Gardens Retail
Photography by Hester + Hardaway & Mell Lawrence.
Office Project Team: Mell Lawrence, Gregory Thomas, François Levy,
Mark Winford, & Charlton Lewis
Contractor: Don Crowell Builders
Structural Engineer: Structures
Interior: Gardens
Landscape: Gardens
This upscale Austin nursery and home accessories store was designed as a backdrop for products and to show the potential of what the customer's home and garden might be like. The building alterations and addition were implemented over several years in two phases.
The design focused on a materials palette that would provide an appealing setting for the store without overpowering the elegant products on display. Thick concrete block walls were juxtaposed with thin steel windows. A ceiling pattern using 2x2 wood purlins arranged in a grid allowed lighting to be mobile as merchandise changed. Board walls and floors were painted or waxed raw. The goal was to maintain a messy vitality. Elemental materials were shaped into sculptural elements. Perfection was demanded not of craft but of composition, allowing the elements to show off their intrinsic aesthetic. This interplay created an easy tension between elegance and informality that perfectly suited the store.