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1001 Optometry by The Great Indoors
Customer experience and brand strategy are at the heart of an alluring new optometry store in Sydney designed by The Great Indoors.
‘Details Are Beautiful’ is the motto of 1001 Optometry, an optometrist and eyewear specialist with more than a dozen stores in Melbourne and Sydney. Its latest store, an inviting space in Sydney’s Chatswood Chase shopping centre, distills that vision. Designed by Manly-based practice The Great Indoors, the store not only offers the expertise to help its customers see everything more clearly, but also places a keen focus on the details of the space itself.
Further into the store are zones for eye tests and frame fittings; this approach aims to establish a ‘visually open’ experience of visiting the optometrist.
The store’s design guides the shopping journey. As customers enter, they’re greeted with frames housed in handsome glass cases on both sides. Further into the store are zones for eye tests and frame fittings; this approach aims to establish a ‘visually open’ experience of visiting the optometrist. This ethos is cemented via the design of the optometry rooms, which are semi-private, offering a view of the testing experience and equipment. These rooms are framed by glazed walls, though curtains can be drawn for more private consultations.
Eye-catching details begin before customers even enter the store. Shopfront panels are made from fluted glass and warmly backlit, while the clarity of mirrors and glass cases is offset by Laminex timber joinery wall displays and optometry room walls. Adjustable LED lighting by Trend Lighting emphasises the space’s welcoming ambience.
The Great Indoors’ design embodies 1001 Optometry’s brand focus: foregrounding and celebrating the optometry experience and its positive impact on health and wellbeing. Customer experience, brand design and interior design were the three crucial elements of the space.
For each project, The Great Indoors takes a multi-pronged approach. While good looks and customer comfort were essential for the Chatswood store, so, too, was gaining approval throughout the process from the shopping centre’s landlord. The firm also ensured there was inbuilt durability in this high-traffic space, achieved in part by the use of Robertson’s brick floor tiles and Skheme floor tiles – elements which also establish visual interest and depth.
Since its founding in 2013, The Great Indoors has blended creativity with strategic and commercial priorities. Its sophisticated approach – beginning with freehand sketches of a space, followed by an extensive analysis of customer priorities and underscored by a commitment to deadlines and budgets – has cemented its position as a leader in retail, hospitality and office design. 1001 Optometry Chatswood Chase is a key example of the practice’s ability to balance client needs while embracing a brand’s vernacular within an eye-catching space.
Interior design by The Great Indoors.
