For their flagship location in Torrance, California, the client wanted to showcase the company’s passion for innovation and demonstrate wood’s versatility as a strong and elegant building and interior finish material. With the aesthetic focus on creating a far more than a retail space, the store’s design sets the stage for the future of the brand with an interactive showcase for its wood products, hardware, and interior finishes.

Highlighting the various finish possibilities of lumber products, the interior features all FSC certified wood species and finishes such as red mangaris siding, maple plank flooring, maple veneered workstations, mesquite end-grain sales counter-tops, 3-dimensional oak pavé panels, and cherry for all the doors and frames.

In recognition of Ganahl’s long Southern California history, the design team developed an environmental graphics program curated from historic records in the client’s photographic archives. Utilizing photographs selected from the past 150 years, the designers transformed sections of the retail space into a pictorial history museum.

A 25-foot tall band saw, a treasure from the wood industry’s past, greets customers as they enter the yard. The band saw was also the inspiration for Ganahl’s corporate logo and the super graphics used as an interior design visual on the walls of the mezzanine, visible from the main retail floor.

These design elements combined with a polished concrete floor, exposed plywood, and 2 foot by 8-foot formwork at the ceiling transformed the store into an elegant, retail space.