During their research for the design of Aesop Canary Wharf, our in-house team engrossed themselves in the site’s nineteenth- and twentieth-century history as one of the busiest docks in the world, while also surveying its contemporary significance as a hub for London’s banking and financial services. In the spirit of international trade, the store is an assemblage of items from across Europe—housed within a chestnut brown container. The warm, enveloping ambiance provides respite from the supercharged retail environment.
Occupying the centre of the room, two expansive solid oak tables emulate the three-legged forms of ancient Cembalo instruments, on which Mozart composed many of his works. These pieces were designed by Jakob Sprenger Interiors for a former Aesop store in Salzburg, and now take on a second life at Canary Wharf—their sturdy warmth transported across the English Channel. Skirting the store’s periphery, a 1960s Italian modular shelving system in a glowing olive yellow is laden with Aesop cargo. Hanging from the ceiling, a vintage ‘Mille Feuille’ structure—custom-designed for a Brussels bank in the 1970s—is composed of suspended metal rectangles that were intended to resemble bank notes or cheques. The effect is one of diffuse luminescence.
