-By AnnMarie Marano, Photography by Angie Seckinger

Interior designer Nestor Santa-Cruz, IIDA, NCIDQ, a newly named design director at the Gensler office in Washington, D.C., knows how to come through in the clutch. "He wanted it all to look cohesive," Santa-Cruz says of Palace 5ive store owner, and friend of a friend, Greg Grammen. "He needed more of an interiors point of view. I did a few sketches and handed them to the architect [Gronning Architects, also in Washington, D.C.]. They were based on the materials and basic concept that they had. He wanted a whole brand to be born."

Santa-Cruz was selected for the project in mid-December and the store needed to open quickly because Grammen had already missed the holiday shopping season. "It's Palace 5ive, but maybe the design should be called five minutes," Santa-Cruz says with a laugh, recalling that it took only about a month and a half to complete the project. "The shell was there; it just needed to be refined."

Grammen knew his store would require a personality in order to compete in the area. Palace 5ive needed to fit its neighborhood—an up-and-coming urban area of Washington, D.C., near Dupont Circle, populated by a crowd that ranges from Bohemian to middle-aged residents. "The shops are changing by the minute," Santa-Cruz says. "It's in a locale that is attractive to the customer, which is anybody from teenagers to 50-year-olds that have an urban style."

Essentially what Santa-Cruz needed to do was combine two separate stores into one. "There were two brick, single-story buildings that were not attached and needed to be connected," he recalls. "The main entry has a single door in between two display windows. The store to the right has one display window and a corner single door."

Once connected, Santa-Cruz widened the openings between the two stores (one closer to the front display window and one closer to the back of the store near the check-out counter). Grammen had wanted to close the first opening with glass, but Santa-Cruz nixed that idea in keeping with the goal of achieving one unified space. The store sells hooded sweatshirts, high-end T-shirts, jeans, sneakers, skateboards and skateboarding shoes, sunglasses, and wallets. Clothing is located on one side while the skateboarding equipment is on the other. There is also a skateboard maintenance department.

"In retail, you have so many accessories and fittings to work with," says Santa-Cruz, who custom-designed the cashier desk and display fixtures. "The furnishings wove a softer side. There's a harshness to skateboarding, but a softness as well. The store is very casual and captures that."

There also was a need for flexible metal screens that would lock up at night. Rather than try to hide them, Santa-Cruz placed them in such a way that they became part of the design element of the windows.

Grammen wanted concrete floors throughout, which Santa-Cruz maintained. In a display of the store's juxtaposition of materials, he decided to add "ethnic" rugs that have a tribal character. "It gives it a softer flair against the other architecturally detailing," he says.

Although there was no program for any kind of a sitting space, Santa-Cruz eventually introduced a spot for seating. "The young clientele wants to stay and chat. So you really want a sense that you are welcoming these people," he says. "A seating area softens everything."

Grammen also wanted a color scheme that would be changeable about once a year. Santa-Cruz started with a blue, which can be found in small hints throughout the store, such as in a blue film put over the glass on the display tables. The only other splashes of color come from two painted murals that become focal points within the store. Santa-Cruz adds, "I think that in a very fast track, a brand was developed."