This South Melbourne Market stall is a little fun project for Yodgee Footwear, designed by Melbourne Design Studios (MDS). The store is completely made from recycled shipping pallets, set in scene effectively with energy-efficient LED lighting. It has won multiple awards for sustainability , interior design and more.
Using pallets as the principle material in the design of this shoe stall allowed the architects to create a beautiful response to sustainability, cost and briefing challenges.
This project presented a great way of up-cycling a material which is, otherwise, often left as ‘worthless’ on the side of the road. It’s also a material that is already an inherent part of the shoe supply chain and, rather than using new and highly polished materials with embodied energy, the pallets allowed the designer to use a cradle-to-cradle approach, extending their lifespan while helping to reduce overall cost.
The pallets sit beautifully with the ‘temporary market’ feel in which the stall is placed. Sustainability is at the core of the design and, while the recycled timber may be rough and rowdy, it sets the shoes in scene beautifully, providing a harmonious background.
Importantly though, the stall is never about the pallets themselves. They don’t seek the limelight. The focus is on the products displayed. At first glance, you see walls of shoes; only on closer inspection you start to realise the homogenous background is made up from old shipping pallets, beautifully detailed into a retail stall.
Shopping for a pair of shoes has become an experience.
Photography by Marnie Hawson - Carbon Neutral Photography
