Sun Diego - University Towne Centre, San Diego, California

Using interesting and unusual materials, each of Sun Diego's six stores have their own unique design and personality. This store located in the prestigious University Towne Centre in La Jolla, California is no exception.

When this project began it was going to be Sun Diego's largest and most prominent location. The client wanted to create a storefront that was colorful, animated, and with captivating visual impact. Something that would make the public want to walk across the mall just to see what it was all about.

The client played an essential role in the design process, we listened to their ideas and had numerous "brainstorming" meetings to discuss materials, textures, colors, and graphic layout. They really liked the use of interesting and unusual materials and their creative edge gave us the license to really stretch the design. Using all of this input, our talented design staff was able to integrate the ideas of the client, the architect, and the general contractor to come up with a design that surpassed everyone's expectations.

The unique fiery letter style and free form "splash" were hand drawn in our design department and the customers idea of a large three-dimensional graphic evolved into the freehand design of the "sun". The "sun" was constructed out of fiberglass and painted with high gloss metallic paint. It was the accented with red "eyecatchers" and exposed neon transforming it from a glittering wave of brilliance in the day to a deep sunset glow at night. The gradient paint on the letters and two-tone neon illumination add to the fascinating transformation that this display makes from day to night.

The architect had suggested a fountain near the entry, but the client was concerned with cost and maintenance. We suggested the "bubble wall" as a cost effective and maintenance-free alternative. Using the architect's original ideas, we created the internally illuminated "aquarium" and textured iridescent glass "bubbles" to complete the illusion. The result was phenomenal, it too takes on a different personality from day to night. Bubbles shimmer against a polished aluminum background by day and become illuminated by blue light at night.

The existing trellis could not be removed and was something everyone had to work around. The trellis was painted out and to help tie it in to the storefront, large "bubbles" were cut out of perforated aluminum and installed underneath the canopy creating visual interest for the passerby.