The department store plans to put all its menswear, which it sells from the ground floor, in the basement. The£15 million remodelling will also extend the ground floor beauty department.
The overhaul – which will bring Brown Thomas in line with other stores in the Weston family’s luxury store empire, including Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason – is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.
Brown Thomas chief executive Nigel Blow said: “The basement is quite old and in need of investment and, at the same time as we refurbish the space, we’re creating some additional rooms to give ourselves room to breathe.”
Toronto design consultancy BurdiFilek is designing the 22,000 sq ft basement. Curved walls are also being incorporated as a major element of the design.
Brown Thomas head of architecture Matthew Stares said: “Diego [Burdi] did our first floor, which is for womenswear and there will be a common thread running through this in terms of simplicity.” He added that the work is being undertaken in two phases and that formalwear, which comprises the first stage, is close to completion.
The materials used for formalwear include a dark stone floor and hand-carved walnut walls, which Stares claimed has never been done in a store before.
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