Partners Matter: Design/Build Dream Team at the New High Point
Almost two years ago, a small, unsuspecting barber shop in the Fan neighborhood opened its doors and seemingly overnight changed the entire men’s hair scene in Richmond.
High Point Barbershop has become a city staple in a short period of time because of their commitment to excellence and community. This commitment has produced phenomenal growth in a short amount of time and in early 2017, High Point will open its second location in Scott’s Addition. We are excited to announce that RIC design build is doing the build out of their new space in coordination with the design team at Campfire & Co.
Renderings by Campfire & Co.
High Point’s original location was designed by the great folks at Campfire & Co., a branding and design company in Richmond that incidentally built and helped rebrand the RIC website. In addition to digital spaces, their team is especially well known for highly designed, branded interiors. They have a knack for taking a brand’s visual identity and translating that into a welcoming yet curated space. Darren Brown, one of the co-owners at High Point, notes that this is especially important to them, “If you come into the shop in the Fan, there isn’t a single corner or space or element that wasn’t thoughtfully designed. It’s not stuffy, but it’s clearly intentional.”
The new space will uphold the values of High Point, Campfire and RIC. Although we are a design/build company, that doesn’t mean we insist on doing the design for all of our projects. When clients have a design company they want to work with, we do our best to work together as a team toward the same goal of creating the perfect space. With Campfire, this was no issue.
One of the considerations of opening a second store is creating a space that still feels like High Point without making it an exact replica of the first location. Darren notes that “the difference between the two locations are mostly informed by their neighborhoods. The Fan location was built in 1910, so the barber chairs we used in that space are true to that time period. We used historic materials like hardwood, hexagon tiles and marble. For the new space, the industrial elements of Scott’s Addition will inform the design, so we’ll be doing concrete floors and more modern materials. But the similarities are that each will be integrated into their neighborhoods and both were done with the utmost thought and attention to detail.”
Lauren Shoemaker at Campfire & Co. helped put together the design for the first and second location of High Point. Regarding pivoting from an early 1900’s influence to a more modern, industrial look she says she’s relieved to be working with RIC. “Matt just understands modern design and it’s so nice to have someone you can trust to do it the right way.” Darren underscores this statement when he says, “There was never anyone else for this project but RIC. I had no backup plan. Matt is a start to finish guy, and will make sure that every single aspect is taken care of.”
Although we don’t usually take on commercial projects, Darren eventually convinced us by continuing to tell us “it’s just a really big kitchen!” The truth is that this project fits into our wheelhouse for many reasons, despite not being a residential home. First, it’s all about remodeling and renovating an existing space. Secondly, it takes into consideration a historic building that is being modernized while respecting its neighborhood and history. Finally, it requires a high level of detail and design. These are all things we consider no matter what the purpose of the building is.
We are really honored to be working with High Point and Campfire & Co. on this exciting new project and we will continue to keep you updated on this project as it progresses.