A fresh new location of the beloved Vancouver-based dermatology clinic, Project Skin MD, has opened in Richmond Centre to showcase their SkinCeuticals product line and skin treatment services. The intent was to have the Richmond location be an experience-based, retail product space. Our goal was to help them create a place that would be inviting while reflecting the brand vision of client comfort, confidence, and inspiration to take on the world. We approached the store design concept of beauty as a feeling: something that people sense and feel in their surroundings, the moment they walk through the luxurious solid walnut doors and encounter the central island of waterfalling black marble with brass details.

Customers are offered warm tea to sip as they explore the store and learn about the skin treatment that is right for them. In designing a space that would make people feel comfortable, positive and confident, we paid particular attention to lighting and fixtures that best capture and convey natural beauty. Translucent tubes, suspended from above, represent the purity of clear skin as well as communicate the clinical aspects of the SkinCeuticals scientifically-backed formulas with the token symbolic laboratory vials and beakers throughout the displays. Black walls with trimless doors and black hardware in the back half of the space create a clean lined and serene atmosphere for clients to retreat to, for skin services.

It’s the small moments and details that work together to create a larger piece that conveys the overall feeling of beauty when you walk in. Whenever someone looks in a mirror we want them to glow. The vertical vinyl line of the SkinCeuticals hexagon flanks the entry in a way that catches the natural light from the glass-roofed atrium of the mall, subtly imitating the gleam of fresh, glistening skin. While, “Get your glow on” shines in neon on the feature wall, emphasizing the Project Skin mantra and feature point of the space.

Ultimately, Project Skin is all about aging gracefully and we wanted to provide a storefront that would hold up in an equally timeless way. From the slab of marble in the centre island to the solid walnut doors that mark the entryway, the materials we chose for the space are classic. The impressions people leave on them over time will be a testament to their functionality, never a lack or loss of their lustre. In fact, the unique qualities of the wood and stone are not unlike that of skin. While they may be smoothed and refined, the true beauty of these materials is in their natural irregularities, textures and grains that will only get better with age.

Design and photography: Cutler