The Soriano optical center is a 360 brand conceptualization, rebranding and interior design project. Founded in 1979 by the Soriano family, it was a pioneer in the Madrid municipality of Leganés and has always stood out for being located on the active Gran Vía of the town.
Client: SORIANO OPTICAL AND AUDITORY CENTER
Designer: Dobleese Space & Branding
“The all-seeing eye” is an allegory that inspires its corporate image and a starting point for the conceptual design of this retail project, which was originally a benchmark Optical Center and over the years has also incorporated audiology into its services. services.
We wanted to be that eye that is capable of seeing and sharpening the rest of the senses. The one that allows you to see, hear and feel a differentiating experience: the experience that comes from a long professional career and the warmth of a Center focused on clients who seek trust.
This project represented a significant change that goes beyond the purely aesthetic. The logo and its entire corporate image have been redesigned to achieve a timeless brand, that respects the family seal but that opens its eyes to the world, that speaks of that experience and professionalism as fundamental values of the business, summarizing all this in a motto that reads “ Visual and auditory health since 1979”.
The new comprehensive design has been designed with the aim of enhancing and promoting innovation with one of the most up-to-date concepts in the sector, with state-of-the-art technology and machinery and at the forefront of all trends in this market.
Going into interior design, the intervention space is a 250m2 corner shop in the shape of an inverted “u” with large exterior windows that offer visibility across its entire surface. The elegance of the façade stands out thanks to the warmth of the chestnut wood and the attractive gold of the lettering, accentuated by the showbranding in the shop windows through interactive screens.
Already at the entrance we find the store, whose route invites you to go through all the product display sections in the partition-wardrobe that, in turn, serve as storage. On the other hand, through the random succession of rotating vertical profiles as a metaphor for natural branches, the most premium or trendy products are exposed. A central nucleus defines and articulates the circulation of this exhibition space formed by a ring with golden effects that supports the product, a large mirror and a digital content screen.
The counter, located on one side of the store, gives way to the three areas that complete the center. Made with a robust stone material, it contains a space for “recycling glasses”. At this point, and separated by translucent bronze glass, are the customer service points whose furniture is designed with the needs of opticians in mind. This entire program is enveloped by a natural wall covering, which is one of the leading materials in this project.
On the opposite side is the laboratory, open to the interior and exterior through large glass openings. On both sides of it there are two "corners" of lenses and prescription glasses designed ad-hoc for the project.
The chestnut wood, the pots and details in gold, the tinted translucent glass, the natural connotations, the lighting treatment and the silky effect of the vertical curtains form the
material environment of the center. All this, accentuated by the graphic nods to the brand image and the studied attrezzo.
The second segment of the center is made up of the audition room, the waiting room, the toilet and our beloved “weeper”. Within this area we find the most technological and experiential part formed by the VISIOFFICE: a technological device that allows the client to measure, quantify and carry out all kinds of tests.
The listening room is covered with a reticular sequence of walnut wood slats and surround acoustic panels. A door with a large porthole gives the entrance to this room.
On the other hand, the waiting of the clients has been treated with the aim of achieving maximum comfort and appearing essentially welcoming. The space offers a coffee area, television, a children's area and ergonomic and comfortable furniture. The presence of a set of wicker wall sconces and a large-format corporate image invade the walls of this room with views of the outer garden of the municipality.
Have you ever heard the phrase "To cry to the weeping"? We have called it “crying”. This is one of the key and surprising points of this project. Who cries in an optician? What does it take to cry? Well, the weeping room is a starting point for the application of contact lenses and, like any space to cry, it needs its privacy. In this way, vertical curtains are incorporated that allow this space to be opened or closed. Inside, a continuous piece of furniture with magnifying mirrors on the countertop and a central sink. A whole experience for the client!
Lighting, a key element in this type of project, is incorporated with different intensities, shades and finishes. For the exhibition areas, a more neutral and punctual light is used in order to enhance the product and give it presence. The circulation areas are worked with indirect lighting and decorative lighting on the walls, and higher intensity luminaires with a colder tone are incorporated for the work areas, which allow the correct development of tests.
Lastly, the third segment of this project is the one destined for the health, therapy and polyvalent use area. In this area there are two symmetrical optometric testing cabinets completely glazed and covered with curtains that allow the rooms to be obscured according to the needs of the moment. A third therapy cabinet and a multipurpose room for different tests, training sessions or presentations of innovative products, with views to the outside, close the surface of this segment, which includes the management office and the warehouse.
In this area, and to differentiate the type of customer visits, there is a waiting room whose aesthetic criteria is equivalent to the previous one.
All the commercial furniture has been designed to measure with a contemporary aesthetic thought for the exhibition and storage of the product. There are different specific exhibition areas in the project, where specialized products and endless iconic details of the brand are exhibited.
One of the main challenges has been to identify and implement the visual codes of the brand in the interior design project, generating a friendly and warm space, but at the same time sophisticated and modern.
