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2012 Design Award Winners

Store of the Year

Store of the Year

Louis Vuitton Island Maison Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

This extraordinary island crystal pavilion is luxury giant Louis Vuitton’s newest store in Singapore. The store, which opened in September 2011, is the luxury brand’s twelfth Maison in the world and the first in Southeast Asia. Set in the beautiful Marina Bay Sands resort development, surrounded by water and built of glass and steel, the glass pavilion was designed by Sommerville, Mass.-based Moshe Safdie, with the retail interior designed by New York-based Peter Marino.

The store carries Louis Vuitton brand products, including luggage, handbags, jewelry,watches, clothing, and accessories. This location also features a bookstore with a curated selection of books on travel, design, art, and culture in a comfortable environment for browsing. Because of the store’s island location, several access methods were designed (boat, tunnel, or bridge) to make reaching the store an experience and set the mood for an extraordinary event.

The interior design’s nautical theme reflects both the Maison’s location and the Louis Vuitton brand’s association with travel and with sailing. Design elements support the message, including light fixtures that evoke ship masts suspended from the ceiling, an outdoor loggia reminiscent of a luxury ocean liner’s deck, and art and cultural elements that showcase the artistic life of the city.

The main challenge for the design team was to manage the light levels within the all-glass pavilion and to protect the luxury goods from harmful UV damage. The solution was a series of over 300 unique framed panels with a UV-resistant membrane skin. New York-based tensile architecture specialist FTL Design Engineering Studio developed the design of the shading system. The panels were fabricated by Toronto-based Eventscape.

Together covering a total area of 25,000 square feet, each custom sun shade measures almost 20 feet long. Two different architectural textiles, one made of PTFE and the other of glass fiber with polymer coatings, were used to achieve the specific translucencies required on walls and ceilings. Designed to be durable and easily cleaned, the panels allow consistent diffused light and are positioned so that visitors are still able to see the spectacular views of surrounding Marina Bay.

Grand Prize

Louis Vuitton Island Maison Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

The newest Louis Vuitton store is an extraordinary island crystal pavilion. Set in the Marina Bay Sands development, surrounded by water and built of glass and steel, it is the first island maison in Southeast Asia. The entire space reflects a nautical theme consistent with its location and with the brand’s historical association with travel. To manage the daylight passing through the glass walls, 315 framed sunshade “sails” feature a UV-resistant translucent textile covering, diffusing light but not hindering the views of the Bay. Light fixtures suspended from the ceiling evoke ship masts and an outdoor loggia is reminiscent of an ocean liner’s deck. A bookstore element presents a curated selection of books on travel, design, art and culture.