Reimagining Consumerism – Thankyou Concept Store by PerCapita

Designed to offer a multisensory experience, social enterprise Thankyou’s first concept store in Melbourne is an intimate, three-dimensional environment to showcase its evolving product range. PerCapita worked alongside Thankyou to create a space that is highly minimalist in nature yet truly immersive – nurturing a tangible connection between those who visit and the brand’s mission to end global poverty.

Design studio PerCapita uses design to enhance the human experience by rethinking the personal, everyday interactions between people and objects, which reveals itself in the Thankyou Concept Store. Far removed from the busyness of Little Bourke Street, where the store resides, the immersive space immediately offers a welcome reprieve – acting as a threshold for contemplation and connection. PerCapita embodies the brand’s ethos to bring ‘Light to the Dark’ and creates a space that makes one feel like they are stepping into a new dimension.

Far removed from the busyness of Little Bourke Street where the store resides, the immersive space immediately offers a welcome reprieve – acting as a threshold for contemplation and connection.

This concept is realised through the store’s unique spatial approach. Organic, circular forms dominate the space so that it simulates an amphitheatre, with circular tiered forms rising gradually towards the ceiling. This amphitheatre allows multiple display surfaces for the product to sit on, while the steps also act as tiered seating during events and presentations. The strong organic presence within the store signals a point of difference from the typical shopping experience and nurtures a sense of calm that positions visitors to feel removed from the everyday and immersed within the brand’s product and narrative.

The material palette of the store is designed to resemble a canvas and so is informed by a minimalistic approach. The walls and floors are white, with an abundance of negative space to showcase products in an uncluttered, focused manner. Restrained lighting disperses a soft glow that cascades down the amphitheatre steps and directs one’s focus to a large cylindrical light form that extrudes down from the ceiling. A singular round table sits in the middle for conversations, interviews and events.

Organic, circular forms dominate the space so that it simulates an amphitheatre, circular tiered forms rising gradually towards the ceiling.

At the rear portion of the main space is the ‘Change Room’, which polarises the stark, crisp, white interior of the main space. The room is dark and futuristic, with a typographic and infographic display via a continuous LED screen mirrored on both ends of the blacked-out space. Secondary galleries occupy the side areas behind the amphitheatre that share the suspended panels, soft lighting and ambient soundscapes of the main space.

The Thankyou concept store in Melbourne is an intimate, multisensory space that acts as a portal to experience Thankyou’s various product offerings. The tactile and surreal design creates an experience – one that not only reveals Thankyou’s products but echoes the brand’s inspiring vision to change the world through reimagining consumerism.