Downtown districts in towns can succeed as an urbane response to suburban shopping malls. Our design attempts to create a "House of Richards" with a dignity missing from contemporary urban retail architecture. Without pandering to the past on heterogeneous Greenwich Avenue, the design attempts to demonstrate a love of craft and grace reflective of the store's philosophy and the clothing it sells.

The new two-story, 35,000 square foot clothing store replaces the original Richard's, a 9,000 square foot shop once located directly across the street. The design attempts to contribute to the streetscape of the avenue, and ameliorate the downtown's chronic parking and traffic problems by providing off-street parking at street level and in an underground parking garage. Street level adjacent parking is a convenience that allows an urban merchant to compete with suburban shopping center attractions. In this case, the store is a metaphor for the house on a main urban street with its fenced "backyard garden," including a parking area on a side street.