Wayfair Edens Plaza, Wilmette, IL
Wayfair opened its first large-format store inside Eden’s Plaza in suburban Wilmette, Illinois just outside Chicago. This first-ever brick-and-mortar store marks a new milestone for the digitally native company. The new retail store provides a one-stop-shopping destination for all things home, including furniture, home décor, housewares, appliances and home improvement products. Customers can explore 19 departments with the assistance of in-store experts and curated collections.
This two-story, 150,000-square-foot space offers an immersive shopping experience that sets a new standard for retail experiences and makes customers feel at home. The aesthetic that the design team from Gensler and HLB was designed to reflect Wayfair’s playful and inviting brand personality, characterized by a warm and bright palette with pops of the brand’s signature purple.
Lighting Design: HLB
Architect: Gensler
Representatives: Performance Lighting Systems
PG Enlighten
Photography: © Ryan Gobuty Photography
The purple and white exterior and natural light beaming in the store are a far cry from the looks of the former Carson Pirie Scott department store that occupied the space for decades before 2018. The new design of the exterior integrates a front plaza that offers a space for gatherings and activities to cultivate a sense of togetherness in the local community.
A high attention of detail was concentrated on the facade to create the ideal effect. The facade two story perforated structure creates the buildings signature image. A shadow box effect was created with use of the JEDI COMPACT to create a backlighting effect for uniform appearance of illumination through the metal openings. The entrance signage utilized Targetti’s JEDI COMPACT PROJECTOR powerful linear projector, ensuring the brand’s signature purple color 'pops' with an evenly distributed wash of illumination.
In a tribute to the community, Wayfair commissioned artist Alyssa Low, a Chicago resident and Long Grove, Ill. native, to create a custom mural for the store exterior. The artist's artwork explores the relationships between colors, shapes, and composition. Wayfair challenged the artist to weave in references to both Chicago and Wilmette in the mural that’s displayed along the north exterior wall of the store.
The façade mural is skillfully illuminated with Targetti’s JEDI PROJECTOR with a Wall Wash optic. The Targetti team was challenged with creating custom telescoping brackets to mount the five JEDI PROJECTORS to ensure that the light distribution properly illuminate the large scale custom work of art. The optional anodized aluminum side cover mounts flush with the top of the JEDI fixture and is painted to match the finish of the building delivering a fluid finished appearance.
JEDI PROJECTOR
JEDI PROJECTOR
