Design-led homewares store Rossiters of Cardiff opened its doors on August 30th. The store occupies a two-floor, 14,000 sq ft unit which is the former David Morgan building, retailing a stylish range of furniture, homewares and gifts. Rossiters’ original store situated in the heart of Bath is well established. Peter James, Managing Director of Rossiters, said, “We have had shoppers travelling from Cardiff to our Bath store for years and talking of how popular Rossiters would be in Cardiff, so now they have their own store right on their doorstep".

Rossiters, which is a privately-owned family business, chose Jamieson Smith Associates to design and fit out their Cardiff store after developing an excellent working relationship during numerous projects including Wildings of Newport, Worthingtons of Thornbury and Rossiters of Bath.

Buying Director for Rossiters, Ann-Marie James said "We have hand-picked every product with our Cardiff customers in mind. We wanted to create a shopping experience that appealed to all the different types of customer. By increasing our furniture offering and gift department we can appeal to people living in the city, as well as catering for those in the suburbs".

Heidi Haines, Senior Designer at JSA said "From the beginning this has been an extremely exciting and challenging project for us. With a multitude of issues to incorporate and overcome”.

The entrance proved the first challenge with restricted access and steps into the store, which meant a platform lift, needed to be incorporated into the design. The previous escalator void was used to accommodate the new lift and main staircase. Other issues which needed to be overcome were damp, uneven floor levels and listed building restrictions relating to the columns on the ground and basement floors.

Special attention was paid to the staircase making it the focal point on entrance. The huge columns which surrounded the void were made even larger due to the required installation of fire shutters. The opulent feature staircase designed in a ‘T’ shape included wrought iron spindles, walnut handrail and a bronze tinted glass balustrade. A giant pendant lighting feature was added over the stairs with huge bronze globes in the shape of a swirl. The attractive organic shape helps draw customers down to furniture on the basement level. The bronze globes are mirrored enabling the shop and merchandise to be reflected creating a 'show' as you descend.

The columns either side of the main staircase were decorated with hand painted murals of trees to soften their appearance and create a more enticing feature. To ensure the final look of the store did not appear too contemporary great care was taken to minimise the use of steel and glass.

A solid dark timber floor was laid on the ground floor. However due to damp levels in the basement a timber vinyl effect flooring was utilised with a seagrass carpet to the lower level.

Due to historical cornicing and columns on part of the ground floor, half of the ceiling had to remain open. Ceiling rafts were cleverly used to conceal sprinklers, air conditioning and lighting, whilst the ceiling was painted in a contrasting dark cream with rafts and cornicing finished in white. Wardrobe wall units were located along the perimeter walls and broken up by large dark timber feature units with accessories displayed in a specially adapted French Armoire. Display tables were designed with curved legs, using reclaimed railway sleepers for tops. Smaller tables and plinths were designed to contrast with these in a sleek modern finish in shocking pink.

Open windows into the arcade were retained on one side of the store to create a view inside. The windows were split into three display rooms. 'Eye stops' were created at various levels to create intrigue and draw the focus to the window bed as well as directly into the shop itself. A large shelving unit was introduced spanning across two columns to create a backdrop as well as creating stock space.