Garden City Luxury Lifestyle

Challenge

We were commissioned to design a 136,000-square-foot Neiman Marcus store for The Village of Merrick Park in Coral Gables, Florida, where we would need to pay close attention to the lush atmosphere of this Miami-area upscale lifestyle center, which resembles a mini resort town lavished with palm trees, fountains, and colonnades, comprising over 100 retail stores. This store was to be the anchor placed in this fresh interpretation of George Merrick's 1926 vision to develop Coral Gables as the American Garden City.

SOLUTION

Our design concept features inspiration from a variety of modern design principles, integrating simple lines and broad planar surfaces, combined with the motifs, ornaments, and curved vaults observed in the region's Spanish Colonial architecture.

We utilized luxuriant textures and neutral colors throughout, alongside rich accents of hand-carved alabaster light fixtures, unique plaster finishes, slumped art glass frames, mosaic borders, area rugs, tiles painted by hand, and additional uncommon materials. Recalling the amenities and details of finer homes, we added an eclectic mix of art and furnishings to give this singular store a world-class personality.