Wal-Mart Architectural Design Studio Wins National Acclaim

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — An architecture studio led by the University of Arkansas Community Design Center (UACDC) and sponsored by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has won two prestigious national awards. The studio has won a national Education Honors Award, one of two awarded this year, from the American Institute of Architects, and a 2005 NCARB prize from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. The NCARB award comes with a $7,500 prize and publication in a forthcoming book.

This isn’t the first time that the UA School of Architecture has won national recognition for developing new design ideas for the warehouse-sized retail stores that stud the suburban American landscape. In 2003 the Boston Society of Architects awarded an Unbuilt Design Award to a UA design studio that experimented with stacking super stores for urban sites where land is limited.

“Our students are creating new models for super stores as social anchors within the suburban landscape,” said Stephen Luoni, UACDC director. “Their design strategies have the potential to benefit all parties involved, including discount retailers who want to enter big city markets and communities that want innovative retail development.”

Eight fourth-year architecture students took on the project as an opportunity to enhance the everyday suburban environment where many Americans spend most of their time.

“The super center can be not only a source for shopping, but a destination that educates and entertains the community,” said student Blake Jackson.

“We were impressed by their ideas and the images,” said Bill Correll, AIA, director of architecture for Wal-Mart. “It’s great for us to come into this environment, because students are explorers and doers and willing to take risks.”

 “Some of the concepts developed by the students could someday have application possibilities for Wal-Mart,” said David S. Cox, AIA, Wal-Mart design manager for Philadelphia, South New Jersey, New York City and Long Island.

The students were challenged by the fact that there are no precedents for the super store, an architectural form governed by the logistics of storing and selling a large and diverse array of products.

“One of the primary tasks of architecture as a discipline is to develop cultural expression in emerging and undefined building types. There were some growing pains associated with the development of the railroad terminal, the skyscraper, and the mall,” Luoni said.

Recognizing that the super store is here to stay, the studio focused on enhancing the connections between community and retail development. Students faced the daunting task by taking a fresh look at the buildings that define a city, from hip boutiques and cafes to museums and libraries. Focusing on the outer, public realm of the super store, from the street through the parking lot to the rank of cash registers at the front of the store, the students developed new design strategies based on traditional civic forms.

“The studio taught us to look at the familiar and begin to edit it,” said student James Meyer. “By tapping into the sympathetic ideal of the American porch, my project redefines the way stores like Wal-Mart interact with the customer. The porch concept also allows the store to fit into or create networks of neighborhoods, adapting it more comfortably into people’s everyday lives.”

Joshua Pederson transformed the store entrance into an atrium verdant with garden center plants and punctuated by “dancing columns” that celebrate the artfulness of the structure. A café invites shoppers to linger, and ample space is provided for community events such as book signings.

Students also proposed some radically new retail strategies. Ben Emanuelson, for example, placed a convenience store with dedicated parking in one corner of the super center for shoppers who need a gallon of milk or loaf of bread. He also suggested the overlap of various areas — mixing up the program — so that a shopper with a sick child need not traverse the store to pick up cold medicine, soda crackers and canned soup.

“With this store-within-a-store concept, everyone doesn’t have to share the same monolithic shopping experience,” Emanuelson said.

What’s next? Luoni hopes to develop a “best practices” manual, a kind of catalog of design ideas that will help communities and retailers arrive at a design pleasing to all.

 “A design manual would articulate the issues, open up design possibilities, and facilitate productive discussion between communities and retailers,” Luoni said.

“A primary strength of Steve Luoni and his staff is their interest in taking on the difficult real challenges of the contemporary American urban landscape,” said Jeff Shannon, dean of the School of Architecture. “Luoni’s approach and UACDC’s location near Wal-Mart’s home office offered the school a tremendous opportunity to be of service to this great retailer. The architects for Wal-Mart have been very open-minded and encouraging about the explorations the students have developed. They offered great feedback at the students’ final semester review, for instance. We look forward to a long and mutually productive relationship with Wal-Mart.”

Founded in 1995, the University of Arkansas Community Design Center has provided design and planning services to more than 30 communities across Arkansas. The center’s planning has helped Arkansas communities secure nearly $9 million in grant funding to enact suggested improvements. In addition to revitalizing historic downtowns, the center addresses new challenges in affordable housing, environmental planning, and management of regional growth or decline. The design center also offers hands-on civic design experience to students who work under the direction of design professionals.

To access the full UACDC study Finding the Social in Big Box Retail visit the UACDC Web site at http://uacdc.uark.edu/wal-mart1.html

For more information on the AIA award, visit http://www.aia.org/.

For more information on the NCARB award, visit http://www.ncarb.org/newsclips/mar05Prize.html