The 600 square meter space posed a dilemma because the existing 6 meter floor-to-floor heights between the ground and second floor would discourage visitors to climb the 40 steps to discover the upper level. CARBONDALE ‘s solution was to suspend a large cylindrically sculpted mezzanine “cloud” within the space to create a more manageable ascent and entice visitors upwards to discover and experience the floating volume. The ceiling of the mezzanine is composed of six-thousand extruded aluminum Louis Vuitton monogram flowers capped in polished brass and stainless steel floating overhead like an inverted flower garden. To further accentuate the vertical experience and to address the store’s two entries locations a “circulation vortex” was created by superimposes two large spiral stairs that twist around each other in a unique double helix geometry allowing visitors from all directions to effortlessly discover all levels.
