Aesop Brisbane City

Created in collaboration with MLKK Studio, our Brisbane City space is a meditation on the saturated blue skies, bountiful sunlight, and urban texture of its setting. The store’s rapturous sundial structure was designed with profound regard for the work of architects Le Corbusier, John Utzon, and Peter Zumthor. On approach, the store appears to be swathed in shadows. Natural light is metered through a long clerestory window on the north-east wall, illuminating two curved concrete planes that form the ceiling and back wall. Soft morning sunbeams creep in while the harsh midday rays are blocked. Patterns of light and dark meander on the vertically textured concrete walls, evoking a stroll through Brisbane’s subtropical streets. An inbuilt timber seat presents a place for contemplation. Billowing masses overhead allow for a floating sensation. Deep blue mosaic tiles glint underfoot and envelop the monolithic basin and counter as if they contained an endless body of water.