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Data Nature: Spun

Spun is a sweet shop in London designed by Data Nature Associates. The overall effect is part laboratory, part wonderland, which appeals to both children and adults.

For the first Spun store in Covent Garden, Data Nature Associates was tasked with infusing a typical Victorian shop front with a sense of mystery and interior delight. The hand-crafted aspect of sweet making was the principal inspiration, with fixtures and fittings designed to evoke traditional values and processes.

A central element of the shop design is the pick and mix display. Rather than a standard grid of Perspex containers, the array of multi-coloured sweets is set within an elaborate sculptural container, inspired by scientific models of the atomic structure, and built from stainless steel cylinders contained within a framework of copper pipes. Above the counter are four Jo Hammerborg pendant lamps, a reissue of a 1963 design finished in copper and resembling molten drops of chocolate.

Data Nature Associates, Spun, Covent Garden, London

The relatively small floorplan of around 40 sqm meant that stock has to be carefully stored. A “library of flavours” is stored in shallow shelves arranged below the counter top, which are faced with glass display shelves containing jars of multi-coloured sweets.