurbishment of Conradt Optik coincides with the business being handed over to the next generation of owners, who wish to position the business with a select segment of brands and a focus on individual customer care. The interior can be accessed through one of two entrances, both of which lead to the central service counter. An organically curving rear wall masks the workshop areas and divides the shop into zones. Fitted into the rear wall are long backlit presentation bays and flush-set drawers for accessible product storage. The recessed ceiling is decorated with a pattern of fine lines and differentiates the customer service area from the shop floor.

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Plans
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Facts & Figures
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Awards & Publications

The town of Mosbach lies around 30 km north of Heilbronn and is an important medium-sized centre for the region. Conradt Optik is an established specialist opticians located in the centre of the town’s pedestrian precinct. After many successful years of operation, the business is now being handed over to the next generation of owners. The new owners are looking to differentiate themselves from the competition through focusing on a select segment of brands and individual customer care. This new direction has been further underscored through a comprehensive refurbishment programme.

The entire building façade was renewed as part of the renovations, thereby making the shop’s new profile immediately evident from the outside. Long windows stretch down to the ground, giving maximum insight into the representative interior, which in itself becomes the window display. An adjacent shop space was incorporated into the existing space, producing an elegantly elongated floor plan. The space opens straight onto the pedestrian precinct on two sides. Both entrances lead towards the main service counter, which serves as the centrepiece of the room.
The rear wall merges seamlessly with the ceiling, which contains a recessed area giving onto the longitudinal side. This design differentiates the area for browsing from the customer service area, as well as connecting the two entrances with each other. The recessed ceiling is decorated with a fine structure of lines in subtle tones of brown, mauve and blue, evoking associations with the stroma and play of lines in the iris.

The room is encapsulated by an organically curved rear wall, which brings a generous dynamic to the space. It conceals existing fittings such as the stairs and workshop, and is connected with the ceiling via a wide-radius cavetto. Its soft contours formulate the wide-open horizon of the space, while at the same time dividing it into individual zones, which group the product line naturally into glasses for women, men and children. The glasses are displayed in three recessed horizontal bays, which span almost the entire length of the rear wall. Precision front and rear lighting creates a stunning presentation space for the glasses. Flush-set storage space for the entire product line runs beneath the display bays.
Parallel to the windows on the longitudinal side are three floating displays. These are set at a slight angle and are reserved for the opticians’ range of sunglasses. Continuous rear lighting ensures that the eye is drawn to the beauty of the products themselves, while simultaneously giving a rhythm and depth to the space.
Various free-standing display cases provide space for special presentations. Oval displays set in eye-catching places in the rear wall create attractive focal points for customers entering the shop.

Customer service takes place at two conference islands at each end of the longitudinal axis. Arching tabletops continue the soft lines of the design idiom, while at the same time creating an open and transparent atmosphere for discussion and customer proximity. In the rear area of the shop, steps lead up to separate refraction rooms.

The entire shop space is fitted with a deep-pile, anthracite-coloured carpet. This ensures good acoustics while enhancing the soft and flowing character of the interior.

The complete redesign of Conradt Optik supports the opticians positioning within the high-end segment. The exciting interplay of light and dark sets the stage for an attractive display of products. Colourful accents are subtly set by the products and the structure of lines on the ceiling. The latter also delivers a unique key visual, which is employed in various settings in the company’s communication, for example on the paper bags.