Retail – Virgin Megastores

wdl Interior Architects was chosen to help convert the famous Tower Records store at 1 Piccadilly Circus, London, for Virgin Retail: the design was to become a template for Virgin Megastores worldwide.

wdl had a long history of working with Virgin Retail as commercial interior architects on their Megastores when a team was set up to convert the Tower Records store. wdl was chosen to work alongside Paris architects Collet & Berger to develop and interpret their design concept into a working solution for altering the three-storey property.  The design had to be taken through an approvals process involving input from other Virgin design consultants and companies, before undergoing final detailing to meet UK regulations and construction standards.

The work involved extensive structural changes: removing lifts and sections of floor, to open up views within the store and create a natural circulation. A glass scenic lift and a pre-fabricated steel scissor stair, built within a new circulation core and clad entirely in re-claimed hardwood sourced from local salvage yards, were installed. New entrances and display windows were formed along Regent Street, after expanding into adjacent shop units. Old entrances were then opened up directly off Piccadilly tube station at basement level, where franchise operations from other Virgin companies were sited.

The work was carried out in numerous phases over a 20-week period, while the store continued to trade. Sales floor area lost to construction was never more than around 40%, while customer numbers and sales perplexingly increased throughout the time on site.

wdl acted as interior designers and architects, within a professional team of project managers, quantity surveyors, mechanical, electrical and structural engineers.