When it comes to designing the interior of a retail store, it’s all about making customers feel welcome and right at home. For Leeds-based independent bookshop Colours May Vary, who stocks a wonderful range of graphic art and design, typography, illustration, product design, prints, cards, gift, wrap, stationery and homeware, their USP is to source locally and internationally from a mix of established and up-and-coming producers. Situated on the upper balcony of Leeds Corn Exchange, the shop often collaborates with furniture maker Plaey, designer and manufacturer of modern and modular furniture that combines form, function and a sense of fun.
“As their name suggests, Colours May Vary stocks a lot of colourful design items and books,” explains Plaey designer Matt Kelly. “So our approach for their furniture has always been clean lines in plywood or white, to let their products pop!”
“We recently used HIMACS in Alpine White for the countertop, as it’s the perfect material for both durability and quality of touch. For this latest tiered display shelving, we wanted to continue with these materials and decided to use HIMACS for the upstands, too. We had some Ruby HIMACS in the workshop from another job and noticed that the pink colour was a very close match to Colours May Vary’s branding by Studio.Build. So we introduced the Ruby HIMACS for the bottom upstand and drawer fronts, as well as for the cog-shaped hooks for the counter-end pegboard.”
The resulting unit has a really fresh aesthetic that sits perfectly in this design-focused environment.
As one of the UK’s largest independent distributors of panels and decorative surfaces, James Latham, HIMACS distributor in the UK & Ireland, brings the perfect finish to each and every project. With a wealth of experience in construction and design for art galleries, museums, shops and showrooms, this collaborative project brings together all the leading names in design.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROJECT DESIGN
Project name: Plaey – Colours May Vary – furniture
Location: Leeds, England, UK
Design & Fabrication: Plaey
HIMACS Supplier: James Latham
Material: HIMACS in Alpine White S028 and Ruby S304 www.lxhausys.com/eu
HIMACS elements: Shelving upstands and hooks
Photos: Plaey