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Entering a new era of food retail design TEXT: MYRIAM DIJCK | PHOTOS: BRAVO AZERBAIJAN
Located in between some of Azerbaijan’s most impressive modern architectural highlights is the country’s new hypermarket concept Bravo. Standing tall along the entrance route to Baku, connecting the capital to its international airport, Bravo’s new flagship store fits perfectly between the contemporary curves and stunningly-lit buildings of its neighbours. It is no accident it blends in so well, as Bravo is the product of a meticulously thought-out brand identity to bring grocery shopping in Azerbaijan into the 21st century. The architectural flagship store, designed by retail design and architecture agency JosDeVries, was purpose-built to reflect this. Being able to shape Azerbaijan’s first modern multi-format food brand, Christiaan 78 | Issue 60 | December 2018
Rikkers, CEO of JosDeVries, was proud to be part of the project: “It was our ambition to make the most of it. Retail is an important aspect of a country’s economy, and by professionalising it, everyone will profit.”
Starting from scratch In Azerbaijan, supermarkets are typically small, offer a limited shopping experience and often shy away from fresh produce. Turning this around, Bravo tapped into this unexplored market. Rikkers says: “Azerbaijan is a country of markets. People have to go to multiple shops or stalls to get their groceries, which is impractical and time consuming. Bravo solves this problem.” Based on the European-style supermarket and hypermarket, Bravo was created entirely from scratch. This proved to be a challenge, as well as an opportunity, to deliver a strong brand story. While Azer-
baijan seems far removed from their front door, JosDeVries has an impressive international portfolio and, having worked in neighbouring Russia, they started with a cultural reference point. Rikkers: “The developers liked our brand proposal, and when it came to the design of the flagship store, they also appointed us to do that. This was a first for us.”
Lights and movement For the building design, JosDeVries formed an architectural team including young designer Steven van Beijeren: “While the structure is essentially a simple rectangle, we added an overhanging roof to create an inviting, open-ended structure resembling a market hall.” The white, softlycurved outline lights up at night and is joined by a green glow along the building’s facade. On the second floor is the Bravo headquarters which sits on the store at