Beauty Brand’s New Andorran Concept Store Uses LED Columns As main Design Feature, Inside And Outside

December 28, 2021 by Dave Haynes

This is definitely one of the nicer applications of transparent LED technology I’ve seen applied to retail – a concept store for a beauty brand in Andorra.

The digital experience side of the Julia Onix store was pulled together by the Barcelona-based creative technology shop Instronic, and uses semi-transparent mesh LED as the main feature of the street-level facade, as well as inside. There is also a lift and learn feature inside that’s integrated with a touchscreen table.

The main challenge of the project, says Instronic in a case study, was how to approach a massive intervention in the facade while respecting the peculiarities of the building, without being excessively interventionist. We also wanted to enhance the product in the design solution.

There are two things I particularly like here:

• Custom creative that works with the shape and, on the inside LED strips, works and coordinates with the decor;
• Integration of the outside-facing vertical strips with window merchandising displays.

I don’t see, in the online case study, any shots looking out from inside, so there’s no sense of what those transparent LED columns look like from the side that isn’t illuminated. That remains the one downside of the technology, though what I see online in product shots and case studies suggests the rear sides of these displays are looking better, and are acknowledging the fact that both sides have to be considered in engineering and design.

One day, perhaps, it will be safe to travel to trade shows again to see the latest iterations. LED on transparent film is also improving, in terms of pitch and what it looks like from the non-illuminated side.

Great project. Instronic does super-nicer work! This is the latest Julia store done by Instronic, not the only one.

For the geographically-impaired, Andorra is a teeny principality that straddles a mountainous stretch of France/Spain border.