Ace & Tate chose Ixelles as the location for their 6th Belgian store, a place well known for its Art Nouveau architecture in the 20th century, but that has been gradually going through a major urban transformation known as Brusselization.

When designing the store, the brand focused on this phenomenon, particularly the work of Victor Horta and the demolition of his iconic building, Maison du Peuple, in 1965 (which used to be a walking distance from the store). Using their space to tell this story, the store features in the right side, a classical colour palette with Art Nouveau elements, such asa custom-designed wallpaper as a reference to Horta’s style. On the other side, a big, red surface purposefully invades the floor, walls, ceiling, façade and furniture in quite a dramatic manner, to represent Brussels’ modern takeover. By the use of these specific colours, the store shows in this space how contemporary and Art Nouveau architecture go hand in hand in this municipality of Brussels.

The store also showcases a custom-designed neon that reads Ne Jamais Rien Céder (stand your ground), again as a nod towards the architectural situation of the city.