Launched in 2008, Loaf is primarily an online furniture retailer. The expanded range now includes tables, desks, cushions and coffee tables. Customers are generally content to buy online up to a certain price point, but beyond that they need to see, feel and try an item, be it a sofa or a bed. For this reason Loaf asked Blass to design its first ‘slowroom’ in a rundown building in Battersea. The structure of the building itself was interesting on the inside, with railway arches backing onto the tracks but it was the dramatic and courageous work to the frontage that has created something of a local landmark. The ‘slowroom’ is not designed to be solely transactional but rather experiential; it entices, beguiles, surprises and delights customers in the expectation that they will buy into the brand and make purchases via the website at their leisure.