From a design that delivers immediate brand recognition for nationwide chains to the design of unique spaces that provide an emotional and inspirational experience for the consumer, a retail architect balances vision with results-driven development.
You’re in the process of completing your business plan and have investors and financing lined out. Now, it’s time to see your vision of your business begin to take physical shape. Partnering with a retail architect is the next step in creating a design that serves the practical needs of your retail space, the aesthetic approach that supports your vision, and the needs of consumers and employees.
What should you look for in a retail architect? The first step is in understanding what a retail architect or designer can do for you.
What Does a Retail Designer Do?
Retail designers work to deliver a well-designed commercial space that inspires consumers to buy. The designer is generally focused on the interior design of the store, including aesthetic choices such as color, style, furnishings, and materials.
Beyond aesthetic design, the retail designer may handle practical and functional design choices and oversight by obtaining permits, overseeing the installation of the design, and working with a structural engineer to coordinate exterior and interior design and integrity.
What Is the Role of a Retail Architect?
Retail architects may be focused on the exterior of a retail space, but they often provide expertise in both exterior and interior design. If their emphasis is on exterior design, they may work closely with a retail designer to coordinate the exterior and interior choices and approach.
Generally, the retail architect draws up plans for your design that convey your vision and your brand and incorporate form, function, and the needs of consumers and employees. They then provide close supervision of the construction firms that are building your space and finishing out the interior to ensure both follow the agreed-upon designs.
How Do Architects and Designers Differ in Their Contribution to Retail Design?
Similarities Between Retail Architects and Retail Designers
The services retail architects and retail designers provide to bring a retail space to life are similar in some ways. Both work to design new spaces and to re-design or design to adapt existing retail spaces. Both begin by working closely with you to understand your vision, your targeted consumer, and the needs of your business and your employees.
Both retail architects and retail designers draw up plans that reflect aesthetic choices and functional understanding of codes and permits. Additionally, both are usually involved with the contractors who build based on the design, though more often, the retail architect has more long-term involvement with contractors than the retail designer.
Finally, retail architects and retail designers both work to head off unexpected challenges but also handle the inevitable changes that have to be addressed as design and construction proceed and new issues arise.
Differences Between Retail Architects and Retail Designers
A retail architect will more often be able to address both interior and exterior design of the retail space and bring a more thorough understanding of codes, structural safety, and energy-saving features. They generally have a background in building design and engineering and provide a spatial design that coordinates interior and exterior approaches. Retail architects more often provide close supervision of both exterior and interior contractors. While it is rare for retail designers to have a complete grasp of the project’s architectural needs, retail architects often have a solid understanding of interior design.
What Does an Architect Do to Design and Develop a Client’s Retail Spaces?
Practicality Balanced with Vision
A retail architect begins by listening to you to gain a thorough understanding of your business, your consumer, your needs, and your vision. If you know your business and your consumer but don’t exactly have a vision, the retail architect brings their creativity to translate your practical needs into a design aesthetic that addresses those needs in a way that is appealing and effective.
Often, they will help talk you through choices that better define how to translate your vision and goals into a physical space that exceeds your initial concept. Ideally, when you review the designs, you’ll be thrilled at how the architect’s choices and creativity have brought your vision to life.
The retail architect brings their expertise to balance functional needs and aesthetic choices in designing a space that is safe and structurally sound. Their approach ensures your consumer is inspired to return to your store and to spend.
In It for the Long Haul
Retail architects also provide expertise throughout the life cycle of the project, from design to construction and completion. Involving them at the earlier phases can save you time and—surprisingly—money. Part of their job is to anticipate and manage the unique challenges of the retail design and construction, and anticipating and budgeting for needed approaches is generally much less expensive than addressing unexpected problems at the last minute.
They also understand what’s involved before construction can begin, such as needed permits and hiring of contractors. That insight can get your project started sooner and much more efficiently.
From Vision to Reality
Once you’ve approved the design, a retail architect brings their creativity, experience, and expertise to make your design a reality, doing everything needed to make the retail space ready for you and your consumer. Along the way, they’ll manage the paper flow, the execution, and any unexpected challenges in a way that delivers your project on time and within budget.
Who to Hire for Retail Architecture and Design: Architect or Designer?
So, how do you decide whether to hire a retail architect? A lot depends on the nature of your job and the flexibility of the architect.
Involving a Retail Designer
If your project is to work with an existing store, adapting the interior for the needs of your business, you might work with an interior designer and confirm the structural integrity and safety with a structural architect. If you’re designing and building from scratch, if the retail architect you want to work with is more focused on the exterior and structural integrity and not particularly skilled or interested in the interior design aspect of your job, you might hire a retail designer who works closely with your retail architect.
Relying on a Retail Architect for Both Retail Architecture and Design
But for a new structure, often the ideal solution is to work with a retail architect who brings expertise to both exterior and interior design. That way, your architect can provide a more coordinated approach. The larger and more complicated your job is, the more likely it is that a retail architect is your best choice to address the project’s complexities and save you time and trouble.
And hiring a retail architect who can address both structure and interior and exterior design gives you peace of mind. It means you’ll be meeting to convey your vision and discuss details with one firm instead of two.
Form and Function; Creativity and Practicality; Start to Finish
Working with a retail architect skilled in both architecture and interior design is an exciting process. The end result will be a customer-centric public space that both you and your customers enjoy and want to return to again and again.