Horst Design International to redesign Century 21 store in Bayridge

Real Estate Weekly, July 24, 2002

As part of a major expansion and renovation for the Century 21 Department Store in the Bayridge section of Brooklyn, Horst Design International (HDI), Cold Spring Harbor, NY, is creating a distinctive image in the redesign of the three level, 76,400-SF store.

On June 14, the new addition and remodeled second floor will be open to the public. Formerly a roof area and stockroom, this 24,464-SF area houses women's ready to wear and intimate apparel doubling the size of the department. A fast track phased project, the store is expected to be completed by February 2003.

Combining a contemporary interior design scheme with a European flavor, HDI developed a more upscale image for the retailer and improved on the space planning of the store. By incorporating a more minimalistic architectural design and a less decorative approach using simple but rich materials, the merchandise becomes the focal point.

"Along with the expansion and image upgrade, we designed the store in keeping with the marketing and sales objectives to create a more customer friendly environment and increase dollars per square foot," says Fidel Miro, design and planning director at HDI. Century 21 asked HDI to develop a logical layout and traffic pattern. "To satisfy this objective, we widened and punched up the aisles allowing easier visibility, improved traffic flow and direct entry into key merchandise areas," notes Fidel. Most departments are accessed from the aisle and you can see thousands of items at once on both sides.

"We consolidated the cash wraps and placed three huge wraps in main areas to handle all the sales. Various departments viewed as key "destinations" like the Children's World were moved to strategic locations throughout the store.

The retailer is adding new products that didn't exist before. Attracting a younger clientele, the store will feature a new 3,300 SF full-line cosmetics section with well known vendors on the first floor. They are also doubling the Men's Department and tripling the size of Juniors.

We especially like the grand escalator concourse conceived by HDI as it allows a lot of natural light to filter into the space and draws the customers upstairs to the second floor," says Raymond Gindi, owner of Century 21. It features a huge skylight above with a dramatic dropped ceiling and grid of open cophers. To enhance this area, HDI used a rich beige porcelain tile checkerboard patterned floor and a marble/glass column topped with a frosted glass capital. "The escalator is located near the door on 87th Street for easy access to the new home store across the street.

Another architectural element that distinguishes this Century 21 store from the others is the sophisticated ceiling design. Instead of the usual dropped ceiling, HDI developed gridded open cavities allowing visibility of the structural elements for added interest. An elongated ceiling concourse in the center follows the wide aisle and visually connects both sides of the building directing traffic to the back of the store. "This design creates greater harmony with the human scale for customer comfort and breaks up the space to avoid a warehouse effect," says Fidel.

A soft color palette of pastels and accent colors as well as simple materials highlight the products. Each department is defined by a variety of colored carpets and unique displays in wood and leather or chrome.

In some areas, HDI created feature walls enhanced by frosted floating glass panels. High grades of fine woods in many shades also serve to support the upscale image.