Hermès brings nature back to Bond Street, London
Silver Forest #36
2008



Hermès unveils, ‘Silver Forest #36’, a new installation for Christmas which sees its flagship store at 155 New Bond Street, transformed into a forest of silver birch trees. This installation aims to resurrect a wood that once stood in the store’s location in the early 18th Century. The pavement, vitrine and ground floor will be imbued with thirty-six hand-cast Silver Birch trees – some reaching 8-metres in height.



Co-created by award-winning architects DSDHA and Creative Director for Hermès windows Rebecca Cocks, this duo have combined their disciplines to create a visual concept that captures the imaginative spirit of Hermès whilst paying homage to the enchanting location of its flagship store; the boundary in 1720 between the growing metropolis of London and the natural world. Hermès invites visitors to go back in time and rediscover the organic origins of this treasured part of London.



Eighteen of the shimmering cast silver trees have been installed into the pavements of New Bond Street and Bruton Street, the axis of the Hermès boutique. The forest continues into the windows and through-out the ground floor of the store. Passers-by are able to explore the iridescent forest, to touch the wintry surface of the metal and feel the ‘bark’ etched with the patina of the silver birch…in the background the sound of birds and horses’ hooves galloping in the winter snow can be heard.



Window decoration and creativity plays a strong part in the spirit of Hermès, which originated in the early 20th Century with the celebrated windows of its store at 24 Rue du Faubourg St-Honoré store in Paris. Since then, Hermès has encouraged each of its markets to creatively design their own window displays locally. Visit www.hermes.com to view some of these designs from around the world.



This project, called ‘Silver Forest #36’, will be in place at Hermès, 155 New Bond Street, London W1, until 5th January 2009.

Hermès Bond Street Store photos / information from architects DSDHA 051208





Hermès began in Paris in 1837 as a master harness and saddle maker. Since then, 6 generations of enterprising artisans have conquered new skills and new markets.
Today, 14 different product ranges are made under the control of Hermès and sold in its network of 268 stores and concessionaires around the world.

Rebecca Cocks
Studied at St Martins Central School of Art and after a few years spent in the film industry she decided to develop her interest in set design, which led her to Wimbledon School of an Art to Theatre. Designing to the scale of the shop window, is for Rebecca, to realise miniature theatre. Within this framework, Rebecca consults and designs window display for international companies. Her work has been published in books on window design and in the press.

DSDHA
David Hills and Deborah Saunt established the award-winning architectural studio DSDHA in 1998. Their work blurs the boundaries between landscape and architecture, art and urbanism, and questions our preconceptions of the city. Working with Hermès builds on their growing international profile with projects including the Silver Building (the first contemporary building in Soho, London, for 15 years), a gateway building for the London 2012 Athletes Village, a new sustainable resort in the Caribbean, private homes in Holland Park and Kensington Palace Gardens.  In addition to their practice, Deborah Saunt is guest professor at EPFL, Lausanne and David Hills teaches at the University of Cambridge.



Hermès London Store London : DSDHA Architects

Hermès would like to thank: Essex Replica (Manufacturing), Creea (Installation), Turley Associates (Planning), Structure Workshop (Structural Engineering).

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Hermès London Store London - page: adrian welch / isabelle lomholt