George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg Earn a Best of Year Award for This Chic Parisian Store

2021 Best of Year winner for Large Retail

A complex of fin de siècle, art nouveau, and art deco buildings, the last completed in 1928, La Samaritaine, a once-fabled department store in the first arrondissement, has reopened 16 years after shuttering. The multifirm renovation of the entire property includes a hotel by Peter Marino Architect, a new building by SANAA, and Interior Design Hall of Fame members George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg’s redesign of 11,350 square feet of retail space in the landmarked art nouveau structure. Formerly a decidedly middle-class destination, the store now carries the best-known luxury brands, lured by a environment that celebrates the architecture while introducing a subtle contemporary sensibility. A grand light-filled atrium—dominated by a monumental staircase, topped with a magnificently restored glass roof, and surrounded by wrought-iron balconies refinished in their original blue-gray glory—is the beating heart of the emporium. Drawing inspiration from visually similar structures such as the Grand Palais, the design team instituted curved glass fixtures and custom screens of woven metal mesh that balance and connect old and new rather than exacerbating contrast between past and present. The custom terrazzo flooring is by Karen Pearse, the strikingly graphic pattern in the center of the atrium referencing one in the neoclassical Galerie Vivienne arcade—another subtle evocation of La Belle Époque.

Yabu Pushelberg: George Yabu; Glenn Pushelberg