Kitson, a new boutique on Los Angeles'Robertson Boulevard, has a mind-boggling product mix and a bowling alley footprint, two ingredients that could have resulted in retail chaos. But Space International (Los Angeles) unified the look with an unusual display system and an architectural solution intended to pump life into the long vanilla box.
The store's entryway needed impact, so architects passed on the traditional flat glass storefront and punched out a grand-scale display box to invite shoppers in. Above it, a protruding aperture faced in aluminum is Kitson's version of an awning. Inside, skylights let in natural light and the ceiling is punctuated with protrusions, cutaways and exposed beams.
Flexible fixtures accommodate an assorted product mix that ranges from dog bowls to trendy shoes. Six-foot-high wall units interspersed with movable glass shelves line both sides of the 2500-square-foot space. In between, shoppers can cruise around 20-foot-long "banquet" tables fitted with slide-out trays and storage drawers. Splashes of sea foam green, periwinkle and yellow offset the fixtures'dark brae wood finishes.
Client Team: Kitson, Los Angeles -- Joe Freeburn and Frazier Ross, owners
Design Team: Space International, Los Angeles -- John Hirsch and Michael Ferguson, design principals; Phillip Trigas and Britton Heffner, design team Suppliers: Utopia Development, N. Hollywood, Calif. (general contractor and custom fixturing); Halo Lighting, Elk Grove Village, Ill. (track lighting); Lithonia Lighting, Conyers, Ga. (recessed and fluorescent cove lighting); George Nelson, New York (pendant light)
Photography: Joshua White, Culver City, Calif.