Fred Rigby Studio creates dried flower meadow inside Lestrange store
CategoriesInterior Design

Fred Rigby Studio creates dried flower meadow inside Lestrange store

Forest sounds and furnishings made from storm-stricken trees bring elements of nature into this menswear boutique in London’s King’s Cross, designed by local practice Fred Rigby Studio.

The store is the fourth outpost from men’s fashion brand Lestrange and was conceived based on blueprints by biophilic design expert Oliver Heath, combining greenery with reclaimed and natural materials to forge a greater connection to the outdoors.

White clothes rails inside Lestrange store in Coal's Drop Yard
Fred Rigby Studio has designed the latest Lestrange boutique in London

According to Fred Rigby Studio, this approach was chosen to reflect the brand’s philosophy of using renewable and recycled fibres to produce clothing with longevity.

“We wanted to create a sense of calm within the space, which didn’t feel like a generic shop but an interior which told a story behind the clothing and the brand’s ethos,” explained the studio’s eponymous founder.

Overview of wood-lined London shop interior by Fred Rigby Studio and Oliver Heath
Rice paper lanterns are suspended at varying heights throughout the space

The Lestrange store is set inside the Thomas Heatherwick-designed Coal Drops Yard shopping centre, formed of two converted warehouses that were originally built in the Victorian era to store the vast quantities of coal needed by the capital.

Rigby wanted to incorporate this imposing brick structure into his final design.

Shelves inside Lestrange store in Coal's Drop Yard
Tactile plaster was used to cover the walls

“We didn’t want to hide this history by covering it up, which would have also entailed using construction materials,” he told Dezeen.

“So we celebrated it, breaking the space up using timber walls and cladding, then adding the rice paper lights to give the space a more intimate feel.”

Speaker on a plaster-covered shelf
The same finish was also applied to a trio of display shelves

Using the existing site as his canvas, Rigby focused on sourcing a tight edit of natural and reclaimed materials.

“There are lots of new materials on the market, but finding those that are produced in quantity and applicable to commercial use can be a challenge,” he said.

London plane timber – harvested from “storm-stricken and diseased trees” within a few miles of King’s Cross – was used to form the partitions that define the store’s display and changing areas, as well as some bespoke furniture pieces.

British manufacturer Clayworks blended unfired clays with minerals and natural pigments to create the tactile wall finishes, while the terrazzo-style countertops were made by Welsh company Smile Plastics using a mix of recycled plastics from discarded mobile phone casings and chopping boards.

Lestrange store in Coal's Drop Yard by Fred Rigby Studio and Oliver Heath
The changing rooms are clad in panels of London plane timber

As the ultimate counterpoint to the mass and severity of the brick, Rigby conceived the idea of an indoor meadow that meanders through the Lestrange store.

The arrangement of natural dried flowers and grasses was realised by award-winning garden designer Lottie Delamain, integrating a carefully chosen mix of species to reflect the fibres commonly used in apparel manufacture such as cotton and flax.

“We wanted to bring nature inside, using plants linked to the clothes while creating a touch point to the materiality,” said Rigby.

Dried flowers and grasses in a bed of stones inside Lestrange store in Coal's Drop Yard
Garden designer Lottie Delamain created a dried flower meadow for the store

Clothes are displayed on simple white metal rails and the capacious open-topped dressing rooms feature speakers playing forest sounds, complemented by discreet wall lights that cast a subtle glow.

There are also subtle nods to Japanese design in the form of the rice paper lampshades that float at varying heights throughout the store.

Mini dried flower meadow inside London shop by Fred Rigby Studio and Oliver Heath
The flowers are set in wood-framed stone beds

“We started with a mixture of initial references, one of which was a teahouse designed by Charlotte Perriand,” said Rigby.

“We wanted to create a material-focused space with nods to natural materials such as the rice paper lights, which we felt would add to the space and create a sense of calm and stillness.”

Lestrange store in Coal's Drop Yard by Fred Rigby Studio and Oliver Heath
The Lestrange shop is set inside the Coal Drops Yard shopping centre

Previous projects from Rigby, who founded his studio in 2008, include bespoke furnishings for a renovated 1920s office building in London as well as the interiors of Bath’s Francis Gallery, which is set inside a Georgian townhouse.

The photography is by Felix Speller.

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Upcycling food waste into dried fruit snacks
CategoriesSustainable News

Upcycling food waste into dried fruit snacks

Spotted: Faced with the knowledge that California throws away more peaches than the entire state of Georgia produces in a year, The Ugly Company founder Ben Moore wanted to help put a stop to such waste. Rather than discarding fruits that are too misshapen to be sold to supermarkets, The Ugly Company upcycles them into healthy dried fruit snacks.  

Run by a team with close ties to the farming industry, the startup sources most of its product locally from the San Joaquin Valley in California. Cherries, peaches, apricots, kiwis, and nectarines are dried and packaged for sale in individual snack packs. It takes eight pounds of fresh fruit to create one pound of dried fruit, so each pack of Ugly fruit represents two and a half pounds of fruit rescued from waste.  

As well as preventing food waste, the company adds value to the local farming economy. Farmers no longer have to pay for the collection and dumping of their unused fruit. Instead, The Ugly Company pays growers for crops that are good to eat but deemed ‘too ugly’ for general wholesale, whether that be because they are too small, or have an odd colour or shape. 

Buyers can find the fruit in several grocery chains, including Krogers’s, Hy-Vee, and Whole Foods, as well as online and via subscription boxes. Thanks to a recent Series A funding round that raised $9 million (about €8.4 million), the company plans to expand its processing capacity and keep up with growing national demand.  

Other ways in which Springwise has spotted innovations reducing food waste include turning broccoli stems into alternative proteins, and using AI-powered scanners to track the freshness of produce.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference