Nike House of Innovation 000

Illuminating the future of retail

Location

New York, NY

Lighting Designer

Tillotson Design Associates

Architect

CallisonRTKL

Background

Lots of people said retail was dead. Nike said no—it just needs to be reborn. The result was House of Innovation 000—a six-story, 68,000 square foot dynamic retail experience in the heart of Midtown Manhattan that integrates the personalization of digital shopping with the tactile thrills of traditional retail. The project’s lighting design firm Tillotson Design Associates selected Ketra to help bring part of their vision for the revolutionary space to life.

Design Goals

Establish Nike’s House of Innovation 000 as the future of retail
Give shoppers a dynamic, personalized experience like none other
Simulate a variety of real-world environments where Nike products are worn
Integrate a multitude of stakeholder voices into one cohesive vision

Challenges

To support a large, immersive space that’s in a constant state of change, flexibility was paramount—from the hardware (fixtures and tracking layout) to the dynamic programming of the light. Between Tillotson Design and Nike’s in-house team, the goal was to create a lighting design and experience that was as adaptable and customizable as the store itself.

All of this had to be done on a fast timeline (1.5 years), where multiple stakeholder voices had to be synthesized, and the final lighting result had to support a wide variety of finishes and furnishings—and ultimately appear in the space as it did in the rendering.

“Nike wanted to simulate a variety of environments that people might be exposed to while wearing the brand’s clothes and shoes. Ketra made that possible.”

-Scott Baillie-Hinojosa, Senior Associate, Tillotson Design

The Solution

Scott Baillie-Hinojosa, Senior Associate at Tillotson Design worked with CallisonRTKL Architects and the Nike design team to bring the lighting design to life. The project team gathered on multiple occasions to visualize the space in 3D, observing material samples and reflectances under every possible lighting scenario to see how they would be perceived by shoppers.

In the fitting rooms, the Tillotson team selected Ketra for its flexibility and quality of light needed to offer a dynamic try-on experience. In a special fitting room area on the 5th floor, Ketra is used to simulate scenes that people don’t normally experience such as saturated, colored light, adding excitement to the shopping experience.

Project photography by Michael Wells.

Results

Today, visitors to the House of Innovation 000 are treated to a truly immersive and personalized shopping experience.

In fitting rooms, shoppers can experience shoes and outfits under different lighting scenarios simulated by Ketra’s lighting technology—from active outdoors to yoga studios to morning light or nightlife—and get a taste of what wearing cutting-edge Nike gear will actually feel like in the real world.

Out beyond the fitting rooms, Ketra’s high-quality light illuminates signage that punctuates the six-story building, drawing consumers into an intoxicating, multi-sensory shopping experience that offers more than a hint of what the future of retail will be.

Thanks to the Tillotson Nike project team for contributing to this feature: Suzan Tillotson, Erin Dreyfous, Scott Baillie-Hinojosa, and Noor Traboulsi.

“In fitting rooms especially, Ketra gave Nike the flexibility we needed—and really good quality of light on top of that—for people to properly experience the merchandise. We were able to create a dynamic fitting room experience for the shopper.”

-Scott Baillie-Hinojosa, Senior Associate, Tillotson Design