The Clockwork is the most ambitious project yet a 4-story flagship store in one of Bangkok’s unequivocally bustling streets, Thonglor. Luxury, complexity, and perfection are the keywords of the brand that we wanted to express through the building, conceived as a giant robotic mechanism not only from the outside but from the inside where it is also possible to explore and discover the detailed mechanisms that push it.

A sequence of unique spaces that guide the clients and allow them to discover the variety of limited-edition sneakers and clothes that the company sells. The Clockwork is highly detailed just like the internal mechanism of a clock, in which every square centimeter is designed and thought.

The watch is the first human-made robotic device, so at External Reference we decided to represent its mechanical aesthetic by showing its gears. Inspired by this, we create a distinguishing and recognizable facade that raises the robotic mechanism to luxury, a luxury that is sometimes built with 24-carat gold.

A complete and exhausting study of the watch’s mechanisms is behind the design. Understanding the way these small gears work between each other in order to bring the watch alive is exactly how we design and complement the pieces to this time, bring alive the product.

The big round transparent screen of the facade breaks with the context where is located showing the brand’s content. While the ground floor walls are covered by hundreds of metal pieces showcasing sneakers with a DJ performing live the rest of the building is focused on clothes and exhibitions.

At External Reference we like to play with ambiguous elements and hybrid references. The big circle that breaks the facade and permeates into the interior of the building can represent the same watch’s case, a bank vault door, a window, or even a temporal space access. It can even be all of them at the same time. For us was a challenge to create this project but any project requires discipline and passion, no matter the scale.