"Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition."
Freeman Thomas
"Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition."
Freeman Thomas
"Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition."
Freeman Thomas
"Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition."
Freeman Thomas
"Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition."
Freeman Thomas
ROARK
Men's ADVENTUREwear Brand
Designing for Roark retail has been a privilege. Their unique story is told through amazing photography and products that embody the spirit of exploration and adventure. The opportunity to create beautiful, eclectic boutique spaces to support their brand has been a wonderfully challenging experience.
Their very first brick-and-mortar location opened up in a bustling, high-end shopping district of Berkeley, Ca. This just happened to be the exact neighborhood I spent my formative years as a teen learning ceramics! To be their retail designer was truely serendipitous.
Point of Sale
Station
Flip-up ADA
table
Real logs, cut and stacked to form facade.
Climbing rope
drawer pulls
Subtle logo
mark
An anchor piece of all the Roark retail locations is the firewood cashwrap. The design features real logs, cut and stacked to create the look of a firewood storage rack. On top of the logs is a glass display case with pull-out glass drawers. A fun detail of this design is the rope handle pulls. This is made of orange climbing rope, threaded through the holes in the glass panel and tied with knots to create pulls. This piece really captures the creative, outdoorsy and adventurous spirit of the Roark brand.
Pictured here is Roark's flagship location in lovely Berkeley, Ca
A world map is illustrated on the concrete floor with highlights of locations that Roark has featured in their brand story.
The hanging platform shown above is a special piece of the collection. This rack is suspended from the ceiling and secured to the floor with climbing rope. The rope crosses in an X to minimize the swing of the platform as guests browse the clothing. From the ceiling on both sides the rope is attached to a turnbuckle, this allows for the structure to be tightened as the rope wears and stretches over time.
The large denim display is composed of a series of racks and rails that maximizes the adjustability of the fixture. It can be merchandised in any number of ways. The base structure is covered in a smooth concrete plaster; this finish enhances the refined, but industrial look of the space.
There was a remarkable amount of thought and work that went into developing the design details that make these display pieces so unique. These structures recur in each Roark location and are significant to the aesthetic of the space.
In Los Angeles on La Brea Blvd. Roark opened a second, smaller boutique.
Rope detail secures to brackets with carabiner clip
Shelf clips into pin-system with unique bracket design
Custom pin-system lines the inside of each post
These clothing display structures are my brain-child. The goal was to create a unique system that avoided the use of slotted standards typical of shelving units. Instead, I developed a pin-system and custom brackets that allow the shelves to cantilever off the wall without an angled shelving bracket. The rope detail that appears to suspend the shelf is aesthetic only, and is removable to make merchandising easier.
The Los Angeles store is a small but well-curated space. The custom pieces I designed and built are complimented with beautifully chosen art and decor
Did you notice the lighting fixture in the middle of the room?
That's a custom tent suspended upside down! We hung lamps from the center of the structure as a creative and fun way of lighting the space.
Roark's third shop opened in San Diego, a much larger location with plenty of space to work with!
Surfing is an integral part of the brand and passion of the company's owners. These simple surf racks are in every store!
Rope secures
display boxes to ceiling
Support feet
secured to floor
Strategic hardware mounting locations to accommodate varying clothing heights, pants/ shirts etc.
Top shelf is fixed to hold the box form.
The rails and secondary shelving is adjustable for different merchandise configurations
The playful log facade on the bar unit echos the design of the cashwrap and unifies the store. The bar is an important part of the brand ethos, the spirit of sharing a drink with someone is what Roark is all about! Often events are held in these spaces and guests are welcomed with a complimentary cup of beer from the tap.
