The Converse San Francisco store on Market Street is the fourth Jennifer Carpenter Architect – designed shop for the iconic shoe and apparel brand. The largest of the stores at about 16,000 SF, it features sales on two levels and a stock room on a third.
JCA’s approach, as at the other locations, focused on finding the unique site conditions that could make this shop feel rooted in its particular place. Demolition uncovered painted concrete walls, which JCA had sandblasted to reveal the original board-formed texture and color.
The defining new architectural feature of the shop is a sinuous hot-rolled steel and concrete stair that connects the two retail levels and brings natural light into the ground floor space. The round stair, edged with reclaimed wood, was JCA’s answer to the problem creating a sense of order and balance within a plan footprint that featured perimeter walls at a variety of angles. The stair’s large central opening helps to mitigate the compressive effect of the low ceiling clearance on the main floor, and invites guests to make their way upstairs.
A large customization zone on the ground floor allows customers to create their own unique products in collaboration with a Converse ‘maestro.’ Converse tapped local artists and the collaborative En Masse to create the distinctive black and white mural that defines this customization zone and the adjacent “Cons” section.
JCA coordinated closely with the San Francisco planning department to create a new double-height blackened steel and glass facade that announces the brand’s identity while supporting the city’s goal of restoring some key components of Market Street’s retail history.