A small project for the growing Optique chain. Optique is a full-service, high-end boutique ophthalmology outfit with retail for designer glasses and sunglasses, as well as contact lenses. The program accommodates hospitality, examination services, fitting and retail within a small footprint at the Lamar Union development in Austin, Texas.
This has likely been the quickest project we have ever worked on. Our design goals were simple. We sought to accommodate our client’s program while masking the small size of the space. The result respects the evolving Optique trade dress while providing a simple, iconic storefront.
In contrast to the relative slickness of the design, the facade is rendered in natural venetian plaster, which passes through the interior retail area. A mirrored wall at the end of the space serves to visually double its size. As with the Baldridge Architects Offices, we firmly believed that a simplified material palette coupled with a single striking but reductive gesture would work best to differentiate the store from the procession of retail establishments along this frenetic interior street.
