RESET Certified ICICLE Paris Boutique - The Environmental Performance of Quiet Luxury

We never really own materials - we simply borrow them from the earth.

When we understand where materials come from and how they must eventually return to the earth, our relationship with the world becomes rooted:

The things we make become more meaningful.
Our understanding of design becomes clearer and deeper.
Matter becomes more precious.
Buildings and interiors become storied layers of materials.
Culture becomes one of respect.

From Paris to Shanghai, ICICLE has become synonymous with natural, quiet luxury.

Its new Paris boutique on the Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées is an extension of the House’s values and its "Made in Earth" ethos.

Where most retail projects start by determining what can be added to a space, this one began by asking what could be removed.

Reminiscent of a Carlo Scarpa project, layers of previous finishes were carefully stripped away to reveal the structure, etched with the history of its renovations.

Built-in millwork was reduced to a minimum, covering only areas where the structure couldn’t be exposed, while framing the private changing rooms.

Much of millwork typically found in luxury retail was replaced with free-standing wood furniture. Resembling an art installation, the effect is that of a young forest of trees.

In other areas where the structure could not be exposed, curved white surfaces soften the raw nature of the exposed walls and furniture.

How does these values and design decisions translate into actual sustainability?

At 371 kgCO2e/m2, the boutique is 30% better (fewer CO2-equivalent emissions) than the RESET High Performance Benchmark. It is also approximately 5-8 times better than luxury boutiques where furniture, specialty finishes and millwork are shipped by air.

Thanks primarily to the sourcing of sustainably harvested wood and wood-based products, the boutique’s circularity performance is 2 times better than the RESET High Performance Benchmark, with the potential to double at the project’s end-of-life.

A significant portion of a project’s circularity performance occurs at the end of its lifecycle, depending on whether materials become waste or resources for new production.

In this case, although 77% of the materials are technically recyclable or biocyclable, it is estimated that only 32% will actually be recycled or biocycled based on current end-of-life infrastructure in France. The RESET Standard is designed to help project teams select and assemble materials so they can become resources for future projects as infrastructure continues to improve.

With 97.2% of the material ingredients known and free of harmful chemicals, the boutique’s health performance is 3% better than the RESET High Performance Benchmark and 10 times better than the industry average.

Since ingredients are measured down to 0.01% of project weight, every 1% improvement over the benchmark is a significant achievement.

As materials with harmful substances become increasingly undesirable to recyclers and biocyclers, these strong health results further support the ability of the selected materials to be circular.

It is also worth noting that the boutique contains 51% fewer materials than industry average for luxury retail interiors. Built-in millwork alone was reduced by 86%, in favor of furniture and installations that can be fully disassembled and reused.

Audited and Certified as per the RESET Standard, the combined results for carbon, circularity and health yield a RESET Score of 3.5 Stars out of 5.

Designed to help companies authentically measure and communicate performance, RESET is the world’s only standard and certification framework that scores projects based on an objective measure of sustainability and regeneration.

It sets a deliberately high target - where it should be - with 5 Stars representing a project that is 100% net-zero, circular and healthy.

At 3.5 Stars, the ICICLE boutique performs 6 times better than the industry average and 27% better than the RESET High Performance Benchmark.

Quiet luxury is now a bright star in the center of Paris.

Core Project Team:
Lead Designer: David McNulty, ICICLE
Project Manager : François-Xavier Foillard, ICICLE
Execution Architect: Bruno Bailliet, Atelier 24, Paris
Main Contractor: Elypso

The material assessment boundary for the boutique was full scope; Non-Bearing Structures, Interior Systems, Finishes & Millwork, Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment.

About RESET Standard

RESET Standard is a non-profit organization providing a global framework for measurable sustainability in the built environment. Through performance and data-driven standards, RESET helps organizations reduce environmental impact and improve human health.

For more information about RESET, please visit: https://resetstandard.org/.