Leica expanded its Milan store across two floors. Base Interiors managed the project from investment planning through to handover, coordinating design and construction as the client’s single point of contact.
The Leica store on Via Mengoni, a short walk from Piazza del Duomo, is how the brand presents itself in Milan. Base Interiors had already worked on the space in 2022. In 2025 Leica chose to expand it, applying its new store concept, and to extend the store to the floor above.
The concept was developed by Design Fresco Co. Ltd. Our role was to make it buildable: to check its compatibility with the existing spaces and with Italian regulations, develop it to construction detail and deliver it within the agreed programme and budget.
Our involvement began before any work started on site. Alongside Leica’s management we sized the investment and set the CAPEX scope, then carried out the value engineering required to reconcile the budget with the quality expected.
From there we developed the detailed design of the building works and MEP services, coordinating the technical disciplines through to construction and handover.
For the duration of the works Base Interiors coordinated contractors, suppliers and designers, giving Leica a single point of contact for the technical, financial and operational management of the project.
On a retail fit out of this complexity, coordination between disciplines is decisive. Display lighting, acoustic comfort, technology and more than sixty types of material have to coexist in the same spaces, each with its own technical and construction constraints. Our task was to identify and resolve clashes between trades, during construction as well.
Numbers that reflect the scale of the project, together with the organisation and coordination needed to deliver it.
Each phase involved different parties. Operational continuity came from a shared works programme and daily site management, which allowed issues to be addressed and resolved promptly.
The new internal staircase connects the two floors and becomes part of the visitor route through the store and the gallery, leading visitors up to the spaces above.
The areas previously used as offices now hold three new rooms: a meeting room used for training, an exhibition space for photography and an immersive room where Leica Cine 1 projectors are shown in use. One floor brings together product display, photographic culture and the technology behind it.
On the ground floor we refurbished the whole area behind the display window, creating continuity between the spaces and a smoother route through the store. The work integrated the new exhibition floor into the existing store, improving the customer experience and the customer journey and bringing out Leica’s new concept.
Sector: Retail
Location: Milan, Via Mengoni
Floor area: 380 sqm / 4,090 sqft
Completed: 2025-2026
Concept: Design Fresco Co. Ltd.
Our role: support with CAPEX definition, value engineering, project management, detailed design of building works and electrical, plumbing and mechanical services (MEP), main contracting and integrated project delivery as a design and build service, within the agreed programme, budget and quality standards.
Planning a store or showroom expansion? Tell us about the project and we will come back to you on feasibility, programme and cost.
10/04/2026
