Waitrose

Designing a new look Waitrose to anchor the prestigious Dubai Mall. The 5,000m2 store is located next to the world’s tallest building, The Burj Khalifa and marks the first Waitrose outside the UK.

The design concept bridges the gap between old world street markets, lined with fresh produce creating an experience for the shopper, and new world supermarkets, where technology and design has turned the experience into a practice in efficiency.

Fine Fare Food Market LLC (FFFM) entered into a licensing agreement with The John Lewis Partnership to create, operate and grow the Waitrose brand across the Middle East and North Africa. FFFM required a design partner who understood the Waitrose brand and had experience of the Middle Eastern shopper and grocery market.

We were commissioned to design a new look Waitrose to anchor the prestigious Dubai Mall. The 5,000m2 store is located next to the world’s tallest building, The Burj Khalifah and marks the first Waitrose outside the UK. It is also the largest by far in its portfolio and sells homewares by John Lewis. The foodhall had to capture the essence of a Waitrose, be certified Halal and appeal equally to locals and expats.

The design captures the spirit of the marketplace inviting an interactive personal approach to the customer experience. An open-plan fresh produce market hall features a series of strong architectural elements and creates an environment which accentuates the quality and freshness of the products. A separate pork shop for non-Muslims caters to the Western clientele. We created a new Tone of Voice more suited to the brand in the Middle East and designed all graphic elements in dual language across signage, Point of Sale, trolleys, bags and staff uniforms. Specially commissioned 5m high illustrations of food and homeware add a wow factor to the exit wall.

We are proud to have designed the first Waitrose outside the UK and made it relevant to the Middle East. The project has won numerous awards, most notably ‘International Food & Supermarket Design of the Year’ and ‘Best Retail Design’ at the Decade of Design Awards.