Johannes Torpe Studio transformed a shabby industrial building from the ‘90s in Lynge, Denmark into a futuristic retail experience for United Cycling. The ‘lab’ and store is a modern monastery for the science of cycling, blending elements from the worlds of technology, engineering, mechanics and community. In inviting customers to learn, innovate and dream, the designers create harmony between man, nature and machine.
The concept draws inspiration from the detailed engineering of a carbon fibre bicycle, seeking to highlight the ambition that the mode of transport represents. The design follows a tight grid system, including a product gallery with accessories and spare parts, a workshop, a bike fitting area and training facilities. Beyond the store, the space includes office facilities, meeting rooms, cantina, storage and an outdoor plaza for industry meet-ups and events.
All functions of the store refer back to the idea of a monastery, with the showroom as the ‘chapel’, offices as dorms, cantina as refectory, product gallery as a library, training facility as choir and workshop as the forge. The showroom features an impressive framework of concrete floors, bright white walls, custom illuminated product display furniture and 6m ceilings clad with luminous panels. Eight bikes are displayed on one wall, while five pantographs hang from the ceiling displaying a selection of bicycle prototypes, lowered with the click of a button.
Customers are encouraged to admire the products, inspect and touch them, marrying mechanical and tactile elements. Five display structures with lit surfaces and a cabinet box allow customers to take a closer look and feel of individual bike parts. All showroom elements follow precise gridlines, creating a clinical yet ethereal atmosphere reminiscent of a sci-fi lab.
Inspired by the carbon fibre lightness of the Argon 18 bikes, the designers chose light and airy yet industrial materials throughout. Warm and natural materials such as oak contrast cool concrete floors, black steel and reflective glass, bringing the broader theme of nature and science into play. The existing façade was covered in white perforated aluminium plates, while timber lamella covers the entrance façade and corridors. Various transparent materials such as perforated metal plates and glass walls allow openness throughout the store interior.
Juxtaposing mechanical with human elements throughout the store enhances the notion of man and machine, rather than man vs. machine. The store was designed with modular and scalable solutions in mind suitable for a global rollout. The Denmark location aims to be the Nordic hub for the sport of cycling.
[Images courtesy of Johannes Torpe. Photography by Alastair Philip Wiper.]
