Peek&Cloppenburg Opens A Huge Conscious Store in Berlin

The international chain store Peek&Cloppenburg opened their new mega eco-store this month in The Playce at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin. With the initiative We Care Together, Peek&Cloppenburg presents a brand-new stance on sustainability through several aspects: The project is unique in its motivation of development, responsible architecture and interior design, and well-structured experience. The multi-label store project which interprets the achievement of a sustainable future is developed by the P&C’s managing director, Stephan Fanderl and now it is available for everyone to visit. As they say, this eco-conscious store is not perfect, but it is on the way to make a positive impact.

Thirty percent of the presented brands are purely fair. Brands like Jake’s Studio, Ecoalf, Lanius, Drykorn, Armedangels, Colorful Standard, and Knowledge Cotton create an example for them. However, the rest is made of sustainable capsule collections from brands like Marc O’Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Replay, Marc Cain, and BOSS, to name some of them.

AN ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE STORE

The main aim of the environmentally responsible store is to raise awareness in the industry by combining the customers’, suppliers’, and partners’ power to cooperate. As much as culture is in a shift towards sustainability today, the P&C store highlights how our commune spheres like mega stores can adapt themselves to a responsible future. In this sense, the store picturizes an initiator position in Berlin and Germany. The project developers have planned to design it with the motto of “more than a store” – which is not directly aimed at revolutionizing consumption but also reforming the experience of shopping. The store is functioning as a platform to put sustainable concepts and dialogues on the table. There, Peek&Cloppenburg seeks to create a sphere where sustainability is practiced both at the physical and communicative levels.

A DIVERSE VISION OF SUSTAINABILITY

The store comprehensively interprets sustainability through diverse sections. When it comes to brands; thirty percent of the presented brands are purely fair. Brands like Jake’s Studio, Ecoalf, Lanius, Drykorn, Armedangels, Colorful Standard, and Knowledge Cotton create an example for them. However, the rest is made of sustainable capsule collections from brands like Marc O’Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Replay, Marc Cain, and BOSS, to name some of them. Though not all the brands were shaped under a total sustainability scope, the products fit into the standards – thus, the store is crucial in being a pioneer in Berlin and Germany to unite environmentally responsible and socially impactful products under a roof.

To highlight the importance of already worn garments, a second-hand corner takes place in the store. Vintage & Rages offers a selection of vintage products there. As the vision of the store functions towards a compact experience of sustainability; the path of authenticity emerges brilliantly. The glass manufactory invites the customers for repairing and customization processes. Here, the products are gaining their authenticity through customization with responsibility. The textile printing dye used in the manufactory is GOTS 5.0-certified, which supports the store’s transparency on its sustainable path. 

Overall, the store elevates its uniqueness by functioning in parallel with its motto of “more than a store”: It is a platform where customers and partners engage in open dialogues on sustainability. This platform is planned to host events, panels, shows, and workshops which makes it a location of sustainability, apart from salt consumption. The workshops are planned to let participants embrace their creativity and get into an interactive sphere to exchange their ideas, opinions, and experiences on sustainability.

ARCHITECTURE ADAPTED TO MOTIVATION

One of the vital details in the store is the fact that both the architecture and interior design of it are adapted to the core values of the project: Minimalism is on point! Finding beauty and rediscovering aesthetics with minimal use of resources is constructed as a founding element in the creation process. Various methods are applied to reach it. First, the walls are built under modesty. The store contains only fundamental walls and avoids excessive use of resources through that. We Care Together states that 900m2 of plasterboard for the wall coverings is saved through this application. On the flip side, the floors are integrated into the motto of finding beauty by using the least resources possible: Saving 3,000m2 of floor covering; the industrial aesthetics of the floor design contributes both to the visual experience and the protection of nature. 

A completely inventive application is there to discover, too. The new P&C store has used recycled yogurt cups to create an illusion of marble for the furniture of the store. While this experimental application stands as another proof that aesthetics can be reached by protecting the environment; it also contributes to the store’s connectivity between its motivation and action. With the exact vision, the carpets inside are made of 100% recycled PET fiber. Here, the P&C store emerges as a model of transparency by being certified: The PET-fibre carpets are awarded a Climate Neutral Certificate when the curtains are integrated into the EU ECO Label and Greenguard Gold standards. Moreover, the core material of the building was chosen as clay due to its durability and reusability. Energy saving was achieved using LED ambient lighting in key locations.

All Images: © Peek& Cloppenburg, Conscious Store Berlin

Words:
Tolga Rahmalaroglu
Luxiders Magazine