Al-Jawad Pike turns Aesop's Harrods counter into a terracotta 'miniature building'

Al-Jawad Pike has rebuilt Aesop's counter inside London department store Harrods around a terracotta-clad structure designed to have "the qualities of a miniature building."

Aesop has operated a counter in Harrods for over a decade. For the revamp, the London studio — a long-term Aesop collaborator — wanted to push the design beyond a standard beauty-brand counter.

"We were interested in giving the counter the qualities of a miniature building, with suggestions of apertures, openings and floor levels: something designed with the architectural ambition of a building but the care of a cabinet," Al-Jawad Pike co-founder Jessam Al-Jawad told Dezeen.

Why terracotta, and why ancient Persia?

The studio took two cues. The first is Harrods itself: the counter's Italian terracotta tiles echo the department store's recognisable red brick facade. The second is perfume history. The carved alcoves reference an early perfumery culture.

"Through carved alcoves we also wanted to recall the architecture of ancient Persia – the highly literate civilisation that developed liquid perfumery," Al-Jawad said.

The tiles weren't chosen for looks alone. According to the studio, they were selected for their ability to hold scents — a material decision that ties the counter directly to the product being sold.

"We chose glazed terracotta early on in the process because of its connection to traditional fragrance production, but also because of its strong association with Harrods' iconic facade," Al-Jawad explained.

What is the olfactory sculpture?

Atop the counter sits what Aesop calls an "olfactory sculpture." Glass vessels filled with fragrances hang from a copper stand, and copper cones let visitors smell the different scents.

The piece isn't new to the brand. "The olfactory sculpture is something that Aesop has been independently developing in different forms across a number of their projects," the studio explained.

Al-Jawad Pike's version reframes it in two materials. "Our take on this was to create a delicate but organised structure of copper piping and blown glass, through which fragrance-infused air is pushed to scent funnels for customers to interact with," the studio said.

How does the palette work?

The surrounding colour scheme was built around the monolithic terracotta counter. Brushed copper provides the tactile contrast.

"The colour palette was chosen in collaboration with the team at Aesop for its intensity and richness, which we felt resonated with the olfactory experience of fragrance," Al-Jawad said. "We paired this with matte, brushed copper because of its connection to fragrance creation and distillation."

The Harrods project continues a busy stretch for Aesop's design programme. Earlier this year the brand launched its first lighting collection, the Aposē lamps, with a Factory of Light installation at Milan design week. A previous Aesop store in Barcelona by Mesura won the 2024 Dezeen Award for best interior project — a benchmark the Harrods counter now implicitly measures itself against.