Insights: A Discussion about Public Space

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INSIGHTS: A DISCUSSION ABOUT “PUBLIC SPACE” DESIGN

Gaddis Architect specializes in all phases of commercial and commercial retail design, design management and construction. If maximizing the success of your business by optimizing the performance of your store, or commercial space design is a goal, then attending the following “Insights” could provide some very real benefits. Many common, and some not so common, design challenges are analyzed. Solutions aimed at increasing retail traffic, creating visual presence in various environments, and expressing not only a particular shopping experience but also the business’s brand, are presented. We think that all design is, on some level at least, retail design. Please scroll on, start a dialogue, contact us anytime.

When the Box Is Too Small: Designing Commercial Architecture in Tight Spaces

Oct 8, 2025 | 0 Comments

A close look at the window will show the consequences of stuffing an architectural program into a to small space.

What has this building to do with too tight spaces? Yup! Windows are to see out, not function as storage closets.

Constraints Can Spark Creativity in Architectural Design.
In the world of commercial architecture, space is money and sometimes there’s just not enough of it. Whether it’s a retail store squeezed into a historic building, a café tucked into a narrow urban lot, or a startup office crammed into a former storage unit, architects are often tasked with making the impossible work by fitting a full commercial program into a space that’s simply too small.

A commercial program typically includes a list of functional requirements: square footage for customer areas, back of house operations, restrooms, storage, accessibility, and circulation. What happens when the available footprint is 30% smaller than what the program demands? This is where architecture becomes less about ideal conditions and more about strategic compromise. The challenge is program vs. reality

Strategies for Making it Work
Learn to Prioritize
Not every element of the program will survive. Architects must work with clients to identify core functions and trim the fat. Can storage be off-site? Can seating be reduced or made flexible? What’s essential to the brand experience?
Think Vertical
When horizontal space is limited, go vertical. Lofted storage, mezzanines, and double-height spaces can add functionality without expanding the footprint.
Embrace Hybrid Spaces
Design elements can serve multiple purposes. A bench might double as storage. A counter might serve both customers and staff. Flexibility is key.
Treat Circulation as an Experience
In tight spaces, circulation paths often become part of the customer experience. Instead of hiding them, designers can highlight them—turning narrow corridors into immersive brand moments.
Use Finished to Enhance Openness
Small spaces can feel claustrophobic, but smart use of materials and lighting can create the illusion of openness. Reflective surfaces, glass partitions, and strategic lighting can make a cramped space feel expansive.

Fitting a 600sq. ft. Café into a 400sq. ft. space.
Take, for example, a café designed for a bustling downtown corner. The program called for seating for 20, a full kitchen, restrooms, and retail display. The solution? A galley-style kitchen, folding furniture, and a takeout focused layout. The restroom was shared with the neighboring business, and the retail display doubled as a queue divider. The result was a space that felt intentional, not compromised.

The Positive side of Small Spaces
While it’s easy to see small spaces as a limitation, they often lead to more thoughtful, innovative design. Constraints force clarity, demand creativity and can result in spaces that are not only functional but budget friendly and memorable. When skillfully done, these projects prove that good architecture isn’t about how much space you have. It is about how well it is used

Historic Building Supports a Brand

Mar 26, 2025 | 0 Comments

Captured by Click Bait: We work with small businesses, especially startups. I can’t believe that I am still talking about COVID but here it is, 2025, and it appears this “ill wind” might have produced something positive, because I have recently finished a project in Old Town Alexandria that was conjured by a client during some pandemic downtime. Captured by an online article by Kirby Allison comparing a $500 shoe to a $5000 shoe, he followed a link into the bespoke world of shoe making and never came out.

The Vision: His interest finally led to the footwear academy of the late Stefano Bemer offered by the Schola Academy, a craftsmanship school in Florence as well as to Francis Waplinger, a NYC shoemaker with whom the client became friends, and eventually did some training. By this time, it was apparent that there were few bespoke shoemakers in the world and that this client wanted to be one of them which meant giving up a steady, well-paying job to follow his dream.

The Business: Shoe making as an art form demands skill, training, practice and time. Shoe making as a business requires investment, equipment, inventory, customers and cash. The client decided that a way to do both at once was to open a shop selling quality men’s wear and accessories while at the same time building a bespoke shoe business, which is exactly what he did. The new business is called Old House Provisions, it is in a historic building in historic Old Town Alexandria. The building emanates classic quality and value and so does the brand.

The Building: These old buildings design themselves. Updating them to meet code and obtain city approval is another thing entirely. We are good at it.

How to keep your core customer coming back with interior design.

Mar 3, 2023 | 0 Comments

Few would deny that the post Covid business environment is vastly different than was the pre-pandemic world of an “entertaining experience.” The fundamental need to congregate is still strong, for sure, but the shopper is often looking for something much more fundamental, basic. After three years of at home shopping, learning, working, cooking, eating, sleeping, playing, and most of all communicating, we find a very different shopper heading out to the mall only to find it empty and uninviting.

Now what? Well for one thing, it is not only the shoppers that are effected. It is business owners, especially small independents and specialty retailers and restaurants that, if still around, are faced with the afore mentioned “now what?” Actually, if a business is still around, if they have made it this far, it is likely that they surely know who their customer is. From this it is not difficult to conclude that the “now what” probably resides happily there. If a business owner begins to think of it in terms of how to organize their physical space around the customer that they know so well, the one they are trying to court, things start to fall into place. If they are willing to Lazar focus on the needs of this particular customer, it is possible that even difficult business problems, like being tied to a long term lease on more space than the current market demands, can be solved.

Consider the restaurant in the photo. One look tells the shopper that this is a place for families with kids, also leading them to assume that the menu agrees. There is absolutely no shopper “decision paralysis” here. To a family out for a walk with a hungry toddler and a school kid with a friend, the place is an oasis that may easily become a destination. How is this accomplished? By simplifying, perfecting the basics, and paying attention to conscious consumerism, which is not a bad thing considering the need for continuous online decision making by many families. It is clean, local, and appears healthy. it offers a bit of relief, a safe way to escape the confines of everyday efforts, and even meet some friends.

All this can be accomplished, often with existing fixtures and an interior refresh. There is a fundamental rule for any business temporarily closed, or hard pressed due to recent events, but intending to begin again. Whatever you do, keep up your windows, and make your space look prosperous. The place in the photo accomplishes this in spades.

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