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26-29 Sept 2010 | Huntington Beach, CA

LD+A The Magazine of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America

Lamps & Fixtures in the Field

Ordinary Stores, Extrodinary Design

A drug store, a gas station/convenience store and a salon prove that even the most utilitarian retail establishments can capitalize on good lighting

BY VILMA BAR

“Do something different.” That was at the top of the list of priorities drawn up by the owners of three distinctly different projects profiled here. They are approximately 785 miles apart on the East Coast, from New York City to Knightsville, SC, with a stop in Baltimore. The owners range in size from the country’s largest drug store chain (Walgreens), to a regional gas station/convenience store developer (Kangaroo Express), to entrepreneurial hair stylists (Sprout: An Organic Salon).
All three owners were aware that they could achieve a significant competitive edge in their market by using architecture and lighting to convey their image and appeal. From the cacophony of Times Square in New York, to the hum of a southern road in South Carolina, to a neighborhood’s revitalized commercial strip in Baltimore, each succeeded by being creative, tasteful, customer-friendly and different.

Walgreens at the Crossroads

The intersection at 42nd Street and Broadway in New York City is known as “The Crossroads of the World.” Silhouetted against the skyline in the midst of surrounding skyscrapers and flashing billboards is One Times Square, a triangular building and one of the planet’s best-known edifices. From its top pinnacle, the legendary illuminated ball descends at midnight on December 31, signaling that the new year is underway. The 23-story tower is also the former headquarters of The New York Times. Last year, the 7,000-unit Walgreens Co. drug chain, the largest in the U.S., decided it needed a megavisibility Manhattan presence. Management agreed that the Times Tower site—a non-stop 24-hour hightraffic location—was perfect for Walgreens. (To occupy the lower three floors, the company had to lease the entire structure.)

Walgreens - 42nd Street and Broadway in New York City

Walgreens was no stranger to the immediate area, having operated a store close by from the 1930s through 1970, but Times Square was a one-of-a-kind format, and the store needed to fit in visually. The design team for the renovation was led by architect Lee Levine, Hoboken, NJ, with Steven Rosen of Available Light, Salem, MA. “This is a flagship for Walgreens,” they were told. “Make it different.”
Levine explains that each usable level averages 2,800 sq ft of selling space. Levine and Rosen brought the essence of the surrounding exterior environment—awesome jumbotrons, flashing walls of LEDs and massive color graphics—into all three levels of the store. “We translated the energy from Times Square deep into the store interior and directed traffic on the first floor to the upper floors by using a kinetic lighting ‘spline’ on the ground level,” says Rosen. “The concept was based on a crescent-shaped, color-changing lightbox that follows the curve of the suspended ceiling.”
“The spline is programmed to vary in rhythm and tempo, from brief bursts of energy to longer color imagery,” Rosen describes. Levine points out that the spline is directional. “It leads the visitor from the narrower south side of the store, to the north, to the escalators, to the upper floors, where the pharmacy and higher-end products are located.”
Ceiling-suspended pendant downlights follow the curve of the spline lightbox and beam light onto product displays while helping to direct traffic through the aisles. High-bay fixtures fitted with 70-W CFLs rated at 3,000K with an aluminum reflector were specified for maximum energy-efficient illumination. On the ground level, recessed adjustable focus 70-W, 3,000K PAR30 CDM floods and spots provide ambient illumination. Merchandise displays were also accented with track fixtures fitted with 39-W PAR30 CDM lamps, rated at 3,000K.
To give added emphasis to the architectural curve, linear T8 fluorescent fixtures were individually cut to the exact length of the spline’s curve, and integrated into the custom-cut ceiling panels. “The T8 lamp is standard for all Walgreens stores,” says Rosen. “The high-efficiency reflector was added for greater light output.”
The store’s angular exterior LED sign, stretching 210 ft from top to bottom, was turned on in November 2008, marking Walgreens’ official return to Times Square.

A Very Green Kangaroo

On Central Avenue in Knightsville, SC, the Kangaroo Express gas island and adjacent retail store is a stylish interpretation of regional architecture, built with sustainable building materials and distinctively illuminated. Architect Christopher M. Karpus, Summerville, SC, was responsible for all facets of the design, including lighting.
“The developer, Mark Jordan, wanted to break the mold of the typical gas station with convenience store, and operate a facility that would be both safe for patrons and an identifiable landmark,” says Karpus.

Kangaroo Express is an operating banner of The Pantry Inc. The $9 billion company operates 1,700 stores in 11 southeastern states. This location—like all of the company’s gas stations/convenience stores—was expected to attract repeat patrons, generate sufficient revenue and present a safe environment. But the comparison with run-of-the-road convenience facilities stops there. With its LEDlighted gas island canopy and sculptural illuminated overhead grid inside the store, the Knightsbridge Kangaroo Express has carved out its own identity.
“The exterior canopy gets a lot of comments from customers,” says Karpus. Its “raised eyebrow” roof is defined by a ribbon of overlap. “Typical canopies above gas pumps are flat, with a 3-ft-high fascia for signage,” he notes. Fabricated of crimped black recycled aluminum, this canopy is 16 ft high plus another 2 ft for the extended overlap. Support columns are painted steel.
A double row of white LED fixtures are mounted along the long sides of the rectangular-shaped structure, and a single row runs down the middle. LSI Industries’ Crossover Focus and Crossover Ambient 100 fixtures were used.
Tall mullioned windows, nearly 9-ft tall, introduce daylighting into the interior of the 3,700-sq-ft convenience store. An open floor plan inside the store allows patrons quick access to pre-packaged merchandise and to the prepared food section (featuring made-on-the-premises fried chicken). A daylighting system from Solatube beams natural light into the interior, even in the restrooms. Refrigerated cases are fitted with LEDs.
At its tallest point, the pitched ceiling is 16-ft high, dipping to 10 ft, 8 in. The focal point of the interior is a ceiling-hung, kidney-shaped grid with integrated illumination. Manufactured with recycled metal, the grid is painted a warm earth tone. Mounted on the grid—which measures 7 ft, 10 in. at its widest point—is track lighting fitted with 50-W MR16 lamps. In addition, pendant-hung fixtures—described as “upgraded warehouse” by Karpus—are fitted with two 42-W triple fluorescent lamps. While daylight hits the merchandise display and service areas during the day, integrated 26-W fluorescent lamps provide the store’s ambient light at night. Mechanical ductwork is suspended above the grid. The kidney-shaped pattern of this overhead grid repeats in the polished acid-stained concrete floor. Knightsville’s Kangaroo Express opened in December 2008. Two more Kangaroo Express sites of similar design are in the planning stages.

A Sprout Grows in Baltimore

Sprout: An Organic Salon is located on a mid-block site in Baltimore’s Hampden section, once a residential neighborhood for workers in then nearby mills. After the mills closed, many residents moved out, but the neighborhood recently experienced a turnaround as a new generation of home buyers moved in.
To service the hairstyling needs of this primarily young, style-conscious clientele, local entrepreneurs rented an empty storefront space, 17-ft wide by 60-ft long, which formerly housed a dollar store. The salon owners’ business plan was based on offering a full range of services and products that would have minimal impact on the environment. Their aspirations were high; their renovation budget was minimal.

With dollars tight, the owners called on friends and family to help build the store, starting with demolition. “Once we got into construction, it was like raising a barn on a farm—everyone pitched in,” says lighting designer Glenn Shrum of Flux Studio, Baltimore, whose design approach was framed around three main concepts: 1) reference the daylight condition both day and night; 2) feature light and material; and 3) create a solution that combined the goals of sustainability and high design without exceeding the $3.30 per sq ft lighting hardware budget.
Daylight was limited to a north-facing storefront and a single south-facing window. Vertical coves with 4,100K T8 strips and translucent diffusers, located at the transition between the white wall surface and exposed brick wall, match the cool north daylight. Halogen track lighting utilizing 50-W PAR 30 lamps provides grazing light on the ceiling-suspended wood-slat scrim curtain, creating a dramatic backdrop for the reception desk. Diffuse daylight fills the entry and product display area, illuminating the brick pilasters and wood scrim. During the day, the scrim, made from strips of pine flooring salvaged from the previous storefront construction, provides stylists and customers with a filtered view of street activity. Monopoints are fitted with the same lamps.
Polished silver metal pendant downlights contribute classic styling and reflectance along both sides of the space, from front to back. They house 42-W, 3,000K triple-tube CFLs. “Their finish matches that of the exposed ductwork and helps to visually unify the space,” Shrum says.
The salon’s exposed brick interiors feature large mirrors that “hide” the tools of the hair styling profession. Storage shelves measuring 7-in. wide are mounted behind the wall mirrors. The shelves keep from the customer’s view the combs, scissors, brushes and bottles typically placed in rolling carts. Elimination of the carts contributes to the space’s open feeling and contemporary image. Behind a sandblasted detail at the top of the mirrors, a decorative 3,000K fluorescent strip lighting was installed.
Sprout has grown quickly and now attracts a loyal local following. It was named “The Best Place to Get a Haircut” by the readers of the Baltimore City Paper and “One of the Top 100 Salons in the U.S.” by Elle magazine.

April 2010