Lotte Duty Free operate a number of ‘out of airport’ duty free licenses in South Korea. Leonard Design Architects were asked to reconsider their flagship, 4 storey, store in the Sogong-dong neighbourhood of Seoul. Our design clears away dated, cellular spaces and replaces them with contemporary, open concession halls which maximise visibility and encourage circulation to all the retail on offer. Each concession hall has a unique design which contributes to the ‘elegant luxury’ concept (targeted at the independent international/local traveler), or the ‘trendy sophistication’ concept (aimed at Chinese tour groups). This variation animates the customer journey and aids intuitive orientation. We relocated the beauty offer to the top floor to draw people up through the levels and take advantage of an existing barrel-vaulted atrium. The ‘Beauty Atrium’ is the scheme’s signature space, an iconic retail stop on any tourist’s itinerary.
