Rebecca Taylor
A highly technical project with a very tight schedule required a focused and urgent effort.
When Rebecca Taylor approached us with a stunning store design that included more than a dozen wood and metal finishes – and told us they needed to open their first location in Scottsdale within nine weeks – we jumped at the chance to help. The collaborative design-build partnership that followed resulted in beautiful Rebecca Taylor stores around the country.
What we did.
01.
Discovery and
Materials Sourcing.
We dove into the finish set first: reclaimed American chestnut in extra-wide planks; non-directional stainless steel; polished rose gold; white ash solid wood; distressed white matte powder coating; UV-bonded low-iron glass; weathered suede; oversized rift-cut oak door flitches – each material was a mini research project in its own right.
Our client requested unfinished Douglas fir solid wood cladding with a railroad-tie effect for the cash desk. Because the wood was raw, it was bound to check and crack the moment it left New York’s humidity for Scottdale’s drier climate. So, we developed a stable core for the unit’s sliding jewelry trays and glass vitrines but gave the unsealed fir ample room to breathe and move.
02.
Planning and Coordination.
Because the store design called for radiused walls, our build plan depended on steady alignment with the client’s general contractor, despite the fact that we were working on opposite sides of the country. We installed templates early in the construction process so that the GC’s radiuses would match ours. Brackets mounted into the subfloor for our floating racks offered additional construction guideposts.
A feature wall with a retractable maple ballet bar, adjustable shelving, and integrated audio/visual was another locus of careful planning. Instead of mounting these components directly into a gyp wall, we built the entire wall out of millwork and dressed it up with sheetrock and a latex paint finish. The build method allowed our client to take advantage of precise, consistent, and easily repeatable engineering.
03.
Reinforcing Brand Values.
After working through major design-development hurdles during the first few weeks of the project, we spent the final weeks hard at work on the factory floor (both at our New York facility and with trusted suppliers in the US and Canada). Reclaimed wood from the Hudson Valley, plated finishes from Quebec, and glass and mirror from the Midwest supplemented locally sourced materials. Because templates and support posts were located with such care during the build-out of the space, final millwork installation was accomplished over the course of just three days.
What thrills us about this project is just how fully it realizes our client’s design vision. The finished stores are not only successes in collaboration and creativity; they’re also gorgeous retail spaces that surprise customers at every turn and touchpoint.
Other case studies.
Innisfree
The Wing
Northwell Health
Want to see more?
Our portfolio includes almost every kind of project imaginable.