A.R.E. 's Design Awards honor excellence in bringing brands to life
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  A.R.E. 's Design Awards honor excellence in bringing brands to life
Carlo Pazolini: Wall Display Cells, won Store
Store Fixture of the Year. The shelving and
seating in the shape of an infant’s foot
combines dashed wood slatwall panels and
metal tubing at Piazza Codusio, Milan, Italy.
LAS VEGAS, NV — The 2011Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.) Design Awards, held at the Venetian on March 29 had a decidedly international flair.

Winning projects came from around the globe, including China, Romania, Italy, Austria, Norway, Mexico and the U.K. as well as the U.S. and Canada.

Some 57 prizes were awarded this year. Fixture of the Year went to wall display cells designed by Giorgio Borruso Design for the Carlo Pazolini store in the Piazza Cordusio, Milan, Italy. Visual Presentation of the Year went to the Nespresso store in EGER Karl Johan, Oslo, Norway for its coffee capsulated display.

A.R.E. 's Design Awards honor excellence in bringing brands to life Store of the Year prize (shown right) went to the Gensler-designed Wenger, maker of the Genuine Swiss Army knife. The Boulder, Co. store is the first retail flagship of the 118-year-old brand. A dramatic topographic rendering of the Boulder Flatirons by local artist Dan Sjogren is a focal point behind the point of sale area. The reclaimed beetle-kill pine used is significant to the outdoor enthusiasts who visit the store. Pine beetles are wreaking havoc on the local Colorado forests. Using the wood from trees that have been lost to this devastation is intended to remind visitors of the fragility of the environment.

A.R.E. 's Design Awards honor excellence in bringing brands to life Albertsons Clairemont (shown right) won the Sustainable Project of the Year Award. Among the features that impressed the judges were an on-site cogenerative fuel cell powering the San Diego store and near zero waste operations. The store featured regional material and materials with sustainable attributes, such as FSC-certified wood trim and doors, Green Label Plus flooring and Green Seal paints and coatings. Fxtures were fabricated by Steve Julius Construction, San Clemente, CA.

Winners used a creative mix of materials including a variety of woods, some reclaimed The focal fixture of 7 for All Mankind's store is a custom-designed collection of blackened steel, raw oak, cypress timber logs, and white-washed birch plywood. The store took Grand Prize in the Softline Specialty Store up to 3,000 sq. ft. category. The men's and women's retailer used a variety of materials and were praised for turning merchandising into an art form, draping product over salvaged logs.

A Starbucks Coffee in Seattle, WA, built to LEED Gold standards, was filled with sustainable elements. Local craftsmen created fixtures and custom furniture unique to the store. Salvaged local materials included live edge casework from urban trees, chairs from a university, and a high school's wood flooring converted into cladding and tabletops. FSC-certified cedar siding and low-VOC finishes and adhesives were also used.

Also presented were 15 grand prizes; 17 outstanding merits; 10 special awards for flooring, in-store communications, lighting, visual presentation, and wall treatments; and 9 store fixture awards. The A.R.E. Design Awards, formerly the NASFM Retail Design Awards, just celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2011, making it the longest-running competition of its kind. The program typically receives nearly 300 submissions annually.

View all of the 2011 A.R.E. Design Award winners and honorable mention projects.

Posted by Jo-Ann Kaiser 

 

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