Directly opposite Apple’s first store in china and sitting alongside esteemed neighbours Prada & Dior, d_raw have designed a super slick luxury environment for this women’s only store, with polished flooring offset with concrete walls & hand painted silk artwork by fashion illustrator Marcus James this is sure to be the flagship Reiss required to launch their focused eastern expansion.

d_raw are working with Hong Kong factories on all aspects of the implementation with an eye to refining the manufacture process as a source for the global Reiss expansion in 2012 including significant US, Russia, UAE & Chinese sites.

Location: London, W1. Size: 4,500sq.ft

d_raw have been commissioned to convert the existing roof space of the Reiss Headquarters into the west ends finest penthouse apartment. A 4,500sqft, with  2 floors of prime real estate and fully panoramic views over west London’s  most prestigious community, is to be constructed as a no expense spared,  high-end interior and will set a precedent amongst other contemporary urban dwellings. It will also complete the development of the Barrett street site, a unique feat of architectural engineering including Reiss’ own flagship store, design studio and central offices.

Size: 4,500sq.ft

An elegant hybrid of classic English architecture and traditional Japanese styling, Montagu Square house demonstrates how a series of innovative material treatments can imaginatively marry a myriad of disparate influences and breathe new life into an historic building.

In transforming the space the owners of the house were keen to preserve its Edwardian heritage but also wanted to open out its inherently oppressive dark corners, and heavy corridors, in order to create a more modern, uncluttered ambience. The result showcases a series of seductive, sculptural design interventions including a marble plinth stairwell with a ‘floating’ upper staircase, expansive sliding glass doors throughout and bathrooms clad in marble. Re-emphasising the Asian accent, the sweeping walls which face the central staircase were crafted from burnt Japanese cedar (manufactured using an ancient oriental technique), the fireplace in the first-floor living room was restored complete with ornate timber carvings and a traditional teppanyaki cooking booth, with huge glass surround, was installed in the first floor kitchen. An open hallway and cool, marble entrance floor (adorned with a modern print) add a personalised touch beyond either cultural tradition.

The most extraordinary – and transformative – feature however, is a contemporary extension at the rear of the house, within which a glass void has been embedded inside the centre of the building. Creating an internal glass courtyard, the extension – with white polished concrete floors – allows sunlight to flood into the lower levels of the space, epitomising the building’s metamorphosis from subdued to sublime

Location: Leeds. Size: 4,600sq.ft

Situated in a recently completed development by Renzo Piano of hovering volumes over a transparent base, the challenge was to formulate a set of design components that would channel an authentic, yet fresh understanding of the locality and in so doing present the restaurant (and the area) as a new and exciting destination.

Mirroring the architectural cityscape of the Piano development the space was conceived as a series of large scale volumes which together create the space between ‘the piazza’ inhabited by the diners. A 20m high, steel ‘tree’ unfolds within the restaurant creating a canopy above the sofa seating area offering a local ‘intimate’ moment of pause. A double volume log wall behind the chef’s theatre ties the restaurant to Zizzi’s visual DNA and pays homage to a traditional Italian dining experience & Zizzi’s core pizza offering.

Maintaining the transparency of the location all services are located in a cube painted in blackboard paint & offered to artist Camille Roussea who furthering the local link – enveloped the backboard wall with a large-scale, illustrated map offering a visual journey through St.Giles’ historical narrative. Taking it’s cue from the enormous ceramic panels of the Piano architecture over, d-raw worked with ceramic artist James Rigler to develop bespoke ceramic details which resulted in the hand-cast buttons to the central sofa, ‘ivy’ infestation to the ‘tree’ and most strikingly the beautiful white glazed ‘chefs’ table.

Location: Leeds. Size: 2,000sq.ft

d_raw’s site-specific design for Italian restaurant chain Zizzi’s newest site in Leeds, takes inspiration directly from the city’s industrial heritage – embracing a handful of cultural connections to make an inspiring mark.

Most prominent is a loom motif (during the industrial revolution the city was famous for its textile industry, particularly its woollen mills), which has been translated into a central installation of interwoven wooden slats that slope dramatically upwards above the heads of diners. Designed to look like bobbins dipping in and out of fabric, each slat wooden slat appears to pierce through the restored concrete rib ceiling – another reminder of the city’s influential industrial past. Additional, smaller architectural tics underscore the visual impact: a hulking black steel bar echoes the heavy-duty machinery of the industrial age while woven upholstered panels also riff on the textile thematic. On a more modern note a smattering of design features tip a nod to contemporary Leeds life. Fluorescent strip lighting, to denote the restaurant’s home within the Leeds The Light shopping centre, acts as a beacon within the windows, while the blue and yellow of toilets and woollen stools acknowledge the city’s proud football culture.

Location: East London, Size: 4500sq.ft, Completion: 2011

Created for the 2011 opening of the retail group Westfield’s Stratford City destination in East London, d-raw’s store design for long-term retail partner Reiss borrows as much from the art world as it does a traditional retail repertoire.

Faced with the void-like space of a vast, warehouse-style unit d-raw drew inspiration from British architectural art landmarks such as the Tate Modern’s turbine hall and the White Cube gallery, to create a space both minimal and yet awe-inspiring. In the centre of the store sits a floating cube, adjoined to super-sized light-box, which appears to hover above the shop floor like an ethereal, sculptural installation. Replicating natural daylight the cube delivers an oasis of calm and serenity and is the driving force behind a current of elegant minimalism throughout the store.

The fixtures are all move-able, freestanding pieces, allowing the layout to shape-shift with ease (again referencing the transience of a gallery space) while the starkly addressed black, grey and white Tadelact (Moroccan plaster) walls, heavy-duty steelwork and pitch-black ceiling all allude to the industrial nature of the locality.

Hand painted silk panels by artist Marcus James adorn the walls, reflecting a key seasonal print design, and materials such as tulip wood, corian and Burma Grey marble provide a series of lavish top-notes.

Although overwhelmingly modernist in style it’s a sweeping glass arc finished with brass detailing which outlines the store’s entrance – hinting at the proud sense of craftsmanship and traditional artistic flair that still underscore the history of the brand.