Studio NousNous crafts a biophilic retail experience
Client: Tree Of Dates
Location: The Netherlands
Status: Realized
Blurring the boundaries
The project embodies our nature-inspired philosophy, which drives us to reconnect people with nature for enhanced well-being. This approach is evident in the store's design, where the date palm tree's natural elements inspired a seamless blend of branding and interior design..
One of the standout features of the Tree of Dates store is how it blurs the boundaries between the inside and outside. By bringing nature into the retail environment, we created a space that feels open, inviting, and connected to its surroundings. This is achieved not only through the use of natural materials and biophilic design principles but also by incorporating harmonica sliding doors that can open fully. These doors allow the store to extend into the outdoors, enhancing the customer experience by making the space feel more expansive and integrated with the urban environment.
The Tree of Dates project presented a unique opportunity to blend our biophilic design methodology with the brand's identity. The date palm tree—a symbol central to the brand—was our primary inspiration. We deconstructed its natural elements into a crown, core, and base, abstracting these forms into the brand’s identity and the store's spatial design. Wooden shingles, designed to abstract the texture of the palm tree’s trunk, feature the Tree of Dates logo and branding shapes and are stacked to evoke the structure of the tree in an abstract way. The design also includes elevated modular arches, placed side by side, creating a sense of palm leaves bending to the left and right. This effect is further enhanced by backlit black-and-white images of palm trees.
Our brief was to create a premium, visually striking retail environment, integrating spatiality, color, materiality, and narrative. The floor plan includes a diagonal corridor, with repeating arches creating a depth effect that draws the customer’s eyes inward into the corridor, adding an element of mystery, a design principle rooted in nature. The entire store, from the spatial concept to details like the custom-wrapped coffee machine adorned with the Tree of Dates brand’s shapes and colors, was crafted by Studio NousNous.
Since its opening, Tree of Dates has received excellent reviews, with CBRE, who leases the space to our client, noting that people consider it one of the most beautiful stores in Amsterdam Southeast. This positive reception reinforces the impact of a design that thoughtfully integrates nature and branding. It is for this reason that we at Studio NousNous design nature-inspired spaces. Because nature is a universal language we all understand. It is not a trend; it is timeless.