RtA Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS, NV
800 SF
1 Story
Interior Design
Rennovation Construction
Retail / Commercial
After a successful rollout together, for their second store, RtA once again enlisted Los Angeles architect Dan Brunn, AIA, to create an ephemeral dream-like space with geometric precision, optical illusion, and positive / negative dualities. The streamlined boutique proclaims its dark grey concrete black façade with a blackened steel archway to the public. Dan Brunn Architecture renovated a 500-square-foot space within the Wynn Plaza to create an entirely new retail experience. Within the 15-foot-tall space, there is a mixture of varying materials, seamlessly put together through careful detailing. Anything from porcelain terrazzo floors, illuminated glass shelving wall, shearling archway, Corian surfaces, to blackened steel beams, creating a minimalist backdrop to the edgy fashion design house. A dramatic infinity mirror by artist Peter Gronquist evokes wonder to draw in visitors.
Instead of the ubiquitous glass storefronts that allow the merchandise to be viewed at a glance, Brunn reduced the glass frontage to create a more exclusive and mysterious atmosphere. A large archway entry punctuates the grounded concrete facade. On axis to the infinity mirror, a one point perspective is created to enhance the depth of the design. Reducing the size of the windows lends an air of exclusivity, offering a selective experience of the brand and encouraging the curious to venture inside to discover the goods. An added sense of mystery is achieved with the floor-to-ceiling backlit floating glass shelving, a true innovation in detailing, and first of its kind. There is a consistent design interplay between open and closed, light and dark, and exposure and concealment.
The interior of the store is organized on axis to the archway, with a custom commissioned infinity mirror by Peter Gronquist. The artwork is inset within the shearling clad archway, evoking the brand’s own materials, and also using the soft texture in opposition to the hard materials. Being a very matte material, there appears to be complete darkness, with the infinity mirror backlight, floating.
Merchandise surrounds visitors in display areas stretching along either side of the axis. Clothing is hung on a custom blackened steel hardware system suspended roller tracks set into blackened steel beams. Hangers easily slide to reveal the layers of merchandise and maintain the richness and depth of space integral to the design.
A custom-designed all glass shelving system is backlight at each intersection, offering a look that is reminiscent of a sci-fi film, and builds on the illusionary theme to the space. Merchandise has a light feel, almost again appearing to float, while the lit edges play a spatial game of geometric parallax.
Cases extending to the beams rotate to reveal mirrors or positive / negative insets that display for-sale books and accessories.
Brunn also configured built-in ash furniture in the showroom to animate the space with a lively play of symmetry and asymmetry through careful calibration of pure elements. The rectilinear sales desk at the front precisely aligns with the slab bench at the back. At the space’s midpoint, an imaginary line created by the sales desk and the slab bench appears to “slice” a circular seat, creating an alignment with the edges of the other furniture.
At the rear of the store, a fitting room and a bathroom flank a generous waiting area with a long can_levered blackened steel bench where friends can sit while shoppers try on clothes. Not merely a changing/waiting area, this nook serves as a catwalk for customers, as the large fitting room door swings open to reveal a 9 foot by 8 foot mirror. The space is completely clad in ash on the floor, ceiling, and walls to unify this area. A backlit “T”—formed by slots and recesses in the wood surfaces—takes on the asymmetry of RtA’s logo lower-case letter, further symbolizing the brand.