Restored Vitality in the Heart of Downtown D.C.

Challenge

Five blocks northeast of the White House, CityCenterDC is a signature neighborhood from the Hines development team — two million square feet encompassing an innovative mix of shops and restaurants, apartments, condominiums, a luxury hotel, office buildings, and a public park — making for a vibrant downtown experience. The new design aesthetic required was an update of the iconic Paul Stuart brand for this "living downtown" concept. Our goal was to build a store that matches the aesthetic of this unique urban development.

SOLUTION

We designed a store with a clean, contemporary vernacular, allowing for an abundance of open space, natural light, glass, stone, statuary bronze, and zebrano wood. The two-level 10,000-square-foot store with high ceilings on the main floor has full-height glass wrapping around the entire store. The glass storefront features floating slab backdrops for in-window displays, while providing merchandising walls inside. The interior store walls feature millwork focal points in a staggered "zim-zum" pattern of zebrano wood. The motif continues with proprietary-designed area rugs, which set the stage for merchandise statements on both the first and second floors. We designed the stairway to be light and open, with three suspended landings, spanning the 20-foot floor-to-floor height, creating an inviting journey.