Sunglass Hut, New York

“A client may come to us with certain pieces, but you can do a lot with those pieces,” says Robin Elmslie Osler, principal at EOA (New York). “It’s all in how you put them together.”

While generating ideas for a new store in SoHo, Osler and her team looked at images of ships and shipbuilding and decided to take the notion of a “flagship” literally. Though the allusion may not be obvious to customers, the walls of the narrow store have fins resembling the architecture of a ship that emerge to divide the wall space into bays. Shoppers are drawn in by the sense of discovery as each space becomes visible, and the fixture package, Osler says, creates a more meandering path by preventing a straight shot to the back of the store.

Working with the rectangular space, Osler also wanted to leave a piece of the existing structure intact, “as though we had peeled the skin off this old building and exposed the ribs underneath.” So an exposed brick wall was left uncovered but painted white to help reflect light and bring brightness into the store.

Retailer: Luxottica Retail, Cincinnati; Jay Kratz, Senior Design Manager

Design: EOA / Elmslie Osler Architect, New York; Robin Osler, Principal; Jeremiah Bailey, Project Manager; Eleni Livanis, Draftsperson; Evan Homolka, Draftsperson

Materials: ASI Sign System Inc., New York; Current Composites, East Haven, Conn.; Formica ColorCore, Cincinnati; LG Hausys America , Atlanta, Ga.

Fixtures: Sensitile Terazzo, Ypsilanti, Mich.; 3-Form Chroma, New York; Current Composites, East Haven, Conn.

Flooring: Sadler Stone Floors, New York

Architect: David A. Levy & Associates, Akron, Ohio

General Contractor: Schimenti Construction, New York

Photography: Sheena Livingston, EOA, New York