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David Hay is a Los Angeles-based writer on architecture and the arts.
Photograph: The windows of the existing building were expanded to nearly floor-to-ceiling height to create a grand scale and open feeling.
BENNY CHAN/FOTOWORKS
Project: Costume National, Los Angeles
Architect: Marmol Radziner + Associates--Leo Marmol, AIA, managing principal; Ron Radziner, AIA, design principal; Stephanie Hobbs, project architect; Nicole Starr, Huay Wee, project team
Engineers: Niver Engineering
Consultants: John Brubaker Architectural Lighting Consultants
Size: 3,000 square feet
Completion date: March 2000
Sources
Skylights: Aluminex/Skyview
Flooring: Ardex
Hardware: FSPB, Baldwin
Lighting: Bartco, B-K Lighting, Lightolier
Furniture fabrication: Monte Allen
Fire-control doors, security grilles: QMI Roll Shutter Supply
Paints and stains: Sinclair Paint
Lighting: Bartco, B-K Lighting, Lightolier
Program
Milan-based fashion designer Ennio Capasa wanted to make a statement when he opened a branch of his Costume National line in Los Angeles. Located on a fashionable stretch of Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood that includes retailers such as Fred Segal and Miu Miu, the 3,000-square-foot store presents a minimalist environment as a foil for upscale fashions. ``The store had to show what sort of fashion company Costume National is, yet it had to be done in a way that expresses what Los Angeles is all about,'' says...