Rather than overwhelm customers with lavish vignettes and an ocean of color samples, the design studio (they prefer not to call it a “showroom”) has a more subtle appeal - and this is reflected in the building’s stonework. “We wanted to have judicious use of stone, rather than commoditize it,” explained Peter Frasier of Frasier Design Associates of Richmond, the architect for the project. Frasier said that rather than use a “blend” of stone, they wanted to make the facility distinctive using monolithic forms where they could “express craft” without using so much material.
Soft lighting, high ceilings and relaxing music add to the “spa-like” feel of the studio, and the layout of the space was carefully arranged so that visitors could engage with the products before interacting with the staff, allowing them to move about the facility at their own pace. “They’re not getting jumped on the second they walk in,” said Mark Fernandes, President of Charles Luck Stone Center explained. “That’s one of the concepts we picked up by looking at high-end retailers. They let customers come in and look around.”