MenScience
329 Lafayette Street
New York
Tel: 212.219.3525
Architect: HWKN

Located in highly trafficked Soho, the MenScience flagship store, designed by New York–based HWKN, elegantly fuses brand identity and product functionality through its materiality, careful detailing, and modular design.

Its gridded, blackened steel product display, juxtaposed with locally sourced, recycled barnwood plank flooring is both sophisticated and masculine, emphasizing the brand’s identity while immersing its customers in a hallway of products. Defined by Marc Kushner, principal of HWKN, as a “wrapper” project, the space intensifies its unique dual storefront location between Lafayette and Mulberry Streets. “It is a perimeter scheme that treats the floor, walls, and ceilings with a similar material to create a tunnel of product—a MenScience experience—in a space that spans between two streets,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges was translating the brand’s established online identity into physical space. “We looked at the brand’s color and packaging,” says Kushner. “We wanted to capture as much of the brand’s identity as we could while taking advantage of a unique urban site.” Adaptability was another challenge, one met by using a repetitive, modular display system that allows for flexible configuration while inviting customers to test and explore MenScience products. While small, this store packs a big punch both visually and spatially.