Glancy Fawcett | Showroom | Manchester

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The Brief

Further expansion of Glancy Fawcett business meant taking on additional premises to enable the warehousing and distribution operations to take place off-site.  This opened up a large area of 30 x 20m of free space for a new showroom area.

All of the previous showrooms that we had designed and built on the site had been very product-specific in creating smaller focused showrooms for Dinnerware, Crystal, Cutlery, Bedding, Table linens, Bathrobes, and cashmeres.  All of these product lines had been intentionally targeted to serve the Super Yacht designers and their customer’s residences.  The changes within the business saw an opportunity to sell slightly more accessible products to a wider and localised customer.  To do this, GF decided that they needed to set up more of a high-class retail style environment where all of the product lines could come together and create almost a shopping experience that was a lot less clinical in its approach and adaptable across product mixes.

There was also to be a separate room that would set apart very special pieces. This would act almost as a gallery space to house glass sculptures, clocks, and vases.

double bed surrounded by glass display cases

The Deliverables

The challenge for us was going to be the budget from the get-go.  Such a huge area to fill with intense product display, lighting issues and on top of that a high-end room which we ended up naming “The Vault”.

The fact that this was all going to be completely re-shaping a garage space within a 120-year-old engineering works, complete with rough concreted floor, tatty ceilings and wonky walls, made the design not only difficult just from an aesthetic point of view but had to take into consideration the surrounding infrastructure…… Columns, an old inspection pit, 2x steel roller shutter doors and aircon, all had to disappear to make way for something that would eventually take the customer’s breath away and compete with some of the top retail/show spaces in the country.

shelving displaying photo frames and hangers

The Experience

For over 20 years, Glancy Fawcett have been supplying the finest designer homeware and architectural products to countless luxury superyachts, residences and private aircraft. Expert service is at the heart of Glancy Fawcett from the beginning to the end of every project, and beyond.

The company pride themselves on having close lasting partnerships with the world’s leading brands and have more than 9,000 product samples in their 11,000 sq ft Manchester Showroom. Glancy Fawcett offer clients the ability to visit the showrooms in-person, by private appointment, or by virtual means, touring from the comfort of their own home.

During the client’s visit, they can immerse themselves into their project, walking through all the rooms to gain a flavour of the fantastic facility and the beautiful products available.

showroom with glass display cases holding tableware and vases

Our Response

One of the key elements of the whole design concept was to find some way to bathe products in the light rather than using lots of spotlighting which has been used in previous showrooms. A mixture of lighting types were discussed so that differing materials could be displayed and respond differently to give a more ambient and natural atmosphere.

From our previous work with the GF we knew that glass, china, and cutlery respond well to point source spotlighting, whilst the writing sets and leather accessories, fabrics and woods, respond better to flatter LED strip lighting.  Many of the key displays were designed so that the lighting channel was integrated into the structural supports carrying the glass shelving.  Not only did the client want the fixing to the shelves to be invisible, but for there not to be a break in the strip lighting as this would interrupt the sleek and very visible verticals of the LED lights. With glass sculptures having such a high price tag and, in some cases, weighing 25kgs each; we had to get this right. 

mirrored ship ornament on a sidetable with a lamp and a canvas

The Results

“We couldn’t be happier with the way the showroom has turned out; it has proven to be our greatest asset. This has proven especially true as we have developed a fabulous interactive service on line with our customers who have been unable to visit us during the Pandemic and feel sure that this is set to continue beyond Covid” 

 

Robert Bieniaz

Managing Director

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