In most industrialised countries, commercial interiors, including retail stores, are ‘churned’ or changed every five to seven years.1 These changes result in the wastage of large quantities of materials and products and the consumption of new resources by way of replacement.2 For retail outlets, which are part of a corporate chain, any changes made to interior fitouts have a consequential ‘knock on’ effect, resulting in a greater sustainable impact, than would be found for individual ‘one-off’ stores.

As part of a six week Design Studio in the Interior Architecture undergraduate program at the UNSW, students were asked to address these issues for the design of a shoe store chain of their choice or making.

The results of these projects produced a range of ideas demonstrating how retail chain store design could reduce materials use, rethink retail design and the activity of shopping and improve its connection to local communities.