Jigsaw | King’s Road, London
18th Century Chapel to Flagship Store
Jigsaw has been a loyal client of AMD’s since we launched in 1999. Since then, we’ve worked together on more than 100 stores and concessions across the globe. The brief for this particular project in King’s Road, Chelsea, was to “create a flagship store that makes a real statement and that represents the brands quality.” Rising to the challenge, everything you see in this store –including the walls, floors, ceilings, fixtures, fittings, lighting and furniture – has been designed and made bespoke by the AMD team.
The site is an impressive 6000 sq ft, Grade II star listed Chapel which was built in 1824 in the classical Greek reveal style. It was previously owned by the Ministry of Defence – who do not need permission to alter listed buildings – so whilst the exterior was striking, unfortunately the original interior of the Chapel had been completely removed.
We worked closely with English Heritage, a charity dedicated to protecting historic, buildings, monuments and sites, to resurrect the site from a shell into a flagship store. We designed and built everything from scratch – including the first floor, which we created to echo the original shape of the galleried church.
The focal point of our structural efforts is the stunning bi-helical stairs that sweep down from the first floor to the ground. To accentuate the grandeur, we collaborated with glass artist Antony Stern to create a giant chandelier which hangs centrally in the double height entrance space.
“Everything you see inside this building has been designed by AMD. From the bi-helical stairs and vaulted ceiling to the lighting, furniture, fixtures and fittings.”
Andrew Martin – Founder, AMD
Keeping the finish classical, we used natural and reclaimed materials where possible and designed fixtures using a traditional bronze metal. We positioned all the required modern services (air conditioning, speakers, lighting) into an ornate ceiling and filled the voluminous space with huge mirrors, exaggerated chairs and bespoke rugs – all designed and commissioned by us.
To thank us for the standard of this project, John Robinson, owner of Jigsaw hosted a dinner party in the store.