PURITY OF INTENTION

The guiding principle to the Mountain Rose Herb Aroma Bar in Eugene is Purity. Purity in ingredients, Purity in quality, and Purity of intention. This principal is rooted in the company’s mission, “People, plants, and planet are more important than profit”. The challenge was to express this architecturally in a small space. I landed on a material palate that is high quality, resilient, and promotes a healthy interior environment, while using a dominate architectural feature to anchor the design scheme. I was also seeking to design a space that was welcoming to all and strove to do so by keeping the space simple, spatially open, and sophisticated. A primary material language of terrazzo, solid custom brass, living plants, and custom curved glass were chosen to communicate a sense of strength, integrity, and ingenuity all while being healthy, resilient, and sustainable.

Functionally speaking, the Aroma Bar needs to have ample surface area to display product, accommodate sales and product assistance, as well as a diffuser area to experience the beautiful aromas. The diffuser area became the central architectural element, creating a well-balanced, unique and inviting retail space.

In an early design stage, the shape of a drop of essential oil exiting a bottle became a shape which Mountain Rose Herbs and Agate Architecture found to be a beautiful way to both market the brand as well as to inform the architecture. This shape is used in marketing materials as well as the inspiration for the diffuser room, from a brass inlay in the terrazzo, to the shape of the custom curved glass, to the center ceiling.

Mountain Rose Herbs has the fundamental belief that it is their honor and responsibility to strive for excellence as human beings and as a company. On behalf of my client and Agate Architecture, we hope you feel the design communicates this belief.