Title: Belk Corporate Headquarters
Location of Proejct: Charlotte, NC
Project Completion Date: December, 2018
Firm Name: Little

Short Description: After being family-owned-and-operated for over 125 years, the historic Belk brand was acquired by retail giant Sycamore Properties who set off to redefine the company from big-box retailer to retail fashion house. This began with a radical renovation to the Belk Headquarters in Charlotte, NC. It took no time to identify the greatest opportunity as a transformation to the all but dead, mall-esque interior arcade. The underutilized passthrough became home to a series of activity pockets varying in type and scale, all aimed at giving approximately 1,300 employees a place to gather and get involved unlike anything they had before.

Architect's Statement: Realizing the opportunity to use their headquarters as the mantle on which to begin the redefinition of the company after significant leadership changes and a new vision for what Belk could become, the design team was engaged. The goal was to create a casual environment full of color and texture that would bring the atriums and common areas of the building back to life. The team was tasked with creating a ‘place’ that would make the greatest impact on all Belk associates… how they work, how they build a culture around new ideas and how they create a sustained energy and trust around a new vision that they will be responsible for manifesting across the brand.

Biophilia and a focus on natural elements were at the symbolic and physical core of the design approach. The centering device of the renovation is the 12’ tall wooden sunburst or bloom that rises from the floor of the ‘rotunda’. Twisting and spiraling upward, the strips of Douglas Fir, weave themselves together like a hand-crafted basket to form an abstracted canopy; a landmark that is warm, natural and inviting anchoring a café with fresh and healthy offerings – so much so that the team has seen a 3-fold increase in sales. A significant back drop to the experience of being in the place was created through the addition of the 18’ tall Douglas Fir history/story wall, a warm and referential piece of the composition that frames and showcases the new communication stair which now connects the 2 levels of this space, giving occupants the ability to move between floors to the hospitality centric first level to the meeting, conference intensive spaces on the second level. With the target of creating a ‘buzz’ in everything – what one sees, smells, hears, and touches, borrowing heavily from hospitality and their retail roots - the renovation has made the atriums and dining area a destination for their associates to get up and get away from their desk; offering everyone a place to reset, replenish, and rejuvenate themselves. as

As part of the renovation the walls that had once separated the dining space (now called “the New York Racket” -the name of the first Belk store in 1888) from the once hardly-used, almost-barren atrium (now filled with a multitude of casual workspaces and pockets of activity) were removed to allow each area to spill into the other creating both a visual and physical connectivity that did not exist prior. Throughout the course of the day, people move through, up/down, and enjoy an experience that makes each associate feel relevant in the positioning of an enhanced brand strategy and work/lifestyle. The materials used throughout the project were all filtered through the lens of fashion and textiles. This extends beyond to the treatment on those materials like the weaving of the Bloom sculpture to the stitching of the floor and wall tile patterns, and the pleated texture of wooden wall planks lining the banquette walls to the large wall graphics inspired by yards of fabric. The entire space was designed to be experienced at multiple levels where there is as much impact from the overall form and space at 50 feet away as there is from the context and spatial quality experienced at 10 feet, and down to the details that are experienced from 1-2 feet away.