Designwire Daily: from the editors of Interior Design magazine

Wonderwall + Gensler = Uniqlo New York

by Annie Block | Thursday, October 27, 2011

The three-story glass facade at the Uniqlo New York flagship on 5th Avenue.

Impressively large numbers define the new Uniqlo flagship on 5th Avenue in New York. Opened October 14, it boasts three floors; 89,000 square feet (the largest on 5th); 100 dressing rooms; 50 cash registers; a trio of 60-foot-tall escalators; and a staggering $300 million 15-year lease (a city retail record). A week later, a second 64,000-square-foot Uniqlo location opened on West 34th Street.

It’s no surprise that these titanic retail outposts were the work of design firms of equally monumental stature: Wonderwall and Gensler. Wonderwall principal Masamichi Katayama—who’s also designed A Bathing Ape and Nike shops—is responsible for the brand’s organized and systematic aesthetic found at these two new Uniqlo’s as well as the SoHo one that opened in 2006 and the over 1,000 in Asia and Europe. Gensler, which was just awarded the prestigious Fashion Group International Luminary Award for Architecture, acted as the executive architect for 5th Avenue and 34th Street. Led by principal Kathleen Jordan, the firm ensured that both designs fit the recent city-enforced energy-consumption code regulations through such energy-efficient measures as employing UV-coated insulated glass on the facades and state-of-the-art mechanical systems.

The Heattech tunnel.

Uniqlo CEO Tadashi Yanai says approximately five more stores are planned for Manhattan along with a total of 200-300 stores a year worldwide, including other major U.S. cities, in the next decade. Soon, “Made for All” will be located near all.

Uniqlo’s new US outposts are located at 666 5th Avenue and 31 West 34th Street, New York, 877-486-4756, uniqlo.com/us.

The bank of 50 cash registers.

The 34th Street Uniqlo. Image courtesy of Gensler.

Vertical image: The 5th Avenue store’s trio of 60-foot-tall escalators. All images courtesy of Atsushi Nakamichi, Nacasa & Partners unless otherwise noted.