Encore Esplanade shops reveal sense of discovery

By Mark Hansel

Friday, Jan. 30, 2009 | 2 a.m.

When Dan Barteluce was given the task of designing Encore Esplanade in collaboration with Wynn Design and Development, he knew he had a rare opportunity.

Because there was no design plan for the individual retail shops at Encore, Barteluce of Barteluce Architects and Associates started with a blank slate.

I’ve been doing this forever, since 1970, so I eat breathe and sleep retail,” Barteluce said.

“Still, we had no preconceived idea of what these stores would look like.”

As exciting as it is to have a free ha­nd on a design project, creating a signature venue for Steve Wynn — a man whose name has become synonymous with innovation in a city that is built on it — was no small task.

One advantage for the design team, Barteluce said, was Wynn’s genuine enthusiasm for and eagerness to be involved in the project.

“This two-year process was really exciting for us because we had an owner who actually was interested in what we were doing,” Barteluce said. “It wasn’t a corporation where we were dealing with a designer, we were actually dealing with the owner of the company.”

The team decided to use the best resource it had to drive the identity of the shops.

“The inspiration is actually the merchandise,” Barteluce said. “We look at each one of the stores, we look at merchandise itself and we look at palettes of fabrics and materials that the merchants are going to put on the actual product.”

One of the most difficult things to accomplish was to give each store a unique signature look that is also complementary to the overall design of the venue.

From a distance, Encore Esplanade appears to have a uniform look. The open lattice ceiling cascades the entire area with sunlight during the day and the design elements in the common areas are consistent.

On closer inspection however, it’s clear that great care was taken to give each store a unique identity. By altering the exterior panels on shops and focusing signature interior design elements within view of passers-by, the designers have successfully merged symmetry and individuality.

The interior of Swim, for example, has pieces of crafted driftwood inspired by sea creatures throughout the store and a wall designed to conjure images of a crashing wave.

Swim, as the name suggests, is dedicated to men’s and women’s swimwear and accessories and is separated from other shops in a location adjacent to the swimming pool. The other retail shops are in a corridor between Wynn and Encore and are accessible from either property.

Barteluce said Wynn also wants the shops to have a sense of discovery.

“He doesn’t want customers to walk into the stores and see everything with one view,” Barteluce explained.

The exterior windows and entrances reveal just enough of what’s inside to drive customers in. Once inside, the depth of the interiors is revealed.

What appears from outside, for example, to be a wall is actually a half wall with an entire room behind it. Spacious fitting rooms are behind the sales counter in one shop, completely hidden from view.

It’s clear the goal of Esplanade was to complement, not compete with existing Wynn retail. Encore Esplanade is made up of just 12 shops and 27,000 square feet of retail space.

The enormous amount of planning and individual attention given to each shop suggests the goal was as much to create another showcase element for the resort as a new retail option for customers. There is no question, however, that despite the relatively small number of stores, the venue caters to virtually every key demographic that is Wynn’s customer base.

The mix includes designer boutiques from Chanel and Hermes, as well as the Wynn signature shops, Wynn and Co. jewelers and Homestore, a home furnishings and accessories store with a front room that replicates an Encore suite.

The XS Club, an exclusive nightclub, is also in Esplanade, and the adjacent Night/Life/Shop offers merchandise from Tryst nightclub at Wynn and the XS Club.

Other stores include Ensemble, a store for men and women that focuses on high-end casual clothing, the designer shoe store In Step, and the first stand-alone boutique from Rock & Republic, a New York-based clothing retailer.

Mark Hansel covers retail and marketing for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at 259-4069 or at [email protected].