Universal Works x 26 Berwick Street / Studio MUTT

Architects: Studio MUTT
Location: Soho, London, United Kingdom
Area: 75.0 m2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: French + Tye

Contractor: 19

Text description provided by the architects. MUTT’s creative relationship with Universal Works began in the bar of a London hotel, on a cold December day, with a question: how does an approach to clothing translate into an approach to architecture? As customers of theirs, we already had an understanding and appreciation of the brand – its context, the craft at the heart of it, and the people behind it. Through close discussion with David, Stephanie, and the wider Universal Works family we developed an architectural approach based on these three facets of their ethos to be used in the design of their new stores. 26 Berwick Street is the first fruit of this collaboration and new found friendship. A flagship store at Coal Drops Yard will follow it in October.

26 Berwick Street is of the same family as the other stores, but with a slightly different, very unique, flavor and character. This is determined by the form, feel and location of the unit itself, reacting to its environment and constraints to produce an innovative architectural response which is at once extremely familiar and perfectly peculiar. Unexpected and surprising moments have been created through architectural insertions with a bold and honest material palette, and by closely working with the idiosyncrasies of the unit.

The existing concrete structure, long since concealed and covered by previous tenants, has been brought back to life in a vibrant green, reminiscent of the mills and factories which have been such an influence on Universal Works collections. Large expanses of the mirror have been used, mounted to bespoke timber framework, to create illusions of volume and new sightlines through the space. An original blockwork wall has been resurrected in green machined Valchromat as the changing room walls and doors.