And the Winner Is:
The name of the magazine has changed. The prestige of the SADI Award has not. Now in its 14th year, the Superior Achievement in Design and Imaging award recognizes outstanding achievements in creating successful retail environments. Over the years, the winners have been those architects and designers who craft memorable places that put the magic back into shopping, enhance or redefine a retail brand, capture a trend particularly well or solve a seemingly insurmountable problem.
This year's winners continue that tradition. The Grand SADI winner is the Lladró store in Tokyo's Ginza district (pictured on the cover). Architect Walker Group/CNI faced many challenges in designing the project: a miniscule site, a client that viewed its products as works of art and a visually cacophonous neighborhood of neon-covered buildings. The designers not only overcame those obstacles, but pushed the envelope with a design of sleek modern materials that holds its own in the frenetic Ginza. The store makes a huge statement on the sidewalk with a dramatic glass curtain wall that also serves as a screen for an ever-changing light show. The interior presents the merchandise in an art gallery setting.
What differentiates the winners from the also-rans is the ability to put together an aesthetically interesting and functionally superior design. A SADI winner has more than a pretty face to offer the client. This year's SADI recipients deftly handle multiple chores. Schedoni leather goods, for example, has a unique way of welcoming customers into the store (page 142). El Palacio de Hierro in Puebla, Mexico defines a lifestyle (page 140). And the Tabor Center addresses the shortcomings of an older design to produce a vibrant addition to downtown Denver (page 134)
Our distinguished panel of 12 judges had their work cut out for them. Over the course of a grueling day in February, they reviewed 60 entries in eight categories, ranging from super-regional malls to a storefront or bistro. The discussion was spirited and strong positions were staked out. The judges insisted on the highest standards and, in fact, could not agree on a winner and an honorable mention winner in two categories — Renovated Retail Stores and New Centers Between 400,000 and 1 Million Square Feet. Experience told the judges that, in the grand scheme of things, the renovation of the Champs Elysee Disney Store did not live up to a “superior” title, while The Grove so outshined its competitors that it didn't warrant naming one of them an honorable mention. In the case of the New Centers Less Than 400,000 Square Feet category, the editors broke a stalemate.
The editors of Retail Traffic also commend many of the projects that you won't see here, including a high-style supermarket with abundant windows in Nashville, as well as an exemplary mixed-use infill development in Washington, D.C., a funky Las Vegas department store and a mall renovation that better integrates single-use shopping into a complicated urban neighborhood in Portland, Ore. Over the next few months, we will explore these and other projects to illustrate what works — and what doesn't.
We invite you to spend time perusing the next 20 pages to see the state of the art in retail real estate design.
Barbara Ashley
Retail Ventures
As founder and president of Retail Ventures, Ashley combines her experience as a successful buyer/merchant, a consumer trend forecaster and a Harvard-trained psychotherapist to analyze retail strategies, concepts and creative direction. Ashley previously was a senior executive with Taubman Centers Inc.
Frankie J. Campione
CREATE
Architecture Planning & Design
CREATE founder Campione has participated in such large-scale projects as Philadelphia's 1.2 million-square-foot Willow Grove Park. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Cincinnati and pursued postgraduate studies at the Parsons School of Design's Architectural Criticism program.
Kevin McCarthy
Paul Davril Inc.
McCarthy is director of retail development and marketing for Paul Davril, a licensee of Kenneth Cole menswear as well as the women's apparel line eckored. Before joining PDI in 2000, he was a senior director of store design for Tommy Hilfiger. McCarthy holds a marketing degree from Arizona State University
Mark Carter
Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates Inc.
Senior principal at TVS in Atlanta, Carter is responsible for large retail centers, including the Plaza and Court at King of Prussia, Pa., Triangle Town Center in Raleigh, N.C. and Plaza Vespucio and Plaza Tobalaba in Santiago, Chile. He graduated from Auburn University in 1979.
Gaylon Melton
The Mills Corp.
Melton, who joined Mills in 1998 as design manager, has led the design team on its Katy Mills, Arundel Mills and Discover Mills projects. He is now working on St. Louis Mills. Previously, Melton was an associate vice president at RTKL Los Angeles. He graduated from Auburn University with a Bachelor of Architecture degree.
Russell Sway
R. Sway Associates
Sway, president of R. Sway Associates, is also international president of the Institute of Store Planners. Sway has worked for Rich's Department Stores, Chase Manhattan Bank, Miller Zell Inc. and WalkerGroup/CNI.
Greg Moe
Carter & Burgess Inc.
Moe, retail centers group manager for Carter & Burgess, joined the firm in 1995 as an associate. A graduate of Arizona State University, Moe's career spans more than 30 years with major retail and mixed-use projects throughout the southwestern U.S., Mexico and Asia. Notable projects include Citicorp Center, Montebello Town Center and Ridgmar Mall.
Dawn Clark
Callison Architecture Inc.
Clark leads the firm's international department store management and design teams. She is client manager for projects with Seibu Department Stores in Japan, Harrods and Marks and Spencer in London, and Aekyung Department Stores in Korea. She has a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Design in Architecture from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Thomas M. Morbitzer
Cowan & Associates Inc.
Morbitzer started his career at Cowan & Associates in 1984 and returned in 1997 to assume the role of design director. An award winner for New York maternity store A Pea in the Pod, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial design from The Ohio State University, as well as an Applied Science degree in architecture.
Darrell Pattison
KA Inc., Architecture
Pattison, KA chief strategic officer and director of design, joined the firm in 1977. He established the firm's site planning and landscape architecture, interior architecture and environmental graphics departments. Pattison graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor of Architecture degree.
Angelo Carusi
Cooper Carry
Carusi, a Cooper Carry principal, joined the firm in 1983 and has, since 1989, focused solely on retail, designing more than 9 million square feet of GLA. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Tennessee.
Brendan Cotter
(not pictured)
Alexander Gorlin Architect
Cotter is an associate principal and supervising project manager at Alexander Gorlin Architect. Before joining the firm, he worked for 1100 Architect, where he was project architect for the J. Crew flagship. Cotter earned a Master of Architecture degree from Princeton University.
The SADI awards are sponsored by SONY®
The Streets at Southpoint, designed by RTKL Associates Inc., is neither a typical mall nor a small town. It tries to be a blend of both. The outdoor portion emulates the appearance of an old-time Main Street. Storefronts of varied architectural styles and materials seemingly open into individual buildings.
But inside, there's a giant mall, too. It retains the architectural detail of the outdoor storefronts so that the transition between streetfront shopping and mall walking is barely perceptible. Interior storefronts have cornices that vary in height from 19 feet to 22 feet. The ceiling planes and skylights suggest European canvas canopies, and outdoor streetlights come indoors.
Most judges agreed that, in the words of Darrell Pattison, chief strategic officer and director of design for KA Inc., Southpoint represents “a great marriage of inside and outside retailing, with neither portion being negatively affected by the other.” Thom Morbitzer, design director of Cowan & Associates, said the project “demonstrates attention to human scale, while the signage is effective and the spaces show variety.”
The design also mixes nostalgia with a contemporary sensibility. Faux billboards were painted on exterior buildings to suggest an era past; the entrance is a soaring glass form.
Project Name: The Streets at Southpoint
Square Footage: 1.3 million
Location: Durham, N.C.
Architect: RTKL Associates Inc.
Client: The Rouse Co.
Groundbreaking: September 1999
Completion: March 2002
Construction Cost: $40 million
Building Contractor: Beers Construction
Civil Engineer: John R. McAdams
Electrical Engineer: Stern and Associates
Geotechnical Engineer: S+ME Inc.
Interior Landscape Architect: Mesa Design Group
Landscape Architect: Haden-Stanziale
Lighting Designer: Lighting Practice
Mechanical & Plumbing Engineer: E&S Engineering
Roofing Consultant: FCG
Site Contractor: C.C. Mangum
Specialty Retail Contractor: Westwood Contractors
Structural Engineer: L.A. Fuess Partners
Traffic Consultant: Kimley Horn
Orlando is more often associated with tourists and T-shirts than with luxury shopping. The Mall at Millenia has changed that. The center features Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Nieman Marcus as anchors, plus 524,000 square feet of inline retail and a 790-seat food court, all set in an upscale ambience. Sixty-foot-high glazed vaults flood the space with natural light. JPRA Architects chose high-end materials such as terrazzo and stainless steel to accent the mall's surfaces. And monumental entrances feature frameless glass facades and boldly cantilevered roofs.
Thom Morbitzer, Cowan & Associates' design director, said these “powerful” entries skillfully convey an upscale shopping experience. Dawn Clark, principal at Callison Architecture Inc., said the overall effect is a “strong wow factor.”
Rather than create another Disney World riddled with pop culture references, JPRA conceived simple themes for the space: interior graphics, landscaping, artwork and water elements depict the universe, earth and sky, for example. The building's Grand Court includes twelve masts mounted with LED screens that project images of the seasons. The interior and exterior architecture is crafted according to the universal motifs of the circle, triangle and square.
Project Name: The Mall at Millenia
Square Footage: 1.4 million
Location: Orlando
Architect: JPRA Architects
Client: The Forbes Co., The Taubman Co.
Groundbreaking: December 2000
Completion: October 2002
Civil Engineers: Ivey, Harris & Walls Inc.
Code Consultant: Code Consultants Inc.
General Contractor: Hardin Construction Co.
Landscape Architect: Grissim Metz Associates
Lighting: Focus Lighting
Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Consultant: Tilden Lobnitz Cooper
The bar was placed high for the designers of this high-profile project, located adjacent to the Los Angeles Farmer's Market. To meet the challenge, Elkus/Manfredi Architects created a pedestrian village in the heart of car-centric LA. The shopping center includes two main pedestrian routes — a main street intersected by a narrower side street. Pedestrians wind their way over curbs, past trees and streetlamps and even the occasional trolley car, and around a Town Square that includes a park and cafes.
Brendan Cotter, associate principal at Alexander Gorlin Architect, called the environment “community oriented” and deemed the streetscape “successful,” while Russell Sway, international president of the Institute of Store Planners and president of R. Sway Associates, said The Grove “represents the best to date of ‘village planning.’” Greg Moe, retail centers group manager for Carter & Burgess, calls the stores' individual facades — executed in a range of styles from Palladian to Victorian — “very southern California with a touch of Europe.” Dramatic architecture is used to designate key locations. Main Street and Town Square are sites of signature buildings, while the movie theater is decked out in an over-the-top Art Deco style. Additional touches, such as signage, lighting and commissioned artwork, differentiate this project from homogeneous competitors.
Project Name: The Grove
Square Footage: 581,500
Location: Los Angeles
Architect: Elkus/Manfredi Architects
Client: Caruso Affiliated Holdings
Groundbreaking: December 2000
Completion: March 2002
Construction Cost: $160 million
Associate Architect: Langdon Wilson
Civil/Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
General Contractor: Whiting Turner
Landscape Architect: Lifescapes International
Lighting Designer: Francis Krahe & Associates
Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer: J.L. Hengstler & Associates
Parking Garage Design: Bomel; Parkitects
Signage/Graphic Designer: Amalgamated Studios
Water Feature Designer: Wet Design
When it came to judging the entries in this category, the SADI panel became a hung jury. The entries were too diverse to compare and determine a winner, the judges said. A mixed-use project that was well integrated into its urban site, for example, had very different qualities from another entry that did an excellent job of rebranding a transportation center. But no entry, the judges said, was outstanding enough to overcome the confusing comparisons.
The editors of Retail Traffic, however, went back over the judges' comments and decided on a winner — the Max Ocio Commercial Center, on which we confer a special Editors' Choice award.
Located in Bilbao's Barakaldo factory district, the center's striking design brings a jolt of theatricality to the surrounding industrial neighborhood. The structure is sheathed in steel, and uplighting flashes from underneath the stairways' exposed risers. An accompaniment to an existing mall across the street, the project distinguishes the complex from vanilla-box competitors.
WalkerGroup/CNI's strategy enlivens the streetscape. Although the mall is located alongside a highway, multiple stairways provide pedestrian access points, thereby encouraging shoppers to walk around the exterior. Tremendous glazed surfaces, dramatically lit at night, allow passers-by to see what's happening inside. Cleverly, this draws attention to the building's retail tenants, even though the building itself is devoid of tenant signage because of municipal restrictions.
Max Ocio Center's distorted geometries and material cues reflect Bilbao's most prominent architectural landmark, the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum. And, like the Guggenheim, Barkaldo is one of the structures that is redefining the urban fabric of Bilbao.
Project Name: Max Ocio Commercial Center
Square Footage: 180,000
Location: Bilbao, Spain
Architect: WalkerGroup/CNI
Client: ING Real Estate, Filo
Groundbreaking: September 2000
Completion: June 2002
Construction Cost: $21.3 million
Acoustical Ceiling Tile: Artexture
Associate Architect: LKS Enginieria
Fabric: Sunbrella
Furniture: NFK/Mathias International; EMU
Lighting Design Consultant: Dusti Helms
Metal: Mison Concepts Inc.; Flexspan
Paint: Sherwin Williams
Renderings: James Akers; Paul Maguire
Special Flooring: Get Real Surfaces; Marquez Glasseries Inc.; Stone Sorce
Special Materials: Marlite Surface Systems; Bellapart
Stone: Ingemar Corp.
Green glass, poorly scaled canopies, few entrances. That was the Tabor Center before redevelopment. “The space was cold and unappealing,” said Kevin McCarthy, director of retail development and marketing for Paul Davril Inc., recalling a visit to the 19-year-old mall. After the renovation, the first impression is made by a modern façade and interesting signage, thanks to OWP/P Belluschi.
In addition to applying a pleasing facelift, the architects added 23,000 square feet to the two-block-long center, located at Denver's 16th Street transit mall, and connected it more clearly to its urban environment. Ground-level tenant entrances are repositioned to open to the street, for example, making Tabor Center more accessible, and attractive, to pedestrians. Easily identifiable new main entrances were created. And using balconies and open spaces on the second and third floors, double-loaded corridors of shops were created inside. In the renovation of the third floor, balconies were reinstated: Its 545-seat food court includes an outdoor eating terrace for 78 customers.
These upper-level changes had other consequences. Adjoining the Tabor Center's retail component are a 40-story office tower as well as a Westin Hotel, and the changes to the second and third floors freed up room to carve interior connections to those facilities. Improving the circulation turned the center into a real mixed-use development. Barbara Ashley, founder and president of Retail Ventures, summed it up, noting that the renovation “changed both utilization and aesthetics inside and out,” with McCarthy adding, “It's a good example of before and after.”
Square Footage: 139,000
Location: Denver
Architect: OWP/P Belluschi Architects
Client: Equity Office Properties Trust
Groundbreaking: February 2001
Completion: October 2002
Construction Cost: $15.8 million
Associate Architect: Nomura
General Contractor: Toda; Nomura
Glass: Bendheim; Glassolutions; Asahi Glass Co.; Dulback Corp.
Lighting Design Consultant: Dusti Helms
Media Production: Art in Commerce; Wet Electrics
Project Management: Jones Lang LaSalle
Special Materials: Area Code; Architectural Systems; Bisazza; Pacific Stone Scape
Stone Wall: Rossi USA
Wallcoverings: Garrett Leather; Majilite
Sometimes all a makeover requires is makeup. In the case of Milwaukee's Grand Avenue, resurrecting the space meant new graphics, lighting and interior color palette, as well as poetry commissioned for the building's surfaces, which enliven both the shopping center's interior and exterior and reinforces it as a destination. Many of these elements are three-dimensional, and so they interact with the mall more than a billboard would; the color palette, which may be considered a more ‘flat’ treatment, accentuates the natural light flowing through the partially glazed ceiling.
Of course, Grand Avenue also has new architecture. Where originally the building's entrance was practically hiding from the sidewalk, now a new glass entrance extends into the streetscape, announcing itself. Lantern-like at night, it also is graphically powerful.
Project Name: Grand Avenue
Square Footage: 450,000
Location: Milwaukee
Architect: Urban Design Group
Design Firm: Kiku Obata & Co.
Client: Faison
Groundbreaking: June 2001
Completion: April 2002
Total Cost: $5.4 million
Furniture: Benchmark Design Group; Solan Davis Contract; Epic Furniture Group; Leland/VanBergan Associates; TL Horton
General Contractor: Grunau Project Development
Graphic Wall Covering: Craftsman Industries
Lighting: Schuler & Shook, Inc.
Lighting Suppliers: Prescolite; Times Square Lighting; Fiberstats; Lithonia; Bega; Hydrel; Atlantic Lighting; Luraline Products Co.
Photographic Wall Covering (food court): Decals Inc.
Point Supported Glazing: Mero Structures Inc.
Signage Fabricator: Design Communications
Structural Engineer: Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates Inc.
This year's Grand SADI winner sits on a parcel of land only 12 feet wide — but it has super-sized impact. In the heart of Tokyo's Ginza district, the frameless glass façade of the Lladró flagship boldly rises from the sidewalk, in front of an undulating silver wall. WalkerGroup/CNI designed the six-story shop for the Spanish retailer.
SADI judge Kevin McCarthy, director of retail development and marketing for Paul Davril Inc., was particularly impressed by the effect of the curtain wall. “Given such a small footprint, they were able to make a big brand statement,” he said. And The Mills Corp. Design Manager Gaylon Melton commented that, in the context of its dizzyingly bright neighbors, this façade works beautifully. Thanks to intense lighting and highly visible signage, the curtain wall acts not only as a giant sign for Lladró, but continuous moving projections across the glass surface (which show detail images of Lladró sculptures) lends to the visual excitement of Ginza's neon storefronts.
Inside, the store is akin to New York's Guggenheim Museum, in that customers begin at the top floor, an enclosed garden with retractable roof, and work downward. On their way back to the sidewalk, they encounter a gallery-like space that interprets a Japanese garden, and which treats the Lladró merchandise as works of art. The ground floor is devoted entirely to a single piece of sculpture. Warm wood and media displays accent this minimal landscape, lending the space an unintimidating, domestic ambiance. Greg Moe, retail centers group manager for Carter & Burgess, called this tall, skinny design a “store planning miracle in impossible confines.”
Frankie Campione, principal of CREATE Architecture Planning & Design, said the design goes “right to the limits of generally accepted retail without alienating the clientele, and without overstating the design versus the product it displays.”
Project Name: Lladró Ginza Flagship
Square Footage: 5,000
Location: Tokyo
Architect: WalkerGroup/CNI
Client: Lladró Comercial
Groundbreaking: August 2001
Completion: September 2002
Construction Cost: $4.15 million
Associate Architect: Nomura
Floor Coverings: Burlington Stone; Stone Source
General Contractor: Toda; Nomura
Glass: Bendheim; Glassolutions; Asahi Glass Co.; Dulback Corporation
Lighting Design Consultant: Dusti Helms
Media Production: Art in Commerce; Wet Electrics
Project Management: Jones Lang LaSalle
Special Materials: Area Code; Architectural Systems; Bisazza; Pacific Stone Scape
Wallcoverings: Garrett Leather; Majilite
The department store box defies unconventional dressing. And yet, for El Palacio de Hierro's first expansion outside of Mexico City, Pavlik Design Team fashioned a space that is sophisticated both inside and out. Take the building's entrance. Surrounding its several transparent doors are wood bands of variegated coloring. The material choice is unusual for cladding a big box, and with metal and glass complements, the entrance suggests that you have arrived in a high-style Mecca.
Paul Davril Inc. Director Kevin Mccarthy wrote that, in addition to this “fantastic façade,” each floor of the building “seems designed with a particular end user in mind.” Indeed, the department store's sections each speak to a different personality. Finishes, colors, graphics and other decisions, such as exposing mechanical systems in youth-oriented areas, demarcate the target lifestyle and demographic for the merchandise.
Of course, throughout El Palacio, some features are consistent. Wayfinding techniques, for instance, are subtle but strong: circular fixtures keep shoppers from getting lost in a sea of grid. Color Kinetics lighting embedded in ceiling coves also defines the circulation below. The design balances visual excitement with organizational clarity.
Project Name: El Palacio de Hierro
Square Footage: 225,000
Location: Puebla, Mexico
Architect: Pavlik Design Team
Client: El Palacio de Hierro
Groundbreaking: April 2002
Completion: October 2002
Audio/Visual: El Palacio de Hierro
Flooring: Innovative Marble & Tile; Iberia Tiles; Bentley; Atlas
Graphics: El Palacio de Hierro
Laminates: Formica; Laminart; Wilsonart
Special Finishes: Lightblocks; Knoll Textiles
Wallcovering/Fabric: Maharam; Maya Romanoff; Innovations; Eykon Wallsource
Pavlik Design Team was asked to create a space for Schedoni leather goods that conveyed its status as leather's haute couturier. The brand is the exclusive leather and accessories provider for Ferrari, which gave Pavlik the obvious place to start: Pavlik painted the store's back wall in a rich “Ferrari Red,” which firmly establishes that affiliation. The design team also favored minimalism to express an upscale lifestyle.
Greg Moe, retail centers group manager for Carter & Burgess, found the geometries and colors of that pared-down approach to be consistent with the merchandise; Angelo Carusi, a principal at Cooper Carry, liked the Ferrari tie-in, and Mills Design Manager Gaylon Melton called it a “simple, clean and sophisticated presentation.” The store is also inviting. The shop's ceiling, for example, extends through the glazed storefront to become the sidewalk entrance canopy. Walls are canted to better position the merchandise for passers-by to view. Niches in the entry feature attention-getting graphics as well.
Project Name: Schedoni
Square Footage: 1,300
Location: Coral Gables, Fla.
Architect: Pavlik Design Team
Client: Simone Schedoni
Groundbreaking: July 2002
Completion: November 2002
Decorative Lighting: LBL; Light Lab
Exterior Signage: Colite International
Fixturing: Quantum Fine Casework
Flooring: Coverings Inc.
Graphics: Simone Schedoni
Laminates: Formica
Special Finishes: Bendheim; Tyger Drylac; Stylmark
Wallcovering/Fabrics: Ultra Suede
On the one hand, jewelry deserves an open, modern space so that nothing distracts the viewer from what's on display. On the other, it would look out of place, even intimidating, were it not for old-school touches such as proportions reminiscent of domestic interiors and warm accents.
Pavlik Design Team's design for JR Dunn Jewelers achieves both. The open-plan space inhabits a double-height storefront, flooded in white light. The light represents the sparkle of the jewelry, while elements such as African ribbon-striped Sapelie wood, trimmed with pearlized platinum, make it clear that this place is not Service Merchandise. Furthermore, oversized pendant lighting, covered in French linen shades, create a sense of intimacy. A grand staircase leads upward to a private selling area reserved for exclusive clientele.
Greg Moe of Carter & Burgess calls the space “bright, warm, clean” and CREATE Architecture Planning & Design Principal Frankie Campione concurs that the “designers achieved a contemporary and sophisticated aesthetic for their client and product.”
Project Name: JR Dunn Jewelers
Square Footage: 2,450
Location: Fort Lauderdale
Architect: Pavlik Design Team
Client: Jim Dunn
Groundbreaking: June 2002
Completion: October 2002
Decorative Lighting: Loomis Inc.
Fixturing: Quantum Fine Casework Inc.
Flooring: Marble of the World
Graphics (Logo): Pavlik Design Team
Special Finishes: PPG c/o Crawford Tracey; Ultra Wood Products
Wallcovering/Fabrics: Innovations; Wolf Gordon; Maharam
The Disney Store's Paris store had lost its luster. Outdated colors and visually heavy signage lent the 1993 storefront a two-dimensional feel, while the interior was dark. In its recent renovation, the Disney Store's in-house design team executed a transformation that brought the house of mouse into the 21st century.
Simple changes made tremendous differences, such as removing the old carpeting. The exposed lighting grid was also replaced. Now, the drywall ceiling is indented with whimsically shaped coves. The renovation also includes new hand-painted murals that invoke Disney movies and there are new three-dimensional lenticular graphics as well as “Mickeyhead” backlit glass panels. Wire-strung Pyrex beads, made to look like crystals, suggest Technicolor daydreams. As Gaylon Melton, Mills design manager, puts it, “the new store engages your imagination.” Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates Senior Principal Mark Carter wrote that these new elements “elevate the shopping experience to a Champs Elysee event.” Darrell Pattison, chief strategic officer and director of design of KA Inc., agreed, but wondered whether the result is too sophisticated. “It's a dramatic change externally and internally with a brigher, lighter feel. Is it right for kids or are parents the real target?”
Project Name: The Disney Store — Champs Elysees
Square Footage: 10,000
Location: Paris
Architect: The Disney Store
Client: The Disney Store
Groundbreaking: March 2002
Completion: August 2002
Concept Design Architect: Linane/Drews
Design Development Architect: Kevin Thorton Associates
Executing Architect: LPA
General Contractor: Alpha International
Audio/Visual: Impact Europe
Ceiling: Delaval
Fixturing: Rol Gibson Lea
Flooring: Isocrete
Graphics: Service Graphics
Lighting: iGuzzini
Mechanical and Electrical: Ian Williams Associates
Signage: Blaze Neon, Broadstairs
To create a successful restaurant environment at the new El Palacio de Hierro department store in Puebla, Mexico, Pavlik Design Team blended striking modernity with local color. A light-filled cone is the focal point of the bright, open restaurant, reflecting the uniqueness that the store's upscale shoppers demand. Wall niches displaying local pottery, on the other hand, infuse the space with Mexican culture and keep it from looking like every other contemporary restaurant.
To provide a sense of intimacy — and to avoid any hint of a department-store cafeteria — Pavlik carved the space into smaller room-like units. The main elliptical room, centered by the cone, has an oversized trellis ceiling from which alabaster pendant lights are hung. Dark mahogany walls focus attention toward one's table and companions. Frankie Campione of CREATE Architecture Planning & Design said he “found the elements elegantly proportioned and contemporary with a hint of warm materials,” and Kevin McCarthy, director of retail development and marketing of Paul Davril Inc., declared the finishes “beautiful.”
Project Name: El Palacio de Hierro
Square Footage: 4,000
Location: Puebla, Mexico
Architect: Pavlik Design Team
Client: El Palacio de Hierro
Groundbreaking: August 2002
Completion: November 2002
Audio/Visual: El Palacio de Hierro
Flooring: Innovative Marble & Tile
Graphics: El Palacio de Hierro
Special Finishes: Tabu; Armourcoat c/o Southwest Progressive
For Brasserie Vert, Engstrom Design Group aimed for eclecticism. The restaurant is not only an interpretation of a casual French bistro with Italian influences, it is also supposed to appear as if a modern restaurant were occupying a heritage space. For example, some ceilings are lined with aged barn wood beams, and the restaurant has soft plaster walls and mottled concrete floors.
Gaylon Melton, The Mills Corp.'s design manager, wrote that the “design flowed in a seamless manner from vignette to vignette.” TVS Senior Principal Carter remarked of the “skillful fusion of design aesthetics to create a sophisticated dining experience.”
Brasserie Vert comprises two scenes. A large communal bar sits at the front of the space. The bar riffs on the zinc used in traditional French bistros, while custom light fixtures echo the chianti bottles of old tavernas and trattorias. Because the restaurant's front includes folded glazed wooden doors that can open completely to the exterior walkway, the activity at the bar animates the streetscape. Behind the bar, a set of glass doors opens to an 84-seat dining room focused on the open, stainless-steel kitchen. Here, the furniture, wall covering and sculpture assume a more modern air.
Project Name: Brasserie Vert, Hollywood & Highland Center
Square Footage: 7,216
Location: Beverly Hills
Architect: Engstrom Design Group
Client: Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining
Groundbreaking: September 2001
Completion: February 2002
Architect of Record: Hayashida Architects
Barstools: ICF Group
Booths: West Coast Industries
Concrete: NuFloor Systems
Dining & Lounge Chairs: Tonon
Electrical Engineer: Belden Incorporated
Food Service Consultant: Omega Design
General Contractor: Terra Nova Industries
Lighting Consultant: Electrics Lighting and Design
Lounge Table Bases Millwork: Architectural Woodwork of Montana
Plumbing Engineer: LMR Consulting Engineers
Structural Engineer: A.T. Merovich & Associate