MVRDV Builds a Crystal House for Chanel's New Amsterdam Flagship

Chanel recently opened doors to its new flagship in Amsterdam, with a swanky new space designed as a transparent glass spectacle inspired by Dutch heritage. Netherlands-based architecture and urban planning firm MVRDV molded a glass extension onto the existing building’s terracotta bricks to mimic the original facade, creating a design that seems to float above the stone building. “Crystal Houses make space for a remarkable flagship store, respect the structure of the surroundings and bring a poetic innovation in glass construction. It enables global brands to combine the overwhelming desire of transparency with a couleur locale and modernity with heritage. It can thus be applied everywhere in our historic centres,” said MVRDV co-founder and architect Winy Maas. Set inside a grand stone building on high-end shopping street PC Hooftstraat, the shop is made of glass bricks, glass architraves and glass window frames stronger than concrete that took 6-10 experts working on it every day for one year with high-tech lasers, laboratory grade UV-lamps, and even Dutch full-fat milk. The shop also runs on renewable energy sources, having been built around a ground source heat pump with 170 meters (almost 560 feet) of pipes that supply an optimal indoor temperature year-round.

If you’re in the area, check out Chanel’s new spot at the address below.

Chanel Amsterdam
Pieter Cornelisz Hooftstraat 66H,
1071 CA Amsterdam,
Netherlands