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Gensler Retail Space Showcases Green Innovation

The store is billed as a "working laboratory."

Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 10/9/2007 12:00:00 AM

With the goal to showcase innovative environmentally friendly retail design, global design, planning, and strategic consulting firm Gensler has created a green retail prototype for outdoor gear and clothing company Recreational Equipment (REI), in Boulder Colorado. The 42,000-square-foot store, which opened Friday, October 5, is expected to land LEED Silver from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Gensler revamped and expanded the retailer’s existing location to create the new space, which it bills as a "working laboratory to analyze the performance of green building features and new retail concepts."

The heart of the space is an elevated community center. Nature is a prominent theme, and design elements reference earthen strata and thick forest canopies. The roof is the first of its kind for a retail location: With highly reflective funnel-shaped tubes called Solatubes, it will save more than 20 percent in energy costs (about what it takes to power three houses a year). Power also comes from a central glass atrium and a technology called building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).

Floors, perimeter walls, fixtures, displays, benches, and tabletops are made of green materials such as bamboo, recycled rubber, and cork.

"REI challenged us to raise the bar in terms of how their store and brand experience could better serve the community and the environment. The new store design creates a sense of community for both REI members and non-members, and reflects REI’s leadership in environmental design," says Ted Jacobs, Gensler’s design director for the project.

For a complete list of green features, visit REI.

Top: Rendering courtesy of Gensler.