This new Celine Flagship Store designed by Casper Mueller Kneer Architects is located in G-Six, the largest new retail facility in Ginza, Japan’s most celebrated shopping district. It develops over 2 floors and is facing Chou-dori, a vivid streetscape that changes drastically between day and night. The new façade spans 5 storeys and is based on the Japanese tradition of ‘Noren’, a decorated curtain or screen that is placed in front of a store. Celine’s Noren is made from bespoke ceramic pieces set in steel frames. The ceramics units are made from an untreated white clay and are only partially glazed. Their rotation creates a varied pattern across the façade, giving it a minimal yet animated appearance. At night the ceramic pieces are subtly illuminated. The ground floor façade uses ‘pebble dash’, a bespoke exposed aggregate concrete that uses specially selected aggregates to create a rich textured surface and large minimal steel windows. The internal spaces are unusually layed out, with floors, ceilings and walls following contrasting geometries and still achieving an overall harmony. This play of geometries structures the space into more intimate areas or bays: with Small Leather Goods occupying the ground floor and Ready to Wear and Shoes set on the first floor. A monolithic and sculptural stair connects the two floors. It is clad in a grey terrazzo embellished with hand sown river pebbles and features bespoke bronze handrails. The floors are made from a combination of 2 materials: the grey terrazzo and a marble parquet, which has first been introduced in the Mount Street store, and is made up of an intricate pattern of 9 different precious marbles, ranging from white, to pale blue, greens, deep browns, reds and dark grays. Colours blur into each other, creating gradients from light to dark and areas of different intensities. Throughout, the walls are finished with an off-white marmorino plaster. All shelves and recessed niches are formed in Navona Travertine stone. The main lighting is provided by large scale stretch fabric light boxes which are formed from powder coated aluminim sections with integral lighting boards. A signature feature which Casper Mueller Kneer have developed for Celine, the light boxes produce a soft and even lighting condition usually found in galleries and art spaces. Accent lighting is provided by spotlights on recessed tracks, and shelf lighting is provided by invisible integral strip lighting. The ceiling material throughout is a grey sprayed-on finish, which improves the acoustic qualities of the space, and which gives the ceiling a textural and soft appearance. A special VIP changing area occupies the most special place within the store. It is located on the First Floor overlooking Chou-dori. Here, natural light floods into the space filtered by the Noren panel which can be viewed close up. This new flagship store can be accessed from street level as well as from within the G-Six complex on the first floor. Here, a second internal façade made from ‘pebble dash’ and onyx announces the presence of the store.