Walgreens at Kalia Design Notes

Walgreens at Kalia Design Notes

The traditional Hawaiian Hale is a structure typically built to house the construction and storage of canoes, host social gatherings and official meetings, as well as provide shelter and protection. The Hale is an A frame structure that has an indigenous roof-to-wall proportion that is distinct from similar structures of other cultures. Construction of the Hale is typically wood beams or columns lashed together to form the A frame, along with layered grass thatch to form the roof of the shelter.

The Walgreens Honolulu Flaghship Store's architectural design features a modified A frame construction using modern building techniques and technologies. The dominant roof form is expressed using metal panel cladding and glass curtain walls with features that personify the waves of the ocean and ridges of the mountains.

As the two ends of a traditional Hawaiian Hale are open for easy access and maneuvering of canoes, the Walgreens Honolulu Flagship Store places its two entrances along Kapiolani and Makaloa for easy pedestrian access. Above the entrances, a clear glass curtain wall encloses the store, but allows openness to views and connection to the exteriors.

The concept of mauka and makai extends into the interiors of the store. The customer's entrance and starting point contains elements and colors representative of kai (the sea) with undulating nalu (waves) and flickering lights connecting the two entrances and unifying the store.

Heading toward the second floor, a series of wood trellis hover near the ceiling represent the upena (fish net) that early Hawaiian fishermen use when they fish and settle in this part of the island, which was known as Kalia.

The second floor of the store is the aina (the land). Here, colors and imagery shift toward earth tones. A large glass curtain wall on the Makaloa side offer magnificent views and connections to the mauna (the mountains). Floating ceilings represent the ao (the cloud) and offer a sense of light and airy majestic scale and volume. The mauna along the back wall of the store offers a dramatic backdrop to complete the mauka and makai concept.