The project in Friendswood is the third retail store for the Rajeunir Black Caviar brand. The design for this location diverges from the previous two stores, that were larger and more immersive. Since this store is smaller, the approach expanded from a previous concept proposal for a temporary pop-up environment for the same brand. Rather than a surface that wraps the interior retail environment, the pop-up concept inserts a series of objects within a space. Three similar large objects are placed in the space with a smaller object serving as the point-of-sale desk. The objects communicate a sense of autonomy, almost seeming as if they could wander around the space on their own. They are larger than a person and appear slightly unstable as their top is leaning over as if ready to move. Thus the objects give a sense of temporality for the entire environment. This is supplemented by a curtain that divides the treatment space from the sales area providing privacy yet flexibility to draw the curtains open to visually enlarge the small retail space. The curtain provides a soft backdrop to contrast the strong forms of the demonstration stations objects.

The forms are a designed according to a similar logic as the previous stores that further explored possibilities for combinatoric multiplicity, which is a multi-systems approach that combines two or more sets of differentiated objects. Similar to the other stores, three systems were combined together to comprise one complete object. The primary system is a series of stacked CNC cut plywood parts painted white that define the main volume of the object. The secondary system is a series of geometries that cut into the primary system to generate the main personal demonstration space as well as several smaller voids that create display shelving. The third system is gold objects embedded within the main white object. The gold objects were made from a series of CNC cut plywood parts that are interspersed between each white part. The gold objects are revealed when the secondary system of voids are cut into the primary system of the overall white form.

Client: Rajeunir Black Caviar
Location: Friendswood, Texas
Size: 677 sq.ft ( 63 m2)
Design: 2017
Construction: 2017

Architect: Open Source Architecture / Chandler Ahrens
Contractor: Enterprise Renovation / Ehud Marciano
Digital Fabrication: LDI Studio / Eric Arnold
Photography: Open Source Architecture / Chandler Ahrens

Awards:
AIA St. Louis Drawing Award 2019