Project : 912 South Hill Street
Location : Downtown Los Angeles
Disciplines : Concept, Retail, Creative Direction, Interior Architecture

A magazine you can walk through

Like the love child of a pop-up retail store, a showroom, and a lifestyle magazine, we set out to build the worlds best design shopping experience when we opened a multilevel 5,000 square feet /465 m2 concept store in Downtown Los Angeles. Opened from May 2014 to July 2016 it contained a retail shop, contract showroom and exhibition space.

Curated as “a magazine you can walk through”, with articles, videos and a point of view of a magazine, a rotating program of exhibits like a gallery, and products for sale like a store. The goal was to build the best integrated shopping experience in the world. One where brick-and-mortar, online, content and retail blend together into one great customer experience.

Focused on a Scandinavian inspired “fewer, better things” ideology (that honors simplicity, form and function over unnecessary frills), we collected time-enduring leading design, furniture, lighting, tableware, fashion, beauty and tech under one brand.

The space served as a matchmaker between brands and consumers – integrating marketing, media, and business development with a view that retail should go beyond the transaction and become a vital part of the customer experience. To that end, we collaborated with some of the leading brands in the world including Absolut, Electrolux, Volvo, Mast Brothers, OnePlus, Henzel Studios, Teenage Engineering, Impossible Project, and Sight Unseen. Our collaboration with COS was dubbed “The Coolest Pop-Up Shop We’ve Ever Seen” by Fast Company Design.


“…a Scandinavian design super store…”Wall Street Journal

“…it’s one of the most innovative shops in LA and a gathering spot for the creative set…”Architectural Digest

“The Coolest Pop-Up Shop We've Ever Seen”FastCo Design

“Austere is a high-end design store-cum-incubator for Scandinavian aesthetic ideals…”Metropolis Magazine

“Go west: LA's design scene takes the spotlight at Austere”Wallpaper

“Just in time for the holidays: Local artists share handcrafted works in ‘Site Specific L.A.’”Los Angeles Times

“Sight Unseen's LA exhibition showcases work from the ‘focal point of the American design scene’”Dezeen