The drugstore chain Walgreens isn’t exactly known for innovative store design. But the Illinois-based retailer may not be getting its just due for its willingness to alter its standard format to respect history.
For example, its flagship store in Chicago is an adaptive reuse of the Noel State Bank Building in that city’s Bucktown/Wicker Park neighborhood. The two-year restoration retained much of the bank’s neoclassical style, including the exterior’s ornamental terra cotta, large windows divided by rising pilasters topped with Corinthian capitals, and a prominent cornice that wraps around the corner of the building.
The restoration also features abundant nonsymmetrical hexagons that frame griffins and other ornate designs. And at the center of the building is a large stained-glass window with a six-point star design.
When Walgreens was planning its 15th flagship, located in Honolulu, the company envisioned a store that would be sensitive to the host culture and conveyed a sense of place.
The flagship would be built at the corner of one of Honolulu’s busiest intersections and near one of the nation’s top-grossing shopping centers. This area was once wetlands where fishermen and canoe builders toiled. So Architects Hawaii Ltd., the project’s lead design firm, suggested “as a starting point,” that the Walgreens flagship resemble a canoe “hale,” or house where the ships were built, says Lester Ng, the firm’s lead architect. That design would also exhibit the concept of “akupua’a,” meaning sustainability.
The ground floor of this two-story, 35,576-sf building reflects the colors and wave patterns of the ocean. The ceiling pattern depicts a modern interpretation of fishing nets.
Ng says his firm worked with the project’s mechanical and plumbing engineer, Inatsuka Engineering, to design a building with metal walls and sharp angles that form long sides, which work with sun shading that covers 60% of the high-performing glass curtain wall area in the front and sides of the store.
The neighborhood was enthused about getting a high profile retail tenant on an underused and poorly lighted corner. “The only negative comments we heard was that the local KFC would have to be closed,” says Ng.
Walgreens operates 18 stores in Hawaii, and this flagship, known as Walgrees Ke’eaumoku, replaces an 11,000-sf store that had 20 employees and eight parking spaces. The new store, which was completed in March and is open 24 hours a day, has 120 employees and parking for 200 vehicles.
This flagship is not your grandfather’s drugstore. One department sells beer, wine, and spirits. Its Upmarket Café has a juice bar, and offers sushi, poke, and sashimi, as well as wraps, sandwiches, baked goods, and frozen yogurt. The second floor is a pharmacy with an express pickup kiosk.
The building team on this project included DCK Pacific Construction (general contractor), Moss Engineering (electrical engineer), Allison-Ide Structure Engineers (structural engineer), Hida Okamoto (civil engineer), and Monaghan Landscape Architect.
Related Stories
Market Data | Apr 1, 2024
Nonresidential construction spending dips 1.0% in February, reaches $1.179 trillion
National nonresidential construction spending declined 1.0% in February, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.179 trillion.
Affordable Housing | Apr 1, 2024
Biden Administration considers ways to influence local housing regulations
The Biden Administration is considering how to spur more affordable housing construction with strategies to influence reform of local housing regulations.
Affordable Housing | Apr 1, 2024
Chicago voters nix ‘mansion tax’ to fund efforts to reduce homelessness
Chicago voters in March rejected a proposed “mansion tax” that would have funded efforts to reduce homelessness in the city.
Standards | Apr 1, 2024
New technical bulletin covers window opening control devices
A new technical bulletin clarifies the definition of a window opening control device (WOCD) to promote greater understanding of the role of WOCDs and provide an understanding of a WOCD’s function.
Adaptive Reuse | Mar 30, 2024
Hotel vs. office: Different challenges in commercial to residential conversions
In the midst of a national housing shortage, developers are examining the viability of commercial to residential conversions as a solution to both problems.
Sustainability | Mar 29, 2024
Demystifying carbon offsets vs direct reductions
Chris Forney, Principal, Brightworks Sustainability, and Rob Atkinson, Senior Project Manager, IA Interior Architects, share the misconceptions about carbon offsets and identify opportunities for realizing a carbon-neutral building portfolio.
Reconstruction & Renovation | Mar 28, 2024
Longwood Gardens reimagines its horticulture experience with 17-acre conservatory
Longwood Gardens announced this week that Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience, the most ambitious revitalization in a century of America’s greatest center for horticultural display, will open to the public on November 22, 2024.
Office Buildings | Mar 27, 2024
A new Singapore office campus inaugurates the Jurong Innovation District, a business park located in a tropical rainforest
Surbana Jurong, an urban, infrastructure and managed services consulting firm, recently opened its new headquarters in Singapore. Surbana Jurong Campus inaugurates the Jurong Innovation District, a business park set in a tropical rainforest.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 27, 2024
Kansas City’s new Sobela Ocean Aquarium home to nearly 8,000 animals in 34 habitats
Kansas City’s new Sobela Ocean Aquarium is a world-class facility home to nearly 8,000 animals in 34 habitats ranging from small tanks to a giant 400,000-gallon shark tank.
Market Data | Mar 26, 2024
Architecture firm billings see modest easing in February
Architecture firm billings continued to decline in February, with an AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score of 49.5 for the month. However, February’s score marks the most modest easing in billings since July 2023 and suggests that the recent slowdown may be receding.