When the covers came off the newly completed Birmingham branch of Selfridges in 2003, the city stopped to pause for breath. Brought up on a thin diet of mostly characterless, orthogonal, concrete boxes, for locals the new store was a genuine showstopper and a first for the city.

The retailer wanted a distinctive building that did not need a sign saying “Selfridges” over the door so commissioned Future Systems, an architect known for pushing design boundaries, to come up with something radical. The answer was a rich cobalt blue, curvaceous, sculptural form covered in 16,000 shiny aluminium discs – said to have been inspired by a Paco Rabanne chainmail-effect dress. It certainly succeeded in bringing a splash of glamour to an otherwise pedestrian shopping centre.

Over the course of this year the store has undergone a similarly radical transformation. Scaffolding has gone up around the building and is now wrapped in a pattern of eye-poppingly vivid, tessellating black and pink cogs. Designed by Osman Yousefzada, a womenswear fashion designer and artist, it covers 9,000m2 and is said to be the world’s largest scaffolding wrap. As with the original exterior, the idea is to maintain the distinctive, unique identity of Selfridges, which remains open while the facade is being refurbished. The real purpose of the scaffolding and its colourful wrapping, however, is to provide access and weather protection for the Bam team charged with the work of remedying serious problems found in the building’s distinctive chainmail-style cladding.

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