“Curb appeal” – the combination of aesthetic elements that attracts potential customers – is a common goal among retail establishments.
For Furniture Row Companies, it’s an aspiration that takes on unique significance, as each of the retailer’s furniture centers includes four distinct specialty stores: Sofa Mart, Oak Express, Bedroom Expressions and Denver Mattress Co.
“These buildings are our national image and they need to be unique,” says Larry Fore, who oversees corporate construction for Furniture Row Companies nationwide. “We want people to recognize the buildings immediately upon seeing them. That’s what it’s all about.”
At Furniture Row’s newest center in Charlotte, N.C., a custom steel building by Star Building Systems enabled the retailer to achieve the flexibility, distinctive branding and interior aesthetic environment that wasn’t feasible through conventional construction.
Constructing the 69,631-sf structure involved several challenging design elements, including a complex roof with clerestory windows and a series of complex hips and valleys.
“We strive for efficiency in our buildings and architecture, and these buildings can’t be constructed any other way efficiently,” Fore says. “They are more difficult to build than a typical metal building structure because of the multifaceted roof.”
The combination of materials on the exterior storefronts helps to shape the aesthetic distinctiveness and unique identity of each specialty store.
“We used stone, brick, some decorative metals and even a log structure on part of the building,” says John Tweedy, project manager at Intergroup Architects in Littleton, Colo. “It doesn’t look like your typical metal building.”
The standing seam metal roof provides strong, clean vertical lines, and a ribbon of windows along both sides of the building brings in considerable natural light.
Steel canopies highlight each store entrance, and full cathedral-ceiling dormers – two with clerestories – provide a commanding custom presence for each retail brand.
The interior space takes advantage of the vast spans accommodated by metal building systems, providing a connected interior environment that enables shoppers to discover and shop for merchandise at multiple “stores” within the structure efficiently.
Most of the interior steel is exposed, and the columns are painted various colors to blend with the surrounding areas. The exposed white insulation facing, white painted rafters and lighting contribute to a bright aesthetic appeal.
“There’s quite a bit of exterior and interior flexibility available with metal wall panels,” Tweedy says. “When you work with a retailer, you’ve got to be creative with how you design and put the pieces together because curb appeal is so important to them.”
Based in Denver, Furniture Row Companies operates 80 multi-store centers and 30 standalone stores in 31 states.
Building Team
Owner: Furniture Row USA, LLC, Denver
Star Builder: Furniture Row USA, Charlotte, N.C.
Architect: Intergroup Architects, Littleton, Colo.
General Contractor: Catamount Constructors, Inc., Denver
Erector: Five Starr Steel, LLC, New Caney, Texas
For more information on Star Building Systems, visit: http://www.starbuildings.com.
Related Stories
Luxury Residential | Oct 2, 2023
Chicago's Belden-Stratford luxury apartments gets centennial facelift
The Belden-Stratford has reopened its doors following a renovation that blends the 100-year-old building’s original architecture with modern residences.
Market Data | Oct 2, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending rises 0.4% in August 2023, led by manufacturing and public works sectors
National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.4% in August, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.09 trillion.
Construction Costs | Sep 28, 2023
U.S. construction market moves toward building material price stabilization
The newly released Quarterly Construction Cost Insights Report for Q3 2023 from Gordian reveals material costs remain high compared to prior years, but there is a move towards price stabilization for building and construction materials after years of significant fluctuations. In this report, top industry experts from Gordian, as well as from Gilbane, McCarthy Building Companies, and DPR Construction weigh in on the overall trends seen for construction material costs, and offer innovative solutions to navigate this terrain.
Resiliency | Sep 25, 2023
National Institute of Building Sciences, Fannie Mae release roadmap for resilience
The National Institute of Building Sciences and Fannie Mae have released the Resilience Incentivization Roadmap 2.0. The document is intended to guide mitigation investment to prepare for and respond to natural disasters.
Codes and Standards | Sep 25, 2023
Lendlease launches new protocol for Scope 3 carbon reduction
Lendlease unveiled a new protocol to monitor, measure, and disclose Scope 3 carbon emissions and called on built environment industry leaders to tackle this challenge.
Data Centers | Sep 21, 2023
North American data center construction rises 25% to record high in first half of 2023, driven by growth of artificial intelligence
CBRE’s latest North American Data Center Trends Report found there is 2,287.6 megawatts (MW) of data center supply currently under construction in primary markets, reaching a new all-time high with more than 70% already preleased.
Adaptive Reuse | Sep 15, 2023
Salt Lake City’s Frank E. Moss U.S. Courthouse will transform into a modern workplace for federal agencies
In downtown Salt Lake City, the Frank E. Moss U.S. Courthouse is being transformed into a modern workplace for about a dozen federal agencies. By providing offices for agencies previously housed elsewhere, the adaptive reuse project is expected to realize an annual savings for the federal government of up to $6 million in lease costs.
Data Centers | Sep 15, 2023
Power constraints are restricting data center market growth
There is record global demand for new data centers, but availability of power is hampering market growth. That’s one of the key findings from a new CBRE report: Global Data Center Trends 2023.
Engineers | Sep 15, 2023
NIST investigation of Champlain Towers South collapse indicates no sinkhole
Investigators from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) say they have found no evidence of underground voids on the site of the Champlain Towers South collapse, according to a new NIST report. The team of investigators have studied the site’s subsurface conditions to determine if sinkholes or excessive settling of the pile foundations might have caused the collapse.
Office Buildings | Sep 14, 2023
New York office revamp by Kohn Pedersen Fox features new façade raising occupant comfort, reducing energy use
The modernization of a mid-century Midtown Manhattan office tower features a new façade intended to improve occupant comfort and reduce energy consumption. The building, at 666 Fifth Avenue, was originally designed by Carson & Lundin. First opened in November 1957 when it was considered cutting-edge, the original façade of the 500-foot-tall modernist skyscraper was highly inefficient by today’s energy efficiency standards.
