Rogerseller - Melbourne

James Edmonds, Managing Director of Rogerseller appointed RED because we understand how a strong brand can influence the performance of a company.

For 18 months RED worked closely with the Rogerseller team to develop what is now the leading bathroom showroom in Australia. The new showroom is also the National head office supporting New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australian showrooms also designed by RED.

Our brief was to elevate the Rogerseller brand beyond reach of the competition, redefine the bathroom showroom market while retaining existing customers and attracting new customers.

Our unique retail design experience allows us to design from the point of view of how the customer sees and experiences the retail environment. During the process of designing a new space for Rogerseller we wanted to play on the juxtaposition of an urban grunge setting in industrial Richmond, inserting a layer of slick design into the historic building envelope. This reflected the Rogerseller product itself which has been at the forefront of designer bathroomware in Melbourne since its inception over a hundred years ago.

The contrast of the old warehouse with its saw tooth ceiling profile, and its new inception as Rogerseller’s flagship showroom and head office, was incorporated wherever possible. The exterior brick façade with its graffiti was retained, accepting the possibility that this would be an ongoing and ever changing part of the external skin of the building.

We saw the experience of the showroom as a journey where views and products were revealed to customers as they navigated the space. Not everything was apparent on the first viewing with products hidden from view until you turned a corner.

One of the features we created within the showroom was an open ended pod within which we created a bathroom setting. The display pods enabled us to set up the ideal lighting with lowered ceilings, to create themed environments to display the products in the showroom. Visual merchandising and styling completed the theme for each product story.

Various environmental initiatives were used such as rainwater collection for use in all planting areas, exploiting as much natural light as possible with new windows and skylights, reducing the reliance on artificial light.

We also had individually controlled task lamps at each sales and work desk to further reduce the extent of ambient lighting levels.

Wherever possible we used sustainable finishes within the space, from companies with strong green credentials such as Interface carpet, furniture and workstations from Formway, Wittle Waxes floor finishes, Farbo Marmoleum and a tung oil finish to internal timber.

Water is recycled from the water wall shower display and rainwater harvesting using storage tanks was implemented to provide irrigation for the gardens and toilets.

Planted creepers will grow into a canopy to soften the car parking on the west facing wall.

Over the outdoors staff breakout at the rear of the building, wisteria creepers will provide shade and form an attractive, green background which will be visible to customers in the showroom .

The area also provides a relaxing, green refuge for staff.

For Rogerseller the new design and location has elevated the brand profile, increased customer traffic, reduced customer selection time and redefined the Rogerseller culture.

www.rogerseller.com.au