COVER STORY, MAY 2004

DESIGNING RETAIL TO SCALE
Consumers demand more of their retail destinations and architects are delivering.
Brian A. Lee

From quaint shops and cozy restaurants to massive outlet stores, the setups and designs of different retail developments can trigger a range of impressions and reactions from consumers. Retail architects are in charge of designing a facility that will help further the business aims of the retailer and landlord while enriching the customer’s experience.

Western Real Estate Business recently spoke with several western retail architects to see what trends were evident in their industry. In general, retail architects are catering to the consumer demand for open-air destinations offering both convenience and entertainment. Mixed-use and lifestyle destinations that offer these things while maximizing the visitor’s experience are the biggest retail attractions in the West.

Retail Revealed

Designed by Greenberg Farrow, the 400,000-square-foot Lone Tree Plaza is a community retail center in Brentwood, California.

Retail is an open market, according to western architects. Literally. Enclosed malls seem to be part of a bygone era, as witnessed by the continued proliferation of Main Street developments and town center projects. The design focus on New Urbanism, lifestyle centers and multifaceted mixed-use locations has led to the de-malling of the West.

“Today’s retail center brings the inside out to invite the community to explore,” says Sy Perkowitz, president and CEO of Long Beach, California-based Perkowitz + Ruth Architects. “Enclosed malls are being renovated to expose passers-by to what was once hidden in the box.”

Retail follows homes but it apparently also follows home runs. Just as the round, multi-purpose, cookie-cutter baseball stadiums constructed in the 1960s gave way in the past 10 years to the dynamic, throw-back ballparks of today, retail design has begun to exhibit more balance between aesthetics and utility. In short, the old has been replaced by the older, which is new. “Mall projects have certainly taken a backseat to outdoor retail/entertainment centers,” says Jeffrey Gill, managing principal at MCG Architecture in Irvine, California. “We see a lot of de-malling and inclusion of entertainment districts in existing malls. As our communities have demographically changed, neighborhood [residents] now demand more out of their shopping experience. Shoppers want options and demand more creative uses than standard in-line retail.”

Yann Taylor, principal at Field Paoli Architects in San Francisco, sees evidence of this retail movement in his company’s work as well. “Enclosed malls seem to be on the way out for now as developers continue to experiment with the new Main Street or town square prototypes,” he says. “There’s a realization that shoppers want two very different kinds of shopping environments — the convenience of the power center format for their everyday value/utility shopping and, on the other hand, the richer environments with a more authentic neighborhood feel for their more leisurely retail purchases. The enclosed mall sits uncomfortably between these two extremes.”

At San Francisco-based Patri Merker Architects, Principal Piero Patri, Principal Dana Merker and Director of Design Tom Harry view the current retail design and development direction as “a questioning of the future of malls anchored by department stores” in favor of lifestyle and mixed-use centers. Michael Hardy, regional manager at Greenberg Farrow’s Tustin, California, office, says that this trend has meant the end — or renovation — of the large, enclosed retail centers built in the 1970s and ‘80s. “While the anchors remain [after renovation], the demolished areas between the anchors are incorporating aspects of the new lifestyle centers such as exterior circulation, parks and water features, close-in parking and a strong unified design theme,” he says.

Results: Mixed

Convenience and entertainment, pillars of American culture, have led to the rise of mixed-use developments in commercial real estate. Developers and their architectural partners can no longer plan just for consumers’ retail needs, they must also provide entertainment and leisure options and, increasingly, living and work space as well. Consumers demand more from both their shopping experiences and shopping destinations.

“Design trends that predominate western retail development today have the ability to create a sense of community and a sense of place,” says Perkowitz. “Mixed-use projects and lifestyle centers provide spaces for social interaction, inviting the consumer to sit and stay a while. They incorporate a greater variety of destinations beyond the retail store such as civic centers, entertainment facilities and office and residential units.”

Perkowitz maintains that a variety of factors have fueled the change in design preference from the traditional enclosed malls and retail strip shopping centers to the outdoor mixed-use and lifestyle projects. The combination of the early-1990s recession — which drove customers to discount shops — and losing consumers to Internet shopping sites took its toll on many retailers. They found it more difficult to afford the expenses associated with the enclosed mall and its increasing common area maintenance costs.

At the same time, the Internet and discount stores could not satisfy consumers’ social needs. Add to this the increasing allure of urban living and there was plenty of impetus for a mixed-use makeover of the various retail approaches throughout the West. “The integration of entertainment, retail, office, residential and restaurant facilities provided an environment where people could live, work and play,” says Perkowitz. “In addition, the open-air concept was attractive to retailers because there are fewer common maintenance costs incurred.”

Consistent with current retail-based development, Gresham Station, a 300,000-square-foot mixed-use center designed by Perkowitz + Ruth Architects in Gresham, Oregon, exhibits a New Urbanism look with strong emphasis on town center and pedestrian connections.

The mixed-use momentum has manifested itself in many ways in the West. In Gresham, Oregon, the 300,000-square-foot Gresham Station development, designed by Perkowitz + Ruth Architects, will feature retail, office, entertainment and residential components. Center Oak Properties is developing Gresham Station as the first phase of a New Urbanist project. “Located adjacent to a light rail transit station, the project is based on traditional town planning principles with strong emphasis on street grid layout and pedestrian connections,” says Perkowitz. “The architecture features an articulation of storefronts, enhanced sidewalk amenities and a varied use of materials and colors, all designed to create a comfortable and engaging place to shop and stroll.”

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In Denver, Lowry Town Center, an approximately 144,000-square-foot redevelopment designed by MCG Architecture, exemplifies New Urbanism idealsas applied to creating livable communities. The development features a neighborhood market with retail, restaurants and office space.

In Denver, MCG Architecture has designed Lowry Town Center, an approximately 144,000-square-foot redevelopment featuring a neighborhood market with retail, restaurants and office space. Developed by Miller Weingarten Realty, Lowry Town Center exemplifies New Urbanism ideals as applied to creating livable communities. “By reintroducing second-floor office space in a Main Street setting, Lowry is a one-stop destination where patrons [and workers] are encouraged to relax and congregate in inviting public spaces,” says Gill.

Forms to Finish

Taylor of Field Paoli Architects foresees a move away from the Main Street trend of creating fake replicas of bygone days and a renewed interest in using real design materials, especially by portfolio developers investing for the long term in their retail properties. “We are using stucco instead of Exterior Finish Insulating System (EFIS), wood instead of Hardiboard, real brick instead of lick-a-brick, sandblasted concrete instead of Bomanite,” he says.

In considering a structure’s form and function, architects are using innovative approaches in applying traditional materials such as masonry, concrete, stone, stucco and glass, says Perkowitz. He counters that faux materials like EFIS have gained popularity — especially in cost-cutting measures — but only in the visual emulation of traditional materials.

Whether through fountains, waterfalls or other applications, water design features have been major focal points in retail projects, but fire is catching up, says MCG’s Gill. “Now a big trend, fire is included as an architectural design feature at [retail] entry points and as a guiding source on public pathways. It’s also used in seating areas in malls and plazas to create a soothing ambience,” he says. “To meet today’s changing demographics, design trends that incorporate natural elements — water, fire and stone — are important features as we urbanize our environment and create livable communities.”

Taylor makes the distinction between the tenant-driven power center format and the Main Street format, which tends to be more “design-driven with architectural design and landscape amenities becoming, in some cases, as important as the tenant line-up.”

Of course, design elements are not used for style purposes only — the utility and efficiency components of an architectural project are just as, if not more, vital to a retail or mixed-use development’s viability. Hardy of Greenberg Farrow says that more and more clients are emphasizing the importance of green, sustainable design because of environmental and operational factors. “They’re aware of the multiple studies indicating increased sales in buildings infused with natural light,” he says. “They clearly recognize the economic impacts of a more energy-efficient mechanical design.”

The design requirements for utility and efficiency are challenged within the urban growth and mixed-use areas of development. First and foremost, space becomes an issue. “Certainly as our cities grow and fill in, we will realize more multi-level, single users,” says Gill. “We’re analyzing how to best fit a large major [retailer] onto a site too small to accommodate a prototype. Retail architects must think out of the box when it comes to the placement of major retail tenants in urban environments.”

Says Perkowitz, “While consumers are looking to retail centers for the convenience and nostalgia small towns once offered, they are more drawn to urban design concepts and materials.”

Location & Layout

Retail architects certainly must focus on different geographical markets in the West but are there different architectural zones they must abide by? What effect does the climate and culture of a given city or area have on its retail and mixed-use design?

Hardy maintains that there must be architectural awareness and sensitivity to the varying climatic conditions in the West, whether one is building in a rainy/humid, desert or coastal market. But when it comes to the style component of a retail project, cultural consistency is by no means top priority. “Even the standards of designing to the local area are disappearing quickly,” says Hardy. “It surprises no one when they come across an Italian piazza in downtown San Diego, a Moroccan bazaar in the middle of the Irvine Spectrum or a slice of small-town U.S.A. in West Los Angeles. Successful retail design is about creating a unique destination experience without having to travel far from home.”

Gill agrees that location does not necessarily dictate design. “Whether Scottsdale, Arizona, or Park City, Utah, the [retail] experience is more important than the climate,” he says. “What does change are regional design intricacies. From mist-makers under trellises in Las Vegas to cool the atmosphere to heaters for outdoor diners in Denver, these modifications are subtle applications of good design.”

Perkowitz focuses more on the vital connection between the demographics of the area and the development’s retail business. “The center is designed for a community, therefore, the type of project and projected retail services must meet that community’s needs and expectations,” he says.

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