PLP Architecture was commissioned by Russia’s oldest and most respected bank, Sber, to develop an innovative repositioning and visioning framework for the business that reconsiders everything from its branding to its environments. Building on Sber’s recognised core strengths and values, PLP provided a range of creative services to help enable a new, ambitious and sweeping transformation into a tech company, which will see Sber embark on the biggest change in its 180 year history.

PLP worked closely across a number of the company’s departments, pursuing systemic parallels to draw out and identify common unifying goals from Sber’s diverse employee base. Drawing from our diverse expertise our services included retail and brand positioning, a customer engagement strategy, interior design , furniture design and product design including the next generation ATM . The practice made extensive use of its leading-edge in-house AR and VR technologies to help visualise and rethink customer journey and experience. This was supplemented by broad market research and PLP’s recognised knowledge of future industry trends to create a bespoke and flexible solution that will serve Sber well into the future.

As part of its work, PLP has also developed a brand playbook that will see Sber’s many branches across the country transformed into unparalleled multifunctional community hubs that reach beyond retail and banking to become true assets to the neighbourhoods in which they are located. The new pilot branch is now open to customers in central Moscow and is a window into the new Sber ecosystem, bringing together the best online and offline practices of customer interaction. It includes an open, light-filled and tech-driven atmosphere housing everything from a café, children’s corner and interactive shopping screens to product displays, ATMs and postal lockers – besides contactless banking transaction areas. Movable panels can secure certain elements, allowing the space to hold talks and events and become a true 24-hour community hub.

The design is scalable to allow for easy adaptation as it is implemented across Sber’s 12,000 branches in 7 time zones, and is filled with bespoke furniture specially developed by PLP to help provide a holistic and unified brand experience.