UXUS creates new museum retail environment for Tate Modern

The store is conceived by UXUS as occupying the crossroads of culture and commerce by inviting visitors to explore the world of art through the museum’s retail expression. Part shopping destination, part cultural hangout, it is designed as a ‘permanently temporary’ space with the flexibility to respond to the gallery’s fast-changing exhibition and project schedule.

A bespoke system of stackable furniture modules allows for regular reconfiguration to keep the displays fresh and exciting for visitors, as well as accommodating seating for browsing and events such as book readings and talks.

Generous picture windows ensure high visibility into the store from both the gallery and the street. Retail displays are divided into three zones – generalist, specialist and children. In the kids’ area, brightly coloured cubbyholes are incorporated into the bookshelves so that children can look at books and toys that have caught their imagination.

These different product zones are reinforced by the material palette, which uses different accents of wood within the display modules to help shoppers intuitively navigate the various areas. These accents are used in combination with a concrete floor and powder-coated steel fixings.

UXUS began collaborating with Tate Modern in 2010 and completed a highly successful pop-up shop for the museum’s Damien Hirst exhibition in 2012. This served as a prototype for the new, more ambitious store in the Tate Modern extension. The hope is that the new retail outlet will enable the gallery to generate more of its own funding through increased store revenue.

UXUS’s previous museum clients include the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk, and The Eye Film Museum, all in the Netherlands.