REI, SoHo, New York

REI has always been an advocate of the great outdoors – sprawling mountain ranges, hiking and biking trails, lakes and rivers. Manhattan, on the other hand, has been more about the great indoors, its concrete towers home to business, advertising, publishing and financial enterprises.

What this odd couple has in common, though, is history and authenticity. So when REI chose a venue for its first New York flagship store, it chose carefully. The Puck Building in SoHo has been many things in its 127-year history: the publishing headquarters of Puck and later Spy magazines, the Manhattan center of Pratt Institute, the home of New York University’s sociology department. But one thing it has always been is architecturally genuine, right from the ornate Romanesque Revival architecture of its 1885 birthdate. The gilded statue of Shakespeare’s sprite, who lent his name to the original magazine, still stands over the Lafayette Street entrance.

When REI selected the historic site for its first foray into the Big Apple, it made a commitment to respect the building’s heritage, while celebrating its own. The company’s extensive restoration uncovered a treasure trove of long-lost artifacts with significant historical value, perfect complements to the company’s own 75- year tradition.

“We wanted to capture the soul of the building,” says Alex Shapleigh, principal at Callison’s Seattle office. Local historians were also involved to ensure the building’s integrity and legacy. This translated into removing the many layers of white paint splashed onto the building’s cast iron columns over the decades and restoring the cast iron entrances to their original condition.

REI opened its new 35,000-square-foot store with the hopes of melding its outdoor sensibilities into New York’s harsh urban realities. And the New York store is not without dramatic vistas, an REI sine qua non. An open grand stairwell just inside the store entrance allows natural light to pour through the space and down into the cellar and sub-cellar. Stair treads, crafted from the heavy timber floor joists removed from the opening, connect customers to the subterranean retail spaces that feature footwear, apparel, and a bike and ski shop. Two salvaged chandeliers, 7 feet in diameter, hang dramatically above the stairwell.

The refurbishment is only one example in the store of REI’s well-known commitment to sustainability. The company’s mission statement, pinned on the sides of the stairwell in steel letters, proclaims, “We inspire, educate and outfit for a lifetime of adventure and stewardship.”

So designers repurposed many of the materials and historic objects found on site. Metal stairs and the blades of aging electrical fans function as presentation tables and freestanding floor fixtures, and old handrails as straight racks. Masonry nails driven into wood blocks serve as merchandise risers and carriage bolts perform as clothing hooks on wood-clad fitting room walls. Repurposed wood is also used as surface material for cashwraps, decorative canopies and such transitional points of interest as community and activity walls.

Curious found objects were unearthed in the building’s sub-cellar. Two iron flywheels, 14 feet in diameter and weighing in at 9 tons, are remnants of steam engines that were used to power the building’s printing presses. They were left in place as focal points.

Being locale-specific, with a sense of history and community, is part of REI’s DNA and evident in every store. In New York, a 6-by-15-foot lightbox above the cashwrap features a photographic image of New York’s Hudson River Basin. Lithographic stones dating back to the early 1900s are mounted on the walls along with local typographic hiking maps. It’s testament to a New York lifestyle in which running for the subway is not the only form of physical activity.

With this spirit, REI has left its rural and rugged footprint firmly implanted in New York’s concrete jungle.

Chris Eden/Callison, Seattle

Retailer: REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.), Kent, Wash. – Elizabeth Dowd – project owner, director of visual merchandising; Patti Civarra – architectural design project manager; Mr. Scott Smith – construction project manager; Chuck Beyer – construction manager; Dean Iwata – director of store development; Laura Rose – architectural design manager; Christine Vogeler – store planner; Melanie Moody – Fixture Design & Program Manager; Mark Comstock – vice president of real estate

Design: Callison, Seattle – Alex Shapleigh, Design Principal/Designer; Stephen Blackstone, Project Manager; Jason Morford, Project Architect; Wyn Bielaska, Designer; Lynn Vandeberg, Project Manager; Kara Schmidt, Project Staff

Callison, New York – David Kepron, Signing Principal; David Curtis, Project Architect; Yosuke Kawai, Project Staff/Design

Structural Engineers: Eipel Barbieri Marschhausen, New York

Mechanical Engineers: Fiskaa Engineering, Kent, Wash.

Landmarks Consultant: Higgins Quasebarth & Partners, New York

Lighting Designers: Schwinghammer Lighting, New York

Permit / Code Expediters: Milrose Consultants , New York

Fixtures: Fleetwood, Leesport, Pa.; REI Fixture Shop, Renton – Wash.; Reeve Store Equipment Co., Pico Rivera, Calif.; Artitalia Group, Montreal

Feature Stairwell Metal, Signage, Lightbox: Amuneal Manufacturing Corp., Philadelphia

Flooring: Architectural Systems Inc., New York

Hand-painted portrait Mural: Stingray Studios Inc., Columbus, Ohio

Chandelier Restoration: Robert True Ogden, Philadelphia

Perimeter Wall Upper Door System: Immedia, Minneapolis

Landmarks Consultant: Higgins Quasebarth & Partners, New York

Geotechnical Engineers: Geodesign Inc., New York

Main Stair, Signage, Railings and Community walls: Amuneal, Philadelphia

Wood reclamation/Milling: Terra Mai, Mt. Shasta, Calif.

Steelwork: Hallen Steel, Long Island City, N.Y.

General Contractor: Schimenti, Ridgefield, Conn.

Photography: Chris Eden/Callison, Seattle