Project Walk-Through

The cafe, itself a destination, was placed near the books.

Denver Art
Museum Shop

Roth + Sheppard Architects
Denver, Colorado

By Nora Burba Trulsson

Photography by Paul Brokering

Since its opening in 2006, the Frederic C. Hamilton Building at the Denver Art Museum has been hailed as an architectural icon and a cultural magnet, with architect Daniel Libeskind’s design echoing the craggy peaks of the Rocky Mountains and its angled lines symbolizing the “dance” between people and art.

While the museum drew countless visitors, many overlooked the new building’s museum shop. Last year, a relocated and redesigned museum shop opened at the opposite end of the building. Its design and plan by Roth + Sheppard Architects echoes the building’s iconic architecture and has made the shop a magnet in and of itself.

“The Hamilton building’s lobby was originally designed to be a flexible space,” says Jeffrey L. Sheppard, AIA, design principal on the shop project. “The northern end was intended to be the site of a large restaurant. The shop was originally placed under and behind the grand staircase, with the thought that people would take stairs up and the elevator down to get to the Hamilton gallery.”

A display wall illuminates art glass objects.

Traffic patterns, however, didn’t go according to the best-laid plans, notes Sheppard. Visitors were so entranced with the grand staircase that they went up and down the sculptural stairs, ignoring both the elevators and the shop. Additionally, the economic slowdown froze plans for a large restaurant in the lobby, leaving that space empty, except when it was used for special events.

The museum’s board reached out to Roth + Sheppard, a Denver firm noted for retail design, to help boost the museum shop’s visibility and, in turn, sales. “The museum board asked us to do the project because Daniel Libeskind does museums, not stores,” explains Sheppard, who worked on the project with colleague Tom Politis, AIA, LEED AP. “Our goal, though, was to make it look as though Libeskind designed the store as well.”

The jewelry case was designed to echo the angles of the building’s architecture.

Sheppard spearheaded a relocation validation study, spending six months analyzing numerous aspects of how the building was used, parking, the neighborhood and even documenting each of the shop’s 5,000 pieces of merchandise.

At the end of the study, the architect recommended moving the shop to the north end of the lobby, where the restaurant was originally to be located. The new locale provides a roomier, 4,900 square feet for the shop and, most important, puts the shop adjacent to the main entrance. “You can’t miss it,” explains Sheppard. “Most people are right-handed, and the museum shop’s new location is to the right of the entrance. Visitors can either go in there before they buy their museum tickets or remember that there’s a shop on their way out.” The new location also opens onto to a courtyard connecting to the Clifford Still Museum, a new facility scheduled to open in 2011.

Once the site within the building was selected, Sheppard created a floorplan that would maximize merchandise display capabilities and sales. Because jewelry is a highly profitable item for the shop, he placed the jewelry counter front and center. A backlit wall for glass art objects doubles as both a focal point and as a backdrop to further highlight the jewelry displays. A children’s section was tucked into a corner next to the jewelry counter so that parents could browse bracelets and necklaces while keeping an eye on young ones. Another big draw, a cafe, was placed at the back of the shop, luring visitors past freestanding display columns and another wall of displays. “People linger over coffee, and they linger over books, so we put the books near the cafe,” Sheppard says. Additionally, office space and storage were placed behind display areas.

Bright colors define the children’s section of the shop.

The design of the shop echoes Libeskind’s angles and canted planes. Fixed glass panels mark the subtle threshold into the shop, separating it from the lobby. Yellow zig-zagging light bars in the shop’s ceiling mimic a graphic behind the museum ticket counter. The children’s area is defined by bright yellow walls, while the balance of the shop is done in cool white and gray, including the honed stone flooring. The jewelry counter, made of glass, stainless steel and white Corian, has no right angles and is skewed to draw visitors further into the shop. The display columns, which showcase smaller items, are also made with white Corian, backlit with LED panels. With all the custom-designed displays, each piece of merchandise is framed and shown like artwork.

Completed late last fall–just in time for holiday shopping–the reborn Denver Art Museum Shop has been a success in many ways. Overall sales have increased, as have individual sales transactions. The cafe has become its own destination, says Sheppard, with employees reporting “regulars” who come for coffee or lunch.

On a personal level, Sheppard is no doubt most pleased with the response he received from Daniel Libeskind, who called the new shop a “spectacular interior space” and complemented its “truly integrated design.”

Architecture and relocation validation study: Roth + Sheppard Architects, 1623 Blake St., Suite 350, Denver, CO 80202; (303) 534-7007 or www.rothsheppard.com.
Retail consultant: Andoniadis Retail Service, 4888 NW Bethany Blvd., Suite K5, #253, Portland, OR 97229; (503) 629-9279 or www.andoniadis.com.
Millwork: High Country Millwork, 4076 Specialty Place, Longmont, CO 80504; (303) 532-2222 or www.highcountrymill.com.
Millwork material: Corian, www2.dupont.com.