Modern Age Furniture Facade Renovation

*Recipient of the “Best Bays and Cornice” Award at the 2018 Philadelphia Storefront Challenge.

Modern Age Furniture has been an important part of the Juniata Park / Feltonville neighborhood for close to 50 years. They have furnished many homes from their building on N 5th Street, and have built countless long-standing relationships with their customers. But the face of their building has not been updated since the 1980s, and it was time to give their business a fresh look to anchor the growing commercial corridor. The challenge for renovating Modern Age Furniture is that the building consists of six individual storefronts that are similar but do not share a unified design.

It was a clear priority that we needed to create a unified look for all six storefronts, so potential customers immediately recognize the six buildings as one store. Another priority was to highlight the main entrance into the store and eliminate confusion for customers trying to navigate six possible entries. Opening up the second-floor windows was another priority in an overall effort to showcase the fine architectural details that have been hidden by plywood for many years.

Our design utilizes a bold color scheme meant to unify all six buildings while setting them apart from their neighbors. The colors at the main entrance are unique enough to make it clear where to enter the building, which we proposed by reversing the base and accent colors used throughout the storefronts. New canvas awnings and consistent signage help to create a uniform look for the business and the bold look will draw customers to the store. LED accent lighting is proposed for the storefronts to showcase details on the main floor and inside the second-floor windows.  We worked closely with the owners and local business development managers from Esperanza to revitalize these facades and ensure continued success for Modern Age Furniture.