Retail residence: Department store creates artist’s sanctuary

Located in the suitably whimsical tower of department store group De Bijenkorf’s historic building in Amsterdam, Room On The Roof will be a sanctuary to a series of different artists.

Together with the department store retailer’s cultural partner, the Rijksmuseum, De Bijenkorf is attempting to strengthen its affiliation with architects, writers, designers and artists in the city.

Designed by interior architects i29, the room comes fully equipped with everything that the artists need, including a telescope for enjoying panoramic views from their new-found perch, a bed and a workspace overlooking Dam Square for inspiration.

The space, which the architects refer to as ‘playing with scale and perception as in the universe of Alice in Wonderland’, is split into two distinct areas. On one side, a collection of wooden box-shaped spaces are stacked on top of each other to form an assembled living area, while on the other is a sparse space in which to think.

For more on how boundaries in the retail environment are breaking down, read our macrotrend The Convergence Economy.