A former bank building in Stockholm became world-famous in 1973 when a robbery occurred, a dramatic six-day hostage situation unfurled and the phrase ‘Stockholm syndrome’ was uttered for the very first time. The term would go on to label the inexplicable bond formed between hostages and their captors, not just in Sweden but all around the globe.
In the years to follow, after the bank closed its doors, countless commercial fit-outs covered up the original bones of the building. Now, nearly half a century later, the storied site has been reborn as the Stockholm base of Swedish fashion label Acne Studios; a place of quiet creativity that reflects on its past while setting the stage for new beginnings.
Acne Studios boutique in Stockholm by Arquitectura-G
Through its collections of garments, Acne Studios has developed a reputation for partnering the eccentric with the essential, offering its devotees something timeless and minimalist yet undeniably outgoing. In many ways, a similar approach has been deployed at the fashion retailer’s Stockholm outpost.
Completed in 2020 by Barcelona-based firm Arquitectura-G, the design scheme revives the neoclassical architecture of the bank building, resetting it as a splendid hallmark of the 20th century. The architects returned the L-shaped, 400-square-metre tenancy to its essential features – predominantly chiselled from monochrome marble – and, through considered yet quirky interventions, paved the way for Acne Studios to showcase their wares.
Shoppers now journey through three rooms which are connected by large doric-style columns, culminating with an abstract ‘colonnade’ that opens up to a series of fitting rooms. Throughout the store, tonnes of real marble rubs shoulders with lashings of faux, while plenty of mirrored surfaces are on standby to play up the illusion.
Hefty stone furniture by British designer Max Lamb adopts a Bedrock approach, featuring giant flat-faced slabs of stone placed upon rough-edged boulders. Positioned decisively in the centre of each room, below linear steel light fixtures by Benoit Lalloz, the primitive furniture pieces act as monolithic podiums for point-of-sale facilities and street-facing retail displays.
arquitectura-g.com; acnestudios.com
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Hefty stone furniture by British designer Max Lamb adopts a Bedrock approach, featuring giant flat-faced slabs of stone placed upon rough-edged boulders.
