Our collective goal with the design was to put space for conversation at the heart of the retail experience, creating a place that is equal parts for community dialogue and selling products. To do this we split the 2,800 square-foot space down the middle, making one half a clear utility for shopping and the other a collection of intimate gathering spaces. The store operates in balance where the energies from both functions fuel each other to ultimately make a place that is open and welcoming.

A satin aluminum retail display bar carries the length of the store giving open views of products. This bar sits off the perimeter wall so it can double as back-of-house storage and point of sale space. Hi-gloss red fixtures provide display and visual contrast throughout the space.

Running parallel is a series of elements for the community. A fully blue conversation pit is embedded in the floor and dotted with aluminum side tables and skylight above. Nearby a library wall in textured stucco features carved in shelves with objects curated by local artists and niches made specifically for custom speakers.

Full height glass partitions open to the courtyard with seventeen feet walls cleanly framing the sky above. Green stained plywood chairs hint to the same material treatment lining the cafe space beyond.

A sky blue concrete floor unites all spaces, carrying from the entry porch with built-in sculpted bench, through the interior spaces and back outside in a glass-lined cafe courtyard.

The design seeks to address the challenge of merging a community space with a retail environment in an authentic way. This issue is compounded in the Los Angeles sprawl where public interactions happen less by chance.

To emphasize the brands commitment to conversation as a means of progress and self improvement, the design is anchored by strong formal moves for the gathering spaces. Natural light highlights those elements, in the skylight over the conversation pit and the courtyard open to the sky. In this scheme, the retail becomes a utility that serves the space, rather than driving it.

The design balances this diverse program in a layout that emphasizes a flow between them, from inside to outside, shopping to meeting, conversing to learning. Furthermore, every inch possible is utilized to hide back of house necessities in an effort to maintain a visually clean space with open sitelines to keep guests connected at all times.

This project is designed to be open for all and ADA accessible, with an emphasis on providing calm and inviting places to gather in the middle of an often overwhelming location. In area that is dominated by retail, it benefits the community it serves by offering an opportunity to engage with spaces that aim to support enjoyment and development over purely sales and turnover.

The project required renovation of a building to reuse as many existing structural elements as possible in an effort to reduce the amount of construction and waste created.