David Jones Elizabeth Street Flagship Store

The David Jones Elizabeth Street flagship store in Sydney’s Hyde Park District is one of Australia’s leading and most iconic department stores. Housed in an elegant, Inter-war Stripped Classical Style building with close to a century of history and heritage, David Jones has been at the forefront of Australia’s immersive and experiential luxury retail environment since 1927.

In 2018, David Jones Pty Ltd appointed Benoy for the redevelopment of their Elizabeth Street flagship store. Benoy’s challenge was to enhance the heritage structure and provide a more contemporary and inspiring retail environment, while at the same time celebrating the store’s opulent and storied past. In particular, the client wanted to optimise and consolidate the interior space, making use of all available floors and enabling a natural circulation of people through the building. Facing competition from online retail, David Jones Pty Ltd also wanted to embrace the twenty-first century department store model, shifting away from large in-store inventory towards an enhanced consumer experience. Benoy’s design strategy was to take what is unique and exciting about David Jones and the department store at large and rejuvenate this for contemporary patrons. The team delved into, and took influence from, David Jones’ rich and storied heritage and envisioned what the great brand could become. The resulting design strategy involved a series of delicate and thoughtful architectural and interior modifications, which serve to strengthen the relationship of the building with its current urban context and create a distinct and well-curated contemporary experience journeying through its interiors.