SPORTSCHECK FLAGSHIP | DORTMUND

Interior design · Fixture design · Material selection · 2,000 sqm

A 2,000 sqm flagship in the heart of Dortmund, with entrances opening onto both of the city’s main squares. A location that leaves no room for mediocrity — and a project that had none.

The location

The new SportScheck flagship occupies one of the most strategic buildings in Dortmund‘s city centre: three floors facing both of the city’s main squares, with an urban visibility that few stores in the world can claim. A position that demands a project equal to it — architecturally, commercially, culturally.

The challenge

Designing a flagship for a brand of this scale is one of the most complex challenges in retail design. The store must perform simultaneously at multiple levels: as an architectural statement from the street, as a coherent spatial experience across three floors, and as a fully functional commercial environment capable of handling the full breadth of a major sport retailer’s offer — from technical footwear to team sports, from outdoor to lifestyle.

The brief required VANDA to develop not only the interior concept but a complete system of bespoke fixtures, designed to respond to every display typology: monumental shoe walls, brand shop-in-shops, folded product tables, full hanging collections, accessory displays. Design consistency at every scale, without ever compromising commercial flexibility.

She goes first

The central design decision was clear: the ground floor belongs to women. Not as a commercial category, but as the starting point of the entire spatial narrative. Pale wood, corian, desaturated skin tones, warm light. A sculptural oval ceiling feature defines the heart of the floor without interrupting its flow. An environment closer to a lifestyle destination than a traditional sport store design.

The opposite, with the same precision

The first floor says the opposite — deliberately. Men’s sport is expressed through dark ceilings, raw iron, walnut, low light. A dense, technical atmosphere built for a different customer and a different relationship with sport. A similar approach — strong, distinct identities for different targets — was also developed for the La Sportiva flagship and the North Sails flagship in Saint Tropez.

Where football is culture

The lower level is dedicated to team sports, with a natural and significant emphasis on football. In Dortmund, football is not a product category — it is a collective identity. The design acknowledges this and responds accordingly.

The materials

The material strategy across the three floors is designed to create distinct, immediately readable identities while maintaining overall coherence. Ground floor: pale birch, corian in sand and off-white tones, warm white resin flooring. First floor: natural walnut, raw iron, dark steel structures, black ceiling. Lower level: industrial textures, robust fixtures, large-scale graphic communication.

Each floor speaks its own language. Together, they tell a single story.

VANDA has extensive experience in retail design for international brands: from the Mercedes me Store in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele to the GameStop flagship in Milan, every project starts from a clear spatial strategy and uncompromising execution.

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