cordingley's surf city
retail fitout
Traditional Custodians of the land Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation
Location Shop 4 Rendezvous Hotel, Scarborough
Construction value $285,000
Floor area 386m2
Year completed 2013
Cordingley’s Surf City has been part of the West Australian surfing scene since 1962, and has a strong relationship to it’s home, Scarborough Beach. This fundamental history of the store formed the basis for the design of their new store - a design which not only satisfied the programmatic requirements, but drew from, and reinterpreted the retro roots of this surfing institution.
A roughly sealed concrete floor, and blacked-out ceiling void sandwich the volume - drawing the customer’s focus to the product within the store. Located in the centre of the store, flanked by the existing base building columns, is a Prahu (a traditional Indonesian fishing boat, which in recent history has been used to ferry surfers to and from outer reef breaks) which serves to divide the male and female clothing sections. Sweeping panels of slat wall clad the base building columns, symbolic of a breaking wave.
A special zone towards the rear of the store is an interpretation of the “Surf Boardroom” - a space framed by joinery with rows of standing surfboards which appear to continue into the distance due to the placement of a mirrors on the back wall, and framed above by a suspended ceiling grid with sporadically placed mirrored tiles (like a 1960’s disco ball!).
Cordingley’s also stocks a range of skateboards and skate accessories which required it’s own counter and identity within the store. A plywood form emerges out of the floor and curves to form a canopy symbolic of a skate ramp. This form houses a display of skateboards and frames the skateboard counter. Urban ground markings clearly delineate this space from the rest of the store and create a contrasting aesthetic.
Due to the irregular outline of the tenancy, the back of house areas were strategically placed to square off the tenancy. Changing rooms were positioned opposite this back of house area, with the point of sale counter between the two, being clearly visible to the entering customer whilst enabling clear surveillance by staff of the store. Painted wall murals behind the point of sale and along the entry wall commissioned by the owners draw on the history and essence of their brand.
+ RUNNER UP SHOP FIT OUT OF THE YEAR AT AUSTRALIAN SURF INDUSTRY AWARDS 2014