Reflect Retail Store
San Francisco, California
Huntsman Architectural Group

Reflective surfaces and branded colors translate Internet commerce into retail shopping

© David Wakely

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

Reflect, a leading e-commerce beauty company, worked with the architect to create an experimental and prototypical concept store in San Francisco. The company specializes in manufacturing prestige custom beauty products, created for each customer's individual needs.

The team selected a former pub in the St. Francis Hotel featuring the original embossed tin ceiling and little else. Reflect needed a space that didn't look like any other cosmetic store, yet felt comfortable to the target audience—career women. The company's retail concept pairs clients with a beauty consultant who can guide them through the Web-site, as well as help them formulate custom fragrances and moisturizers or purchase from the custom-ready line of products.

To translate the brand, the design team employed Reflect's branded colors for accents and for the cosmetic counters. Because a reflective surface is ideal for promoting cosmetics, the counters were painted with a specially formulated automotive finish. To contrast with the brand colors, earth-toned zebrawood was used in the stools and the base of all the custom built millwork units.

Project Designer Erich Melé comments, "We were creating a prototypical and experimental retail environment to support the existing Web presence. We intended for aspects of this project to be adapted for stand-alone stores, a store within a store, department store counters, or kiosks in retail centers. We strived to create a look that was custom-made, just like Reflect's product. In some ways the speed of the project was good. It forced us to make decisions and edit very quickly. We built a store and all the elements in less time than it takes to build most Web-sites."

Formal name of Project:
Reflect Retail Store

Location:
San Francisco

Gross square footage:
1,230 sq. ft.

Total Constuction Cost:
$ 45,270

Owner:
Reflect.com
101 Second Street, Suite 1500
San Francisco, CA 94105
415.369.4800

Creative Director: Kimia Ansari
President: Richard Gerstein
VP of Bus. Dev.: Dianne deCordova

Architect:
Huntsman Architectural Group
50 California Street, Seventh Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111
(T) 415.394.1212
(F) 415.394.1222