Architects:Odami

Year:2022

Photographs:Rafael Gamo

Architect of Record:WORD Design x Architecture

General Contractor:Precise Contractor Inc.

Engineering:RKM Consulting Engineers Inc.

Program / Use / Building Function: Store, retail

Fabrication: Dayone Designs

City: Los Angeles

Country: United States

Aesop Palisades Village takes inspiration from its natural surroundings, as well as the area’s vernacular architecture, where local buildings are delicately perched within a cascading landscape of lush ridges and valleys. Most notably, this includes celebrated local architect Ray Kappe’s own residence, a critical reference for the project.

The store is grounded in a base of fresh green tones and layers of highly-textured materials, evoking its verdant context. The walls, ceiling, and floors are all finished with microcement, lending the space a tactile, earthy atmosphere. A velvet curtain meanders across the entire back of the store to hide the inventory storage and utility room, its folds and shimmering texture intensifying the store’s materiality and modulation of light and shadow.

Gently placed amongst this unfolding landscape, the various storage and display requirements are resolved as long horizontal planes, composed of either reclaimed wood or stainless steel, to create an interplay of levity and mass.

Further blending inside and outside, and natural and built environments, a skylight was introduced to bring natural light to a new interior garden, the focal point of the store. Wrapped around the garden, a bench, product display, and consultation sink sit amongst the foliage.

Together, the design for Aesop Pacific Palisades aims to create a biophilic environment, elevating the ritual of self-care through the presence and evocation of nature.