In South Melbourne, an historic warehouse has been reimagined as secondhand retailer Swop’s largest clothing store to date. Designed by William McRoberts with Joseph Gardner of Studio Gardner, the space unfolds like a quiet exhibition space, inviting shoppers to slow down and look closely.
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For McRoberts, the design began with the site. “The starting point was the building itself. It’s a large warehouse from 1938 with nine-metre ceilings and steel-framed windows on all sides,” he explains. Once one of Australia’s first Coca-Cola factories, the structure had been heavily altered, prompting a careful reset. “The brief was relatively simple: keep the space open and let the existing structure do most of the work, then introduce a number of interventions to make it functional as a retail store.”
That restraint defines the project. Rather than filling the volume, the design introduces precise interventions – most notably a perforated aluminium mesh wall that divides front and back of house. “It’s quite minimal, but it does a lot,” McRoberts says. Light filters through its fine surface, casting shifting shadows while reflecting the building’s original steel windows. The effect is subtle but constant, making the space feel alive.
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“There was also a broader ambition for it to feel more like a gallery than a typical shop, somewhere people could move through slowly and spend time.” That atmosphere is reinforced through Studio Gardner’s curation, which layers collectible design into the architectural framework.
Joseph Gardner describes a deliberate softening of the industrial shell. “We sourced a mix of vintage and contemporary pieces from both local and international designers to create zones that feel somewhere between a design gallery and a place you actually want to sit and stay awhile.” The result is a lived-in richness: a 1970s inflatable sofa by Günter Sulz, a Vignelli piece, and custom works sit alongside emerging Australian designers, dissolving the boundary between display and use.
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Even the challenges – concealing fixings within the mesh, integrating services without disrupting openness – help to create clarity. What remains is a space defined by volume, light and restraint, where clothing is given unusual reverence.