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The challenge
Saks Fifth Avenue sought a designer to help revitalize the former Barney’s building into a flagship store in Beverly Hills.
287,430 sq ft
of redesigned space
The historic Saks Fifth Avenue has opened a West Coast flagship store in Beverly Hills. The iconic, former Barney's building has undergone a complete makeover, focusing on paying homage to its storied past while aligning with the Saks design language. The Saks team collaborated with Arcadis (formerly CRTKL) to create a space as impressive as its East Coast location.
While the exterior of the building remains largely untouched to allow the iconic architecture to shine, the interior has undergone a complete transformation with upgrades to the materials, finishes, and textures. The renovation is designed to highlight the duality of the two brands while paying tribute to the building’s history and aligning with Saks’ design language. The store will boast 30 vendor shops, including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Dior, along with a personal shopping experience called the Fifth Avenue Club that caters to loyal members and special guests.
The solution
Our design focuses on paying homage to its storied past while aligning with the Saks design language.
The project’s design theme focuses on incorporating new reflective textures and rugs with different subdued colors to infuse the store with its own unique personality. The upgraded walls maintain the original textured walls from the Barneys store, but a fresh coat of metallic paint revitalizes them. Although the original tiles and floor remain untouched, new rugs have been added to the store.
Customers arriving at the store can enjoy the convenience of on-site valet or underground parking, complete with new electric vehicle charging. The store's lower and first levels will showcase a wide array of handbags, shoes, and accessories. The design team elevated the existing wall panels with vibrant colors and reflective surfaces to create an inviting and visually appealing space. The first floor features new large rugs, artistic adornments, and more tables and pedestals to provide a distinctly organic feel. As customers navigate the store, they will be drawn into the atrium, featuring striking art installations and ever-changing seasonal displays that infuse the space with a unique and distinct character. The atrium serves as a guide for customers, leading them through the entire building, from the lower level to the fifth floor.
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The second level of the store features a full floor dedicated to jewelry, surrounded by hard vendor shops for Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci, as well as soft shops from other luxury brands. This level is adorned with metallic sheen glass to filter the light and add ambiance to the space. Moving up to the third and fourth floors, customers will find women's apparel, with the third floor showcasing designer apparel and luxury vendor shops on the perimeter of the space. Throughout the shopping area, screens have been strategically placed and designed with channel glass, featuring a gradient from bottom to top to create a milky frosted look at the bottom and a transparent top, creating a sophisticated and contemporary vibe.
On the fourth floor, shoppers will find a curated selection of contemporary, denim, and lingerie apparel. To ensure a cohesive look that aligns with the Saks brand, all vendor shops incorporate textural neutral piers along the perimeters. Additionally, new rugs, fabrics, and fixtures add color and visual interest throughout the store.
One of the main highlights of the new store is the exclusive Fifth Avenue Club personal shopping experience, reserved for loyal Saks members and special guests. The Fifth Avenue Club is comprised of fifteen private fitting rooms, including three oversized VIP rooms, featuring color-tunable lighting and custom music controls in each room, allowing customers to set the perfect ambiance. In addition, two terraces on this level provide a unique oasis above the bustling Beverly Hills. The terraces will host pop-up trunk shows and private events for VIP customers.
Additionally, shoppers will notice updated elevators featuring bold, dichroic glass walls within the cabs and vibrant color-changing back-lit glass on the walls facing the sales floors. The store's commitment to sustainability is evident in the new elevators, which feature mostly LED lighting and the refurbishment and reuse of key fixtures.
The impact
The flagship store's design highlights personalized services and Saks design language while retaining the building's historic characteristics.
In total, the building has a square footage of 287,430. The breakdown of the square footage on each floor is as follows: the lower level 23,340; level one 23,340; level two 16,523; level three 15,419; level four 16,419; level five, 14,277; and the remaining 186,448 consists of the parking level, circulations, elevators and more.
The Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store in Beverly Hills is poised to set the gold standard in luxury retail. While paying homage to the iconic building, the interior has been updated to align with the Saks design language. The design goals aim to highlight personalized services, VIP experiences, strategic vendor partnerships, and bespoke events that are all expectations of high-profile clients in the area.
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