Green is the new Black

Takapuna is now home to New Zealand’s newest and most innovative venture, The Department Store, providing a multi-dimensional fashion, art and beauty experience across three floors.

The project was spearheaded by Stephen Marr, Karen Walker and Dan Gosling from Black Box.

The Department Store showcases the very best of fresh, creative New Zealand brands, and it has embraced an international level of retail thinking by designing this unique space with emphasis on our environment.

One of the triumphs of the new store, and also a New Zealand first, is the large, vertical, interior garden or ‘Green Wall’ in the Stephen Marr salon on the top floor.

The Green Wall is a natural extension to Stephen Marr’s environmental commitment. It is unique in that it is double-sided and measures 10 metres long by 2 metres high, boasting well over 1000 individual plants.

The Green Wall divides the upper level, promoting unique spaces that can be used for presentations such as fashion shows. The building has had skylights installed to ensure the wall is given as much natural light as possible and the use of supplementary man-made lighting is kept at a minimum.

The investment into this original and breathtaking piece of artwork, aside from supporting Marr’s ‘green’ stance in a powerful branding exercise, has incredible environmental benefits such as increased thermal insulation to buildings, noise dampening, and creating cleaner and better quality air, which means healthier buildings and people.

From a commercial perspective the Green Wall increases the building’s value and has also been found to raise employee productivity.

The coverage of the Green Wall will initially be sparse as the plants adjust to their new habitat. However full coverage can be expected in six months and it is already an amazing site to behold.

The unique and fresh concept store has been designed by Katie Lockhart and the Green Wall was designed and installed by Natural Habitats Landscapes.

Stephen Marr already exhibits a deep shade of green with his commitment to environmental sustainability in his existing salons in Newmarket and Ponsonby.

Marr boasts a list of his sustainable business practices on his website which includes such things as; specialist recycling of chemical waste disposal; environmentally friendly cleaning products that are replenished by refill; recommending using an organic hair colour which is non-toxic and vegetable based; re-use and recycle where ever possible within our business; and using a clean Energy Company that bases its energy on renewable resources.

The ‘Marr Lab’ a new retail arm of the Stephen Marr business which is run by Lucy Marr-Vincent, also focuses on toxic-free products.