The Store — Sanitaryware & Fittings Showroom
A curated retail experience where every fixture tells a story
This sanitaryware and bathroom fittings showroom was designed to transform the act of product selection into an immersive lifestyle experience. Rather than presenting fixtures on bare shelves, each zone was composed as a vignette — a complete, styled bathroom scene that customers could visualize in their own homes. The design balances the warmth of natural wood and brass with the precision of dark matte finishes and grey stone cladding, creating a space that feels both aspirational and approachable.
What the Client Needed
- Create a premium showroom environment that elevates the brand above competitors in the local market
- Display a broad product range — faucets, toilets, basins, shower enclosures, and bathtubs — in a coherent layout
- Incorporate a comfortable consultation area where clients can meet with staff and review options
- Design an exterior facade that communicates quality and draws walk-in traffic from the street
- Maximize the perceived spaciousness of the floor plate through strategic lighting and reflective surfaces
The Groundwork
Research into high-performing sanitaryware showrooms revealed that customers spend significantly longer in spaces organized as styled vignettes rather than product grids. The design team analyzed customer movement patterns and identified a central island spine as the optimal configuration for a long, narrow footprint. Warm amber under-shelf lighting was chosen to counteract the clinical coldness often associated with bathroom retail, encouraging customers to linger and engage.
The Idea
"Living Display" — treating every product cluster as a fully styled, inhabitable bathroom scene rather than an inventory catalogue, so customers buy a vision, not just a fixture.
What We Faced
- Fitting a wide product inventory — from compact basin faucets to full freestanding bathtubs — into a single compact floor plan without visual chaos
- Designing multiple distinct bathroom vignettes that each feel complete while sharing a unified showroom aesthetic
- Creating an exterior facade with strong street presence on a constrained frontage between neighbouring buildings
How We Solved It
- A central island display counter running the length of the space acts as the organising spine, with wall bays on either side each dedicated to a specific product category
- Each vignette is differentiated through its own mirror shape, countertop material, and cabinet finish, while consistent warm lighting and oak shelving maintains overall cohesion
- A bold dark signage panel flanked by horizontal timber banding and full-height glazing creates a striking facade that allows passers-by to see directly into the illuminated showroom
Design Process
Concept & Space Planning
Developed the vignette-based layout strategy, zoning plan, and facade concept
Design Development
Finalised material palettes, lighting design, joinery drawings, and ceiling detail specifications
Construction & Fit-Out
Site works including tiling, joinery fabrication and installation, ceiling metalwork, and track lighting
Merchandising & Handover
Product placement, vignette styling, lighting calibration, and final client walkthrough
The Outcome
Project Photography
