Coulsdon Audi has opened for business after successfully achieving a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’. A first for the UK, the dealership represents a flagship facility in south London, greatly increasing the brand’s presence and reinforcing its sustainable aspirations.

Working closely with the UK and German brand teams, Stubbs Rich have been involved in the development of the new ‘Volkswagen Retail Concept’. Ultimately to extend across the entire network, this concept will see its first implementation in the UK on the South Hereford site, due to be complete late 2010.

One of the images associated with the Mini brand is that of urban nightlife: this became our springboard for the creative work on the showroom’s interior. The space, now double-height, gave us a huge expanse of wall to use as a backdrop, visible from Park Lane.

Our goal was to produce a design that was in keeping with the BMW brand and the company’s strict implementation guidelines, but was enhanced with new twists, which took the concept of a car showroom a step further.

Securing planning consent for a new development in Bath is never straightforward. The challenge of this project was to design a scheme that delivered the aspirations established in the outline planning consent, whilst also delivering an undiluted Audi UK “hangar” concept showroom.