Amsterdam-based architects Merkx + Girod have designed new postal stores for Dutch logistics company TNT.

Employees at the new postal stores work at Corian service desks in the centre of the shop, rather than behind counters as in traditional post offices. Logistics that would normally be hidden away are visible to customers.

The stores also incorporate self-service machines in black units around the edge where customers can weigh, stamp and post their own mail. Customers can also design their own stamps and send digital postcards.

"We designed the new shops on the basis of the concept self service where possible and full service where needed," explains Bas Berck of Merkx + Girod. "TNT employees are active inside the store, no longer behind large counters but operating from centrally placed full service desks. DIY machines are integrated in the black surroundings."

Photographs by Roos Aldershoff
Graphics by Atelier Rene Knip

See more work by Merkx + Girod in our earlier story about the bookstore they designed inside a former Dominican church.

Merkx + Girod Architecten is included in our book, Dezeen Book of Ideas.