Protecting Assets, Architecture and Place in Historic Turin
The Challenge
Chanel’s Turin store occupies a sensitive position within the city’s historic centre, close to Piazza San Carlo and the Museo Egizio. This is a setting where architecture, retail value, cultural footfall, and civic identity overlap.
The project was not simply about adding protection. It was about protecting a luxury retail asset without diminishing the architecture or the experience of place. Any intervention had to support the client’s response to an increasing level of risk while remaining appropriate to a pedestrianised street, an older building fabric, and the expectations of the landlord and Turin Municipality.
The site presented several constraints. There was no opportunity to install protective measures within the pedestrianised street area. The existing building included a basement and pavement lights, while an adjacent underground electrical substation added further complexity to the structural and services strategy.
The Unafor LUXE Response
The Solution
Unafor engineered a bespoke removable bollard system around the physical realities of the site. Rather than treating protection as an object placed in front of the store, the team developed it as a coordinated architectural and structural response.
The system was designed to work with the existing building, the pavement condition, and the operational needs of the client. Its removability was central to the strategy, allowing the protective line to perform its role while remaining compatible with the sensitive public realm.
In luxury retail, the storefront is more than an entrance. It is a brand asset, a display surface, a threshold, and part of the city’s visual experience.
For Chanel in Turin, Unafor’s role was to protect that asset without allowing the protective measure to dominate it. The bollard system had to sit in dialogue with the architecture, the street, and the expectations of a historic urban centre. The result is a protective intervention that is practical, legible, and proportionate.
Delivery
Unafor managed a turn-key team consisting of a local architect, local contractor, and structural engineer. This ensured that design intent, technical feasibility, planning requirements, and construction delivery were considered together.
The team coordinated planning applications to Turin Municipality and managed landlord liaison, providing a single managed route from site constraint to completed solution.
Protective design for luxury retail assets in sensitive places
Unafor LUXE works with architects, designers, landlords, and luxury brands to integrate protective measures into high-value retail environments without compromising architecture, brand experience, or the surrounding city.
The Result
- Storefront protection upgraded through integration of engineered measures
- Municipal, heritage and landlord requirements concerning aesthetics delivered
- Store operations preserved throughout phased installation works
- Full turn-key project management services provided to support Store Planning and Store Operations teams
- Pedestrian movement and customer experience maintained during construction
Planning security upgrades for a flagship store in a historic city centre?
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