TORAFU ARCHITECTS

FREITAG is a brand selling colorful messenger bags and accessories made from recycled truck tarpaulins, bicycle inner tubes, and used car seat belts. This interior and exterior design renewal project is for the Shibuya store, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and which we designed originally. Under the design concept of warehouse or logistic center, we focused on “using long-lasting materials”, “shelf systems and modular type fixtures designed in-house”, and “expanding the repair space”, in order to make the space functional and durable.

Inheriting the character of the original Shibuya store, with its distinctive location facing both Meiji street and Cat Street, we imagined the store interior to be another street that connects the two streets and covered it with new gray and blue colored floor panels. The central blue aisle, reminiscent of a bicycle lane in Japan, is covered with panels made from recycled materials, which are generally used in warehouses. They are more stable and durable than existing floor panels and suitable for the footfall of the location.
We secured visible storage space in the sales area using safety fencing usually found in factories, etc. The visible space contributes to the expansion of the repair lab space with newly installed windows to show the repair process to the people in the store. The POS counter and the wagon that stores repaired items are movable, and can be laid out to suit special events or new needs. A solar-powered streetlight and signboard were attached to the unused utility pole on the Cat Street side, which is slightly secluded, creating an eye-catching feature.

We aimed for a space embodying FREITAG's brand worldview, a brand that continues to refine itself, while updating its functionality and durability as a store.