Continuing our long, successful relationship, Hermès of Paris engaged Spacesmith as executive architect for their new flagship store in the Crystal Mall, Las Vegas, NV. Spacesmith once again enjoyed a close collaboration with the luxury brand’s Paris design team Rena Dumas Architecture Interieure (RDAI). Located in the vast CityCenter, the new two-story, 13,000 sf boutique is settled within the sharp edged, angular Aria Resort and Casino designed by Daniel Libeskind. The goal was to achieve an open design with high ceilings and large expanses of glass to allow natural light to fill space.
The asymmetric building walls, jutting out in several directions, proved to be a challenge in design and execution. Our team negotiated large ceiling plates sloping at varying degrees to integrate the complex storefront and façade.
As patrons enter the store, the ceiling height slowly increases from 10 feet to 14 feet, leading the eye to the focal point of the customer experience — a centralized, sculptural stair that spirals up and into an elliptical shaped ceiling panel. The only curved feature in the entire building, this stair connects the first and second stories and offers an organic juxtaposition to the angular building.
As with each of our Hermès’ projects, Spacesmith worked closely with the luxury brand’s custom millworkers located throughout the globe, adhering to strict guidelines. The interior utilizes Hermès’ familiar and elegant Terrazzo floor and stair treads. The brand’s classic mosaic pattern with a terrazzo inlay is arranged around the feature stair on the first floor, curved to match the stair shape and fluid ceiling above. And no Hermès project would be complete without the European cherry wood millwork and furniture pieces.
In addition to these traditional details, two new, unique concepts are unveiled at this location as Hermès seeks expand their brand by adding splashes of modern accents: a free form, steel and wood scarf display that seems to float in space, and a distressed looking, wooden feature wall, the first in the Americas. These new concept pieces will be incorporated in the design of future and the renovations of existing stores.