With an aim to redefine telco retail to include a wider range of products and services, the new Optus Flagship store at Bourke St, Melbourne offers customers a fully interactive experience that touches multiple aspects of their everyday lives, including work, home, health and recreation. The result is a game-changing Flagship experience that is not available at any of its competitors, repositioning Optus as being ‘More than a Telco’.
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Optus Bourke St. Mall
Retail Interior (Built)
Firm
Greater Group
Architect/Designer
Greater Group
Design Team
Bob Angley, Chris Smith, Josh Gregg, Tifana Ang, Tony Arnachellum
Project Location
345 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Country
Australia
Photographer/Copyright
©Greater Group
Social Media Handles
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Website URL
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Optus approached Greater Group to design and deliver a game-changing Flagship experience on Bourke St in the Melbourne CBD. This one-of-a-kind retail store would offer its customers a level of experience, product range and service, currently not available at any of its competitors, while at the same time repositioning the Optus brand as being ‘More than a Telco’.
Core objectives for the flagship store design were:
- Create meaningful in store experiences that connect customers to the latest products and services
- Become a destination store for phone and tech accessories, wearable and smart devices. With a wider range that is always being updated
- Create a cultural destination that is uniquely Melbourne and responds to the local customers needs
- Provide a retail footprint that can flex with Optus and their customers changing needs.
Greater Group’s multi-level design strategy was to create a sequenced journey and invite customers to explore and discover these new and emerging areas of technology by showcasing how these products and services can enrich their daily lives.
The store is divided into multiple specialty zones: Gaming; Garage and Outdoor; Health and Fitness; Home Offices; Home Security; Lounge and Living, Music, Devices and Business, along with a dedicated Brand ecosystem and promotional experience areas.
The store’s design and layout are heavily inspired by the Melbourne CBD experience. We wanted to create an experience parallel to exploring Melbourne’s shops, galleries and laneways; surprising and delighting customers at each turn.
The design palette celebrates Melbourne’s love of mixing the new with the old. Reclaimed brick walls are paired with locally-designed furniture and local artist installations to further connect the space to the urban and cultural landscape. Two large installation and promotion zones can be set up for specific events and establish a dialogue with people passing by – for example, the Women’s World Cup of which Optus is a major sponsor.
The three full height central fixtures are mounted on rails and can be simply and easily moved out the way to further transform the store to facilitate all types of launch events and special promotions.
Greater Group and Optus wanted the store to support Optus’s brand’s vision of embedding sustainability in all aspects of its operation.
In the first instance, we aimed to reuse as much of the existing store’s fit out as possible. This includes repurposing some of the large digital displays and retaining a bulk of the shopfront glazing. We also opened up the ceiling space to expose old sky lights in the heritage-listed facade to drive more natural light into the space and reduce our dependence on artificial LED lighting.