The new flagship is located at 900 North Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles
Comprising two buildings connected by a pergola-covered walkway, the retail campus is set on a corner property that includes on-site parking for customers. “We needed room for the expanding width of our ideas,” notes Director of Communications Brent Zerger. “We refer to it as a campus in the sense of a place to exchange ideas and make discoveries.” In development for nearly two years, the project was designed by Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena, principals of L.A.-based Escher GuneWardena Architecture. Above: a striking new home for the iconic eyewear brand, co-founded by Gai Gherardi and Barbara McReynolds – photo above by Caitlin Carny
The largest of the two buildings houses a showroom featuring a comprehensive survey of l.a.Eyeworks design collections for prescription eyewear and sunglasses. An in-house finishing lab for precision lens work and custom tinting is concealed behind a mirrored wall that reflects a commanding display wall and groupings of slender pedestals in the main space. Walls, ceilings, and exteriors throughout the site are swathed in an immersive glaze of platinum silver paint “which adds an otherworldliness to the oozing, bubbly surface treatment that covers interior ceilings and walls”.
Nicknamed “The Lens,” the second building – in addition to its function as a flexible event space – offers an evolving selection of unique objects, including hand-carved bird calls from France, high-tech “smart” telescopes, vintage one-off selections from the l.a.Eyeworks archives, and special collaborative projects with local design and retail entities.
Since opening its original store on Melrose Avenue in 1979, l.a.Eyeworks has established a notable history of creating innovative architectural spaces, including its second store at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa (Josh Schweitzer, designer, 1988), and the award-winning showroom on Beverly Boulevard (Neil M. Denari, architect, 2002). “The genesis of l.a.Eyeworks’ pioneering legacy is deeply rooted in independent retail,” notes Rob Rich, CEO. “The Fairfax campus is our opportunity to build upon the entrepreneurial impulse of Gai Gherardi and Barbara McReynolds to open a shop on Melrose Avenue more than four decades ago.”
900 North Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, California. www.laeyeworks.com
Photography by kind permission of l.a.Eyeworks.