In an era of pop-ups and ever-changing store spaces, the new Tate Moden shop offers a continually evolving ‘permanently temporary’ experience.

Pop-up stores come and go, and occasionally they may even become permanent. What they don’t readily lend themselves to is being classified as “permanently temporary spaces”. Yet this is the underlying aim of the recently opened store at the extension to London’s Tate Modern.

Designed by Amsterdam-based consultancy UXUS, this is a shop that is intended to have much the same feel as a rough-and-ready pop-up, and to be in a constant state of flux as far as the interior is concerned.

“Shelves and mid-shop equipment can be completely reconfigured as the occasion and stock may require”

This means that shelves and mid-shop equipment can be completely reconfigured as the occasion and stock may require, and the idea is that the store should appear different every time a visit is made, according to UXUS.

The sense of the temporary is reinforced by the concrete floor and powder-coated steel fixtures, both of which lend an industrial feel to the shop, entirely appropriate for Tate Modern.

“Permanently temporary” may sound oxymoronic, but it is actually quite close to a lot that is happening in higher-end retail at the moment as retailers seek to avoid being typecast.