MASSIMO IOSA GHINI DESIGNS

THE NEW FLAGSHIP STORE TERME DI SIRMIONE

 

The new Terme di Sirmione flagship store, designed by architect Massimo Iosa Ghini for Terme di Sirmione Spa, the company that owns the brand and hotels and restaurants in the well-known thermal town, was opened on November 23 in Piazza Castello, in the heart of the magnificent location overlooking Lake Garda.

The spatial concept refers to a constant in Massimo Iosa Ghini’s masterpieces: lines characterized by liquid design, organic, fluid, and vitalistic forms that recall futurist echoes but are focused on the search for ergonomic and perceptual comfort, on the definition of emotional language. The new store features the fluid blue line of light that encloses the central “basin” where the desk is placed.

Iosa Ghini has always paid special attention to the design of Made in Italy chain stores, from Ferrari to Maserati, Superga to Omnitel and Banca Mediolanum to Kiko, Glo to Terme di Sirmione, ensuring an adequate definition of the coordinated image, corporate identity of the company and welcoming spaces.

Projects endowed with strong expressive recognizability with a rare ability to relate to the client’s needs. Iosa Ghini succeeds in highlighting the narrative power of the brand without overpowering it with its stylistic signature.

“I start from the operational and functional needs of a space, starting from the brand history and trying to identify even one cue, one conceptual element that makes this space “comprehensive.” I always focus on what is being sold within these spaces. I always look for an element that characterizes the retail space – a place that has a complex relationship of indoor-outdoor permeability – that faces the street, It’s of everyday use, even careless use, so it is necessary to define strong elements as to evoke the philosophy of the brand and communicate “the essence of the brand.”

For the Terme di Sirmione flagship, I identified four elements-code: the first is the City of Sirmione, understood as a well-known Italian location with clearly delineated tourist characteristics. We worked on the brand representing the skyline of the city. The second is Water understood both as a physical-natural element with its thermal properties and as a chromatic sign to give formal suggestions such as the fluidity of the line. As a third “code” we chose a precise color, a Light Blue declined on various shades and a material, Copper, intended as a color but also as a connotative component of the project. Finally, the fourth element is Mud that identifies the link with the territory, the city of Sirmione and the Spa that generated the idea of the Cruet, a symbolic but also functional object specially designed, to collect and to test it. The idea of testing mud on the skin hand creates a more direct feeling with the customer,” Iosa Ghini explains.

The spatial composition of the new flagship store is also defined by the careful design of LED lighting by iGuzzini fixtures that creates interesting “chromo-therapeutic” effects. Once entering from the noisy street, a regenerative and wellness effect can be experimented.

“The lighting design in our projects has always been very important but has become prevalent in recent years. The essential space of the Sirmione store, made up of just a few elements – a shelving unit and a central water jet that integrates the architecture of the space – is emphasized from a lighting point of view with the possibility of activating three scenarios with LED lights.”

In Massimo Iosa Ghini’s retail projects as in Sirmione flagship store, quality transcends its most classical meaning, goes beyond the product, and involves communication. When it comes to spaces such as these, stylistic research is global, affecting all aspects of the project, from the modulation of the spaces to the complements.

“The corporate image was done, but we decided on the product positioning. We also designed the two custom-made poufs. Designing the space allows me to work on the product. We are also working on other stores for Terme di Sirmione where buying the product becomes a wellness ritual.”

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS SHEET:

Surface: Sales area 80 square meters

Shelving Metrication: Linear development perimeter shelving 18 m (height 2.25 m).

Materials used: Furniture base made of plywood and mdf lacquered semi-gloss gray/blue and copper colors. Floor and wall covering central counter and cash desk in resin. Fabric curled curtain.

Suppliers: Customized furniture “Ramiro srl”;

lighting fixtures: “iGuzzini illuminazione S.p.A”;

resin floors and walls: “Innovative Surface”.