ASICS Sydney: redesigning a retail flagship five years on

When a retail brand returns to you to refresh a store you originally designed, it's a clear measure of trust - and a sharper creative challenge. Five years after designing the ASICS Oceania flagship at Sydney's Queen Victoria Building, WDC Spaces was commissioned to review and update the space.

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Translating brand strategy into store design

Working within ASICS' updated global retail design guidelines, we partnered with the local Direct to Consumer (DTC) team to develop the concept vision, produce design intent drawings for selective tender, and manage the fit-out through to completion.

The brief was clear: every design decision had to express the ASICS brand mantra

‘Anima sana in corpore sano, a sound mind in a sound body.’

The store needed to feel that, not just display it.

Retail design inside a heritage building

The Queen Victoria Building presents a distinctive retail design challenge. Working within a protected heritage structure means every intervention is constrained by what you can and cannot touch.

We chose to work with the building rather than against it. Original internal columns and beams were stripped back to expose the architecture beneath. Additional window apertures were opened up, improving natural light and street visibility - both critical drivers of footfall and dwell time in high-street retail.

That decision reduced the available perimeter fixture space, so we designed a series of bespoke freestanding floor fixtures to maintain product display capacity while preserving sightlines and transparency throughout the store.

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In-store experience and the path to purchase

Retail design only delivers commercial results when it supports the customer journey at every stage. Two ASICS Foot ID running analysis units were positioned centrally, adjacent to the changing rooms to create a service hub where customers receive expert advice, trial product, and move naturally toward purchase.

This kind of experiential retail layout keeps conversion front of mind, not as an afterthought.

Localised retail zones that drive engagement

Licensed sport product carries significant commercial weight in the Australian market. Given ASICS' sponsorship of both the Wallabies and the Australian cricket team (the Baggy Greens), we designed a dedicated retail zone complete with AstroTurf and fold-down stadium-style seating - a space that connects product directly to the culture it belongs to.

Retail design optimisation that lasts

A store refresh after five years is a commercial decision. Brands that invest in retail design optimisation, updating layouts, improving customer flow, and realigning fixtures with current guidelines, protect revenue and extend the productive life of a flagship location.

If your retail space is due a review, we can help you identify where design is holding performance back.

Talk to us about retail design optimisation