Specialty Store, sales area 3000 to 5000 sq. ft.,
First Place
Retail Design Collaborative, Cincinnati, and Jack Rouse Associates, Cincinnati
Tasked with capturing the rich 135-year history of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team in an open, fan-friendly environment, designers ensured that every fixture, graphic, lighting element and prop reinforces the notion of the Reds and baseball. Taking advantage of the 50-foot-tall glass façade, designers commissioned the creation of five oversized baseballs – representing the five Reds World Series victories – that are suspended from the ceiling on a circular chandelier with spotlighting for added drama when viewed from inside or out. The primarily white two-story space is peppered with red details that reinforce the team's colors. A high-gloss white porcelain floor with waterjet-cut red quartz baseball stitching leads fans through the space.
All fixturing, including the wishboned-shaped “C” cashwrap, features powdercoated steel, red granite countertops, red and white plastic laminate, textured glass panels and powdercoated screening that evokes the chain-link fence in the team's new Great American Ball Park. Red carpet and railing on the stairs bring visitors to the mezzanine, where signed memorabilia are displayed in locked, custom-designed, metal and glass cases. And a 34-foot-tall, floor-to-ceiling Louisville Slugger baseball bat visually, and literally, connects the two floors with aplomb.
Client: Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati
Design: Retail Design Collaborative, Cincinnati
Jack Rouse Associates, Cincinnati
John Heatherman, Retail Design Collaborative
Amy Merrell, Jack Rouse Associates
Brian Donahue, Jack Rouse Associates
General Contractor: Megan Construction Co. Inc., Forest Park, Ohio
Architect: Architectural Group Intl. (AGI), Covington, Ky.
Lighting: Abernathy Lighting Design Inc., N. Providence, R.I.
Graphics: Geograph Industries Inc., Harrison, Ohio
Audio: RCA, Indianapolis
Fixtures: Custom Millcraft Corp., Cincinnati
Flooring: Marlite, Dover, Ohio
International Marble and Tile Inc., Hauppauge, N.Y.
Mannington Commercial Flooring, Calhoun, Ga.
Mannequins/Forms/Props: Allen Meyer Ltd., Lake Zurich, Ill.
Large Themed Props
The Nassal Co., Orlando
Photography : Matthew Lausé Photography, Cincinnati