2011 SADI Galleries
The Superior Achievement in Design and Imaging (SADI) awards never fail to surprise—especially the Grand SADI winners. In this year’s contest a department store, FRCH Design Worldwide’s scheme for the Liverpool Polanco store in Mexico City, took home the top prize.
We’ve seen our share of department stores in this competition. Massive and splashy ones, especially from Europe and Asia, often find their way into the field. But what set Liverpool Polanco apart this year and from designs our jury had seen in the past was the fact that it was a renovation of what was already a pretty nice store.
Yet FRCH took that scheme and improved upon it without any missteps. The entry was the winner of the New or Renovated Department Store category. The judges felt the project was a top-notch example of an upscale department store design. The redesign freshened the concept and even though the scheme is dominated by white and black, the jurors felt it avoided feeling cold.
Moreover, the theme works through the many departments with different kinds of merchandise. There’s a uniformity and flexibility to it that works throughout the complex.
Liverpool Polanco headlines the 22nd edition of the SADI awards. But it was just part of the story. It was a great year for FRCH, which also took home a second award, an honorable mention, for its concept for outdoor sports gear retailer Merrell.
Those were just two of the many retail designs that were recognized this year as winners and honorable mentions. The New or Renovated Supermarket category, in fact, had two projects tie for the top spot.
Other firms that took home multiple awards include GHA design studios, which was the winner for its International Currency Exchange scheme in the New Store—Less Than 5,000 square feet category and the winner for its design of Pusateri’s in the New or Renovated Supermarket category.
Giorgio Borruso Design, a past Grand SADI winner, won two honorable mentions in the New Store—Less Than 5,000 square feet category for its Snaidero USA Showroom in New York and its Carlo Pazolini store in Milan.
And RTKL Associates, last year’s Grand SADI winner, swept the New Enclosed Center category. Its design for Mirdif City Centre in Dubai was the winner and its 360 Mall in Kuwait took home an honorable mention.
In addition, two projects this year were awarded special Green designations for their use of sustainable design techniques and building materials. One was RTKL’s 360 Mall and the other was BL Companies’ design for a Whole Foods Market in Darien, Conn.
Congratulations to all of this year’s SADI winners.
International Currency Exchange (ICE)
Currency exchanges aren’t exactly the kind of retailer that gets your blood racing. There are no chic fashion items, no cool tech toys and no hot deals. It’s typically a place you’re in and out of without thinking twice about the space itself. That is precisely what makes GHA design studios’ design for an International Currency Exchange location in Alberta, Canada so noteworthy and is why it took home the top prize in the small store category.
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Snaidero USA Showroom
Giorgio Borruso has become somewhat of a fixture in the SADI Awards. In the first of two Borruso projects to be recognized with Honorable Mentions this yeear, Borruso offers his latest take on a Snaidero USA Showroom—the third exploration of a concept that has inspired locations in Miami and Los Angeles.
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Carlo Pazolini
The second Giorgio Borruso project recognized in this year’s awards is a location for footwear retailer Carlo Pazolini in Milan’s Piazza Cordusio. It is the first Western European outlet for the retailer and a redefinition of its concept.
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Pusateri’s
In the words of one of this year’s judges, Pusateri’s, designed by GHA design studios, elevates the concept of supermarkets into something sophisticated. The store treats food as almost a luxury items. It’s more Gucci than Trader Joe’s. But Pusateriri’s achieves this without being trite and without overshooting the goal.
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Pequot Lakes Supervalu
In stark contrast to the other winner in this category, Pequot Lakes Supervalu is more like your average neighborhood grocery store. But it is one executed to perfection. Judges found it warm, comfortable and said its design moves succeeded.
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Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods has long set a standard for supermarket design. Part of its appeal is the fact that nearly every store is unique and connects strongly to the surrounding area.
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Liverpool Polanco
Department stores are notoriously difficult spaces to design. Part of the very essence of the concept is that it carries a wide variety of merchandise. And that goes double for international department stores, which are often larger and carry and an even more diverse product mix. (For example, take note of the motorcycle helmets and attire in the one of the slideshow photos.)
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Merrell Concept Prototype
The trick with prototypes is that you’ve got to find a way to take the identity fostered by merchandise and transfer it to the store level. And you have to also come up with a design that can be ported and replicated many times over.
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Nautica Outlet
Nautica is inspired by the water, crafted with intention, and designed to outfit the life well-lived. With this new brand statement, Nautica partnered with Little to reinvent their Outlet store concept to deliver a new shopping experience consistent with the growth of the company and updated merchandise style direction.
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Cleveland Cavaliers Team Shop
One of the more unique entries in this year’s competition was the renovation of the Cleveland Cavaliers Team Shop located at the NBA franchise’s arena. It is not the typical sort of project submitted. But our judges could not deny the scope of improvement achieved by Herschmann Architects’ scheme. It dramatically decluttered and brightened the space and found a way to activate a second level underused in the original store. It also better organizes the merchandise, improving the customer experience.
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Underground
Often, a good renovation doesn’t have to be a bold reinvention. It can be as simple as modernizing the look and feel of a store and opening and brightening the space. This is precisely what Ruscio Studios achieved with its renovation of Underground, a Canadian apparel retailer.
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Mirdif City Centre
Strategically located between the Dubai International Airport and the Mirdif residential district, Mirdif City Centre is a reflection of Dubai’s position as an international retail destination committed to sustainable living.
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360 Mall
The 360 Mall in Kuwait City drips with elegance and exudes luxury. The design aesthetic is also clearly influenced by Middle Eastern architecture. As a result it is a Western mall designed as a modern interpretation of traditional Middle Eastern form, color and patterns. The circular design celebrates the natural features of the site and Kuwait’s cultural ties to the Arabic art of navigation while incorporating 882,640 square feet of luxury shopping and entertainment across seven distinct zones.
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Santa Monica Place
For decades, the 1980’s era Santa Monica Place performed well below its potential despite its phenomenal location adjacent to the famous Third Street Promenade within the thriving downtown of Santa Monica, Calif.
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The Shops of Grand River
The Shops of Grand River is the first phase of what will be a 6,000 acre mixed use development along the Cahaba River. The complex is a hybrid of indoor and outdoor spaces with design elements consistent between the exterior and interior areas—most prominently its stone columns. The materials are true to the region.
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Westfield Valencia
Santa Clarita, Calif., is a planned community of 150,000 residents located 50 miles north of Los Angeles. In recent years, the area has attracted many new families seeking affordable housing, good schools, and access to the quintessential southern California outdoor lifestyle. Due to its central location, Westfield Valencia Town Center became the social and retail hub for the community. The original center consisted of an indoor shopping mall linked to Town Center Drive, a mixed-use retail street anchored by entertainment and office facilities.
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South Coast Collection
Ware Malcomb’s redesign of the South Coast Collection is a perfect illustration of how to salvage a troubled project. The home furnishings center, which suffered after the housing bubble collapsed, has been reborn.
