Nordstrom Opens NYC Flagship Featuring Waveforms Facade by James Carpenter Design Associates
Seattle-based department store Nordstrom debuted its New York City flagship today, a 320,000-square-foot, seven-floor women’s fashion mecca on West 57th Street that features a unique waveforms glass façade with chain mail veils and lighting effects as well as interior spaces that include seven distinct dining venues and concept shops by Nike and Burberry. The building’s striking design by James Carpenter Design Associates opens the retail experience to the street for both shoppers and passersby. Nordstrom joins the Janson Goldstein-designed Neiman Marcus in Hudson Yards, which debuted in May, as two new department stores to open in Manhattan amid a spate of retail closings.
In addition to an abundance of natural light, the five above-ground sales floors feature open floor plans for flexibility, 19-foot ceilings, and a clean white-on-white palette that’s punctuated solely by the merchandise itself and a select number of concept shops and pop-up spaces.
Adding the strongest punch of color is the Nordstrom x Nike boutique on Level 1, designed in lush scarlet red with velvet upholstered walls and arched display nooks featuring Nike sneakers, including limited-edition styles exclusive to the collaboration. The space—created by Nordstrom’s Vice President of Creative Projects, Olivia Kim—also features a wall of CCTV screens that will capture customers feet as they enter.
The Burberry concept shop is an immersive experience, with an entrance wallpapered in the brand’s new orange TB monogram and a café covered with enlarged photos of pink roses by Nick Knight. The Christian Louboutin pop-up shop showcases an exclusive capsule collection amid carpeting and seating mimicking the designer’s signature red soles. Also creating a destination experience for shoppers is artwork by emerging talents who created 54 original pieces for the store (an app offers an audio-guided tour).
The newest Nordstrom store features seven restaurant and bar concepts, including four by award-winning Seattle chefs Ethan Stowell and Tom Douglas. Wolf, serving Stowell’s Italian-inspired menu with a Pacific Northwest twist, features blond wood, gray stone, and contemporary artwork in both its dining and casual lounge area. Two full-service dining concepts by Douglas—Jeannie’s offering contemporary pizza, pasta, and salads, and Hani Pacific, serving Pacific Rim-inspired cuisine from an open kitchen—are distinguished by more vibrant design choices: distinctive wood and tile mosaics and upholstered banquettes at Jeannie’s and colorful underwater murals on the walls complemented by red and yellow chairs at Hani Pacific. Douglas also overseas Oh Mochi!, a donut and dessert shop.
Rounding out the dining options are: Broadway Bar, a light-filled modern lounge designed by Rafael de Cárdenas; Bistro Verde, the store’s flagship eatery serving bistro fare in a contemporary setting; and Shoe Bar, offering cocktails and bites right in the middle of the women’s shoe floor.
Nordstrom is located at 225 West 57th Street at the base of the Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture-designed Central Park Tower, which at 131 stories will be the world’s tallest residential building when completed in 2020. It is across the street from the 47,000-square-foot Nordstrom Men’s Store, which opened in April 2018. Nordstrom operates 116 full-line department stores in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico as well as 249 Nordstrom Rack stores.
Read more: Janson Goldstein Goes Grand for NYC’s First Neiman Marcus in Hudson Yards
