Chanel’s opened the doors to their Amsterdam flagship store and they’ve commissioned Netherlands-based architecture and urban planning firm MVRDV to construct a glass house facade that’s made entirely of glass bricks, glass architraves and glass window frames that are stronger than concrete. The end result makes the crystal house detailing look as if it’s floating above the stone building, a really remarkable sight. MVRDV co-founder and architect Winy Maas said, “Crystal Houses make space for a remarkable flagship store, respect the structure of the surroundings and bring a poetic innovation in glass construction. It enables global brands to combine the overwhelming desire of transparency with a couleur locale and modernity with heritage. It can thus be applied everywhere in our historic centres.”
Set inside a grand stone building right on PC Hooftstraat, the new Chanel boutique required 6 to 10 experts working on this for an entire year, leveraging high-tech lasers, laboratory grade UV-lamps, and even Dutch full-fat milk to make it come to life. Another impressive detail is that the shop runs on renewable energy sources and was essentially built around a ground source heat pump with roughly 560 feet of pipes that that supply an optimal indoor temperature all year-round. (via designboom)
