“Part of our goal was to draw people in from the street, to catch their eye with something interesting and alluring at the end of the space,” says Leckie. That showstopping element is a 4½-foot circular light embedded in the back wall of the long and narrow store, opposite the entrance. The installation recalls the art of James Turrell but also, according to Chan, invokes that uncanny feeling of looking up at the sky in a remote destination and encountering familiar celestial bodies in a new way. “That is one of the key themes to our brand, this way of seeing things differently,” he notes. The luminous installation, which uses a programmable RGB lighting sheet with an LED halo, may slowly shift from fiery sunset to glowing harvest moon while a customer peruses the store.

A series of arches organizes the space (above and top of page). Photo © Tyler Hooks

The mesmerizing orb is framed by a series of three arches that in fact are the design solution to the found condition of the store, which has 1,160 square feet of retail floor area. “When we started working with the space, we were actually struggling to understand how to incorporate relatively low structural-steel members, and that’s what led us to divide it into four compartments,” says Leckie, noting that the architects also retained the existing porcelain floor tiles. By incorporating mirrors on facing side walls, the arches and circle of light appear to multiply ad infinitum, creating a surreal setting that echoes the paintings of de Chirico.

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An orb, visible from the street (1), is multiplied by mirrors (2). Photos © Tyler Hooks

The mirrored surfaces segue to custom-made shelving in stainless steel with integrated lighting that creates gleaming perches for the Monos luggage of polycarbonate, anodized aluminum, and vegan leather. The counterpoint to these smooth and shiny surfaces is the rough stucco on the arches and upper walls, whose texture is emphasized by indirect lighting incorporated into the top edges of the mirrored cladding. Benches and a service desk made from custom millwork covered in raw plaster are simple curved forms, gallery-like in their restraint. Taken as a visual whole, the interior’s abstract shapes invite shoppers to make their own associations—Roman aqueducts, a Moorish colonnade, a Balinese sunrise. Crafting space to daydream was the design goal. “The challenge with something like this is how not to be literal—to paint palm trees or dunes on the wall—but instead to use architectural devices to create that experience,” says Leckie.

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Gleaming surfaces, including stainless-steel display shelves (3 & 4), contrast with the rough stucco arches (5). Photos © Tyler Hooks

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“We didn’t want our stores to be just four walls and some product. The main objective when someone walks into the store is for them immediately to feel as if they’ve been transported,” says Chan, noting the multisensory design and the Monos-curated soundtrack that plays in the background. “If you listen carefully, there's the faint hum of birds chirping and wind wrestling through trees.”

Image © Leckie Studio Architecture + Design