Foyles Flagship Store Wins AJ Retrofit of the Year Award

Shelf Awareness

Architectural firm Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands' design for Foyles' revamped flagship store on Charing Cross Road in London was named overall winner of this year's AJ Retrofit Awards. The project "features eight new retail floors inside the four-story shell with each story divided into two halves. An atrium at the center of the plan floods the building with daylight," Architects' Journal reported.

The judges called the scheme a "reinvention of a well-loved but chaotic bookshop," and praised the practice for the store's clarity of circulation, access and wayfinding. They were also impressed by the use of natural light and other environmental improvements.