Tarzan and Jane go shopping

Somewhere in between a commercial reality and a more societal approach. Forging links between a type of contemporary frenzy and a desire to slow down the pace of visitors. Providing a better customer experience.

Factory outlets allow manufacturers to offer discount prices on a wide range of products. That of Aubonne, the largest on this side of Lake Geneva, is what can be classed as a "factory outlet centre", bringing together around fifty different brands, from A like adidas to Z like Zadig&Voltaire.

Built on two floors, the building offers a series of vertiginous shops, a display of brands that follow one another. Our intervention first consisted in creating stops at the very heart of what can be described as a giant carousel, punctuated by multiple ups and downs of escalators. To create a warm atmosphere. Finally, to offer customers numerous seating options. Our motto: “Enliven, ecologise and revitalise” common and distributive spaces. 

To start with, we sought to prioritise these spaces. Then, we wanted to offer time-out spaces, spaces of conviviality which are a form of rediscovered hospitality to offset the relative impersonal side of the building.

Resin floor markings in plant colours represent the shapes of oases. These are three chromatic islands taken from a colour chart ranging from light green to midnight blue which symbolise a bed of leaves. A pile of humus on which to recharge your batteries. They are organic bubbles, areas for pedestrians. Luminous halos fall from the ceiling, curtains of orange metallic mesh, suns deploying their rays on the chosen space. 

In the long corridors, serpentine benches are placed like tree trunks lying in a forest, overhung by pieces of suspended forest. These benches are connected; they can become workstations if required. Near the escalators, small wooden platforms are available to visitors, to enjoy the spectacle that occurs in these places or just to take time out to draw breath. Assess. Wait. Hesitate. Decide. Seats with opposite designs face each other and energise the space; two armchair shells are suspended and can be used as swings. Unless a couple decides to re-enact the legend of Tarzan and Jane in them...