3rd Nature/best Buy

Performance cyclists are sure to feel right at home at 3rd Nature. The 3,000-sq.-ft. store, conceived of as a cycling haberdashery, is set in a gallery-like space where customers will find the finest in bicycle frames, parts, accessories and service, along with community, nutrition and physical-therapy resources. To emphasize the high level of quality, precision components are displayed in glass showcases. Rolling display racks and modular fixtures provide flexibility to clear the floor to accommodate yoga or other fitness activities.

Best Buy trades up its traditional format with a more streamlined, less-cluttered design that enhances the experiential value of its retail environment. Bold architectural color-blocking and the periodic use of unexpected textures or materials give the three-level, 45,000-sq.-ft. store a unique look and feel, while ceiling pods in reinforce and unify the interior architecture and overcome the problem of erratic walls in the building’s untraditional configuration. The design, which provides platforms for the staging of product collections, moves Best Buy further toward making technology items more understandable as solutions to real-life needs.