RETAIL DESIGN STUDIO | UHASSELT UNIVERSITY | ADAPTIVE REUSE
Prof. Philippe Swartenbroux| Prof. dr. Katelijn QUARTIER | Elisa SERVAIS | Elisa Servais | Sven Stas
An empty church in Aalst, what can we do with it? this is where our project began. We started looking in the area what was missing and found out that not only in Aalst or Flanders but in Belgium a good Samsung Experience store is missing. research started by looking at various projects from architecture to retail, immersive experiences, exhibitions, scenography and even fashion shows. We did extensive research to see what future stores look like and to always go beyond. We didn’t want to delete the memory of the church of Aalst because the existing building contradicted anything futuristic which was a challenge but we decided to build up on it. The store is divided between displays and experiences. what would bring people to the store rather than just buying online? The idea of possession where you feel it’s yours so you want to own it and go buy it.
