April 29, 2016

Renowned Timepiece Brands Unify Under One Roof in Drubba Moments Flagship Store

It all started with boat rentals on the lake that gives its name to the resort town of Titisee-Neustadt in Germany’s Black Forest. After 17 years of that business, Klaus and Ursula Drubba also started selling traditional cuckoo clocks, followed by wristwatches. The couple’s company, Drubba, is now a major retailer of German and Swiss timepieces, brands ranging from Swatch and TAG Heuer to Chopard and Jaeger-LeCoultre. To showcase them all, Werkgruppe Lahr designed a one-story building, and Interior Design Hall of Fame members Peter Ippolito and Gunter Fleitz worked their magic transforming the 4,600 square feet inside into a flagship, Drubba Moments.

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“It was difficult to accommodate so many shop-in-shops,” Ippolito explains. Particularly as the brands came with their own paneling and freestanding displays. Using shades of white for Drubba’s own lacquered display fixtures as well as the floor’s hexagonal porcelain tile and the acoustical ceiling was Ippolito Fleitz Group’s first step in unifying everything.

A canopy sweeping above the middle of the space does the rest. The undulations were produced by using Rhinoceros software to configure thousands of spruce rods, from 1 to 7 feet long. “We not only tied the space together but also referenced the Black Forest,” Fleitz says. Imagine an aerial view of trees, only upside down.

To amplify the effect, the ends of select rods glow with acrylic-encased LEDs or LED spotlights. The entire composition is mirrored in the shiny copper-colored laminate tops of the sur­rounding partitions. “As you approach, the rods seem to jump out at you,” Ippolito notes.

Aside from the visual interest provided by the coppery strips, the partitions angle around to define a loose central enclosure. Outside is the sales floor. Inside, a counter for watch repairs anchors one end, and the other is shared by VIP cash-wrap, a coffee bar, and a lounge. The ultramarine of the lounge’s wool-upholstered swivel chairs and rayon rugs gives a nod to the nearby lake. Above them hangs a cuckoo clock.

ThroughoutVescom: Wall Covering. Apavisa porcelanico: Floor Tile. ERCO: Track Lighting. pfarré lighting design: Lighting Consultant. FB-Plan: MEP. Ganter Interior: General Contractor.

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