January 2006 Your Store Put a Lid on It Ceiling solutions that work By Ruth Mellergaard and Sarah Yates With 42-in. showcases and many lights in the ceiling to illuminate the merchandise, how do you add interest to your space? Look up – ceilings can add architectural drama while solving a variety of problems. To decide which solution is most suitable for you, consider what you’re trying to accomplish – whether it’s directing foot traffic to a certain part of the store or opening up your space. Your might need maximum flexibility in your lighting system or sound could be an issue. The option you choose is dependent on how your store functions. The ceiling plays a significant role in your store’s look and needs to be considered. Sculpture Adds Direction Barron’s Fine Jewelry has a high-end business in Snellville, a growing suburb of Atlanta, GA. The store is rich in color and texture, and encompasses more than 4,000 square feet. The Singadia family’s challenge as proprietors is to pull customers to the back of the store. The solution: a contemporary blue translucent ceiling sculpture from Armstrong which highlights the jewelry island facing the entrance and directs traffic to the customer service area behind this island. The Lucite nonflammable curves focus attention on that part of the store. To further break up the ceiling space with some visual interest and soften the angularity of the showcase island layout, we designed two large circular ceiling drops over some of the cases. A lay-in tile ceiling in the balance of the store provides sound absorbency and ease of access to mechanical and electrical functions above the ceiling. Floating ceilings provide an illusion of greater ceiling height, an important spatial issue in large spaces. GRID/3 International installed a blue ceiling sculpture and designed two large circular ceiling drops at Barron’s Fine Jewelry to add visual interest. Northern Light At another large jewelry store, we needed a ceiling solution that would enable the retailer to realign the showcases at will, rearrange the lighting to reflect the change and accomplish this without the disruption, additional cost and dust that changes to a drywall ceiling would produce. The Armstrong Axiom cove system allows the ceiling to be reconfigured according to the showcase layout and provide correct placement of the lighting. The solution contributes maximum flexibility, ease of maintenance and an attractive polished look to the space. The web ceiling at Curry’s Jewellers opens up the store. GRID/3 removed old tile, exposed the original metal and wooden trusses, and painted the ceiling a light color. When the Ouellette brothers first talked to us about renovating Curry’s Jewellers in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, they wanted an open ceiling. The store had not been renovated since 1979. To help create a more contemporary and youthful store, we removed the old tile, exposing original metal and wooden trusses and painted the ceiling a light color. Making the ceiling darker, which might have made the lights and the air conditioning less visible, would have made the diamonds in the showcase look darker and the space smaller. The open web ceiling opens up the store. To add rhythm to the space, we built two curved drywall bulkheads over workstations inside of the showcase islands. The ceiling solution you choose is dependent on your intent. Whether you want to lift your customers’ eyes, provide a visual focus, pull traffic to the back of the store or open up your space, ceilings provide a variety of choices. They can also contribute a variety of strong visual solutions. Go boldly. Ruth Mellergaard is a principal and Sarah Yates is director of marketing, at GRID/3 International, New York City; (212)273-9612, design@grid3.com, www.grid3.com.