Keech tunes up Harrods Yamaha concession

The consultancy’s managing director, David Keech, previously worked in-house at Yamaha as a product designer for consumer products.

Keech says he has been tasked with creating ‘an environment that feels like a living space and functions as a high-technology studio’.

The space will incorporate a ‘studio lounge’ to demonstrate the Yamaha Disklavier, a traditional grand piano with an Internet connection that allows it to form a network with other Disklaviers.

‘We need to get across how it’s beautiful and handmade, but packing technology,’ says Keech. The design of the studio will incorporate plasma screens and hi-fi speakers.

‘Something like a French horn has reached the end of its design evolution but this piano is different,’ Keech says. ‘I need to think about how the traditional and technological can marry.’

‘The whole space needs to be sophisticated and have a strong domestic feel,’ Keech adds. ‘Pianos are domestic objects because people buy them for their houses. And it is particularly true of Harrods that if the concession looks like a recording studio then customers will be put off.’

The concession will open in the autumn.