Responses by Carmelo Zappulla, owner, External Reference and chief creative officer, Presentedby, and Aleix Fernandez, cofounder/director, Onionlab

Background: Located in the Level Shoes store in the Dubai Mall, the purpose was to create the flagship Presentedby store in the United Arab Emirates. We wanted to create the first fully 3-D printed store in the Middle East, an immersive experiential retail space that is bold, unique and exclusive—a retail space that integrates digital and physical dimensions. In doing so, we developed a disruptive concept in line with the Presentedby consumer: a young, trendy VIP. In fact, Presentedby is a brand that pushes the boundaries of streetwear towards a new luxury attracting international celebrities.

Also, since e-commerce is cannibalizing the retail space, this physical store and space is now giving consumers reasons to visit the offline again. The dialogue between the architectural, scenographic and audiovisual levels helps provoke the emergence of a new experiential dimension.

Reasoning: In most of the projects we develop, we try to bring together a new vision to the design space. This is a vision in which we leverage new tech and AV solutions to create a novel retail experience, a fusion between the product and a variety of cutting-edge design and audiovisual solutions that enhances the shopping experience.

Challenges: Definitely the construction process. The 3-D printed surfaces have been manufactured in Barcelona, and shipped and assembled in Dubai. Working with local providers and coordinating different suppliers from many countries was quite challenging. Assembling all the elements together and setting up the AV equipment smoothly in COVID times was equally tough.

Favorite details: We are proud of the combination of elements and techniques present in the same space. The 3-D surfaces printed in bioplastic are able to absorb carbon dioxide, and the interactive floors, experiential rooms that combined the shoe products, AV content and immersive elements were all working and synchronized in the same space. This was a complicated arrangement, but it worked well.

Visual influences: Every Presentedby project is site specific and its context is both inspiring and informing the concept and the aesthetics of the store. In this case, Dubai represents a repertoire of high technology both physical and digital: Skyscrapers, LED screens, 3-D printing and projections are a big part of this city.

Anything new: These kinds of projects are a space for new solutions and techniques. Working together with Presentedby is very rewarding. The brand has total confidence in the Onionlab team, and this allows the team to experiment and try new concepts and techniques, which helps immensely in creating something fresh.