Holzweiler opened the doors to Holzweiler Platz – its first space to hold both a monobrand store and restaurant.
Holzweiler Platz is located in a new and vibrant area of Oslo, called Oslobukta. Its unique location, between the Opera House and Munch Museum that represents culture, music, theatre and art and proximity to the waterfront as a traditional space for trade, discussions, conversations, and connection to the rest of the world (the Oslo Fjord).
The addition of the restaurant is connecting the family's passion for both fashion and food, which has been a lifelong dream. To run the restaurant Head Chef Petter Nyström was brought on board with extensive experiences from fine dining.
Architects Snøhetta has been working to create a special place that continues the Holzweiler handcraft signature style as well as adding new and exciting features with inspiration and respect for the surrounding area. Especially the element of water has had significant influence on the design and concept around the architecture.
"Holzweiler Platz is our dream project - our very own playground where we can hang out with friends and family for shopping, events, food, wine or just a good cup of coffe. We love bringing people together, and this is the place."
"We believe that the future consumer is mainly purpose driven, they expect more than the physical transaction of goods. Brands need to offer more than experiences, a marketplace of ideas. This refers to the belief that the test of the acceptance of ideas depends on their competition with one another and not on the opinion of a censor. Our goal is to merge fashion, food, art, music and culture into a space with a lot of versatile collaborations both for established, as well as, emerging talents.
The challenges of merging retail and the restaurant was actually harder than we initially thought. We needed to take an even bigger ownership to the design process ourselves than in previous stores. Which has been very exciting and with great learnings along the way."
"We have found inspiration from the immediate surroundings, and the element of water is central to the design of the new Holzweiler store. As well as being a symbol of life, energy and hope, water unifies people and places located afar from each other. Holzweiler Platz will unify the brand's past with its future, bridging them together to represent the brand today."
"Holzweiler Platz will be a collage of space, representing overlapping of moments of the past, future and present. By bringing in drops of essence from other Holzweiler stores, we have created a place where you can sit together, find treasures from past collections, share a moment, discover new directions and experience momentary artistic collaborations. You will be visually guided through the space by the curved and graceful lines permeating the store, making it fluid and waterlike, with elements inspired by islands and water unifying the retail and café section of the new Holzweiler Platz."
To create the visual identity for Holzweiler Platz Studio Bielke & Yang has developed the full identity design, in true Bielke & Yang style, with an approach to make a positive impact.
"Holzweiler Platz was created to challenge conventional perceptions of what the retail experience can be. Platz will combine events, collaborations, art, architecture, food, and fashion — creating a meeting point and marketplace for ideas with a constantly evolving dialogue between these overlapping themes and moments.
The identity of the restaurant will also be in a state of continuous rediscovery — to the menu and the framework we have created for a new artist collaboration each year. This way the identity will keep on changing.
