The Architectural Association is the UK’s oldest independent school of Architecture, and recognised as one of the world’s leading centres of Architectural Education and Culture. NEX was appointed to act as architect for the new bookshop within a Grade I listed building. Our design for the new bookshop at the AA utilised our advanced design to production capabilities to create a range of bespoke furniture and lighting on an extremely tight budget and programme. Our design approach resulted in a fit-out that sits lightly, and respects the original features in the space. All the shelving floats free of the walls to highlight existing cornice, dado and skirting details. We created a flexible mass-customised furniture system, and each of the thirty-three finished pieces was bespoke, to accommodate local variation in floor levels and wall plumbness. This allowed us to achieve a fit out tolerance of 3mm in a space that varied significantly due to its age. To improve quality and reduce costs, all components were CNC machined direct from our design files before being finished and flat packed for assembly by the AA’s facilities team.