The Shop Front Design is the physical face of your business and the first thing that grabs a passer-by’s attention. It is a window into your product range and services and needs to entice, engage and seduce shoppers to enter.

Shop fronts that are designed to be beautiful, attractive and sympathetic to their surroundings will be more successful in attracting customers. Whether you are a modern retailer or a historical building it is possible to create a distinctive and enticing shop front that blends with the surrounding buildings.

Scale

The scale of a shop front needs to be in proportion to the surrounding buildings. The size of the windows and depth of the fascia should be modest, particularly on small-scale buildings, where oversize fascia can disfigure the appearance of the whole building.

Street Rhythm

The rhythm of a traditional high street will be spoiled if the shop front design straddles the line between two buildings or disrupts the flow of the overall streetscape. Columns, pilasters, or areas of walling can help to maintain the rhythm of a street and provide visual support to a shopfront.

The main elements of a Shop Front are the windows, signage, and stallriser (if present). The choice of material is a key element that will impact on the character of the Shop Front. For example, the use of glass with a ‘matte’ finish will provide a contemporary appearance whilst using timber or stone will have a more conventional feel to it.