Best Design Award for Small Store, Fashion Group/Alpha Region
First Design Award for Retail, Gambit Journal

LOCATION: An 800 sqare foot unfinished space in an upscale shopping mall.

CHALLENGE: The space is awkwardly shaped – wide and shallow with 18 foot ceilings. It is located in a part of the mall with poor visibility and low pedestrian traffic. For his first shop, this young retailer needs a space which will invite curiosity and create a strong, memorable image to attract customers. In addition, he would like the space to feel serene and sophisticated, with a modern Italian character, for the presentation of avant-garde women’s clothing and accessories.

SOLUTION: A grid of columns, beams and façade openings was created to give unity, scale, drama, and an increased sense of volume to the shop. The sandstone colored, rusticated plaster façade, with its oversized openings, recalls the old stone buildings of Italy and forms a counterpoint to the stark white interior structure displaying the shop’s fashionable merchandise.

Inside the shop, the high slab ceiling and ductwork were hidden with black paint. A deep, open grid of false beams was added give the space visual interest and better proportions, while hiding the service elements from view.  The lighting was carefully designed to allow for changing areas of emphasis. Shop fixtures were placed to subdue their ‘commercial’ effect. Rose-gray carpeting was matched with raw muslin draped on the walls and over all of the upholstered, custom furniture to soften and balance the stark, white structure, creating a fresh, feminine interior that invites customers to linger.

To complete the concept, the firm designed the shop’s logo and display windows. In addition to winning an international design award, Costantino’s finished its’ first year of business with the highest sales volume per square foot of any shop in the mall. A short time later, we installed a similar shop on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.