M&S takes listed store in Dublin

XMPR International is to design interiors for two floors of an eighteenth century listed store in Dublin. The work is part of a unique project for Marks and Spencer.

M&S generally opens its new stores in purpose-built sites. “This is a departure for us from a design point of view,” says a spokeswoman.

The building, on Grafton Street, was most recently occupied by a department store. XMPR will work on interiors for the ground and first floor, aiming for a “conventional retail environment within a traditional shell”, according to XMPR principal Rob Davie.

The basement and second floor have no period features, and will be converted into standard M&S spaces by Dublin architect Scott Tallon Walker. STW will also renew the facia.

Davie plans to design panelling and door pediments to fit the building, which has “a classic curved window frontage”. The consultancy has commissioned lighting specialist Jonathan Speirs & Associates to specify chandeliers, as the standard M&S lighting package “won’t work with the beams”.

The original fireplaces and marble flooring will be kept. The new store will open in 1996.