This is Size?. It’s a store that sells trainers in Bristol’s Horsefair and takes its inspiration from the locality of which it is a part, according to Checkland Kindleysides, the design consultancy that created it.
This single-floor shop uses slate crazy paving for the floor and relatively simple internally illuminated, white, open-fronted wardrobes around parts of the perimeter, allowing the stock to do the talking.
Yet curiously, although the palette is neutral, the contrast between the dark and light areas of the shop ensures that attention is paid to the shape of the interior as well as the stock it houses.
However, any visitor entering the store would be struck by one thing more than any other: the dark horse stationed in the middle of the floor. This, presumably, is a reference to the Horsefair, as is the 1824 painting of the fair itself, which is emblazoned across the back wall.
Elsewhere, white grain has been printed onto plywood to create the furniture used for the cash and wrap area, aimed at fostering the sense that you are looking at packing crates – a kind of wood caricature.
Graffiti-style graphics add to and reflect the brand’s quirky character, according to the designers.
Making relatively small spaces work without overwhelming the shopper is rarely straightforward and Size? seems to manage this. And the use of a mid-shop horse is not without its precedents. Walk into Habitat in Westfield London and you pass a white version of Size?’s equine mannequin. White or black, horses do seem to be having an in-store moment.
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