First Place: “Everlane”

2022 Retail Renovation Competition

LAUNCHED ONLINE BY Michael Preysman in 2011, Everlane was a pioneer in “radical retail transparency,” telling customers how much their clothes cost to make. Then, in 2017, the brand began opening brick-and-mortar locales, despite its original promise never to do so.

One of the most recent of those stores (now totaling 12) is a three-story, 19th century load-bearing masonry building with about 7100 square feet of space in Washington, D.C.’s perennially chic Georgetown neighborhood. The scope of the work undertaken there by Bergmeyer, Everlane’s in-house team and third-party sustainability partner Brightworks, included new façades and interior fit-outs, along with new lighting and finishes, says James Botha, Design Practice Leader, Bergmeyer.

In keeping with the brand’s eco-focus, a top priority for the design team was bringing as much natural light as possible into the building. Complicating that effort: “The building was a combination of three separate structures, having gone through many iterations over the years, from warehouse to restaurant to bar to retail store,” says Botha. “To create a more seamless look for the building’s exterior, we stripped away its metal paneling and revealed an existing brick signage band and let the sunlight flood into the space from three rows of windows.”

In addition, to let more natural light into the fitting rooms in the back of the store, a series of sun tunnels were installed. “Other interior strategies included exposing the existing cast-iron columns, along with brick interior demising walls, which we brought to life with up-light wall washers to bring out the natural textures of the brick and mortar,” says Botha.

“Everlane’s merchandise is rooted in timeless design,” he says, “and this store reflects that brand philosophy in numerous ways.”

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