HABITAT is back in Brighton after seven years – and hundreds of customers have flooded through its doors since it opened on Wednesday.

The interiors store is bucking the downward high street trend by opening its third biggest store in the country with plans to turn it into a design hub for Brighton.

“Brighton is our heartland with such a vibrant artistic feel,” said Habitat’s managing director Clare Askem.

“It’s our first city centre flagship store for ten years and we knew we had a lot of customers in Brighton.

“We have many fans who have been asking us to return with a city centre store, so we felt that to launch our first inspirational flagship environment would really work here. We don’t want to be a faceless brand – we want to be part of the community.”

Unique to the Brighton store is a collaborative project with three Brighton artists, Sophie Abbott, Becky Blair and Lauri Hopkins, whose artwork has been used for a limited-edition series of rugs featured in the Habitat collection.The company plans to run the project yearly.

Habitat has invested £1.5 million jointly in the Brighton store, which is part of the 1.3 acre Hannington Estate redevelopment, and a new store in West London, with 17 jobs created in Brighton.

The two-floor 6,500 sq ft store in North Street, which has been designed by the Habitat Design Studio and features more than 3,000 products, has a pared-back industrial vibe with exposed metallic piping, raw concrete surfaces and exposed brick walls painted white.

On the street level floor, a cobalt blue metal stairwell featuring a glass wrap-around balustrade allows customers to see directly down into the basement level, with a dramatic lighting installation hanging above.

“The interior design here is stripped right back so that there are minimal visual distractions – no large digital screens, imposing fixtures or dramatic architectural details so that customers focus on the products themselves,” explained Habitat’s senior designer Matthew Long.

Max Coppock, 22, and his partner Oscar Gravett, 19, were in Habitat to furnish their new flat in Hove.

Max said: “I love Habitat because it’s so colourful.

“It’s perfect for our new flat because it has an orange theme. And I like seeing and feeling the products rather than buying things online, so I’ll be coming here often.”

Sara Clancy, 52, who is visiting Brighton from West Africa, and her friend Laura Dowling, also in her fifties and from Brighton, walked into Habitat out of curiosity.

Sara said: “I think it’s a really positive thing for this store to open in Brighton. This is a lovely big bright space.”

Laura said: “It has made this street much better.”

Store manager Adam Cook has jumped ship from home furnishing retailer Dunelm in Shoreham to Habitat and brought along two of his colleagues who are now his assistant managers.

He said: “We are so happy Habitat is back in Brighton – it’s bringing something different and new.”

He named the navy velvet Hendricks sofa as his favourite product – it’s in the window at 23-25 North Street.