Nick Smith: Exports key to architect's growth

Mark Gascoigne at one of his makeovers, the restaurant at de Bretts Hotel in Auckland. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Opinion

Designer with a focus on retailing is finding receptive markets in Australia and beyond

When you think of New Zealand exporters, it is the primary sector, the IT geeks and manufacturers who spring to mind.

But many others, particularly small- to medium-sized enterprises, are heeding the ubiquitous business advice and heading overseas - even architects.

Auckland-based retail architect Gascoigne Associates has just enjoyed the best two years of its 26-year existence, thanks to its expansion into Australia and Asia. "Most of the time we actually do more work in Australia than here," says founder Mark Gascoigne, citing work for Pumpkin Patch's cheaper cousin Charlie & Me, Glassons and Rodd & Gunn.

Gascoigne was on the cusp of making a commitment to opening an office in Sydney when economic conditions in Australia worsened and he put the plans on ice.

He still wants to make the move once there is certainty about the economy, and the retail market, in particular.

Other markets beckon, too: "We're doing a project in China - the growth opportunities there are huge," he says. "They're very hungry for Western brands; they're hungry for New Zealand brands.

"We're doing some supermarket work in Thailand and we're also looking at other overseas projects."

Business is better than ever despite the company's exposure to the retail market, which has slumped on both sides of the Ditch because of changed spending patterns - what Gascoigne calls a shift from "conspicuous consumption to considered consumption".

"In most facets of business you can either sit on your hands and hope new business is going to come in the door, which it probably isn't, or take a proactive stance [and that's what we've done]," he says.

At the recent Red New Zealand Retail Design Awards the company won seven out of the total 18 awards categories and also took three of the group awards.

In the past three years Gascoigne has won 23 awards for its work in New Zealand.

Readers may know the firm's designs from this year's opening of the high-profile flagship store for Glassons in Newmarket, Auckland. Its title, "Rooms of the Mansion" encapsulates its design ethos aptly.

Glassons also fits the requirement for a customer experience that is more than mere shopping. If people just want clothes, they can buy them online, Gascoigne says. Retail design needs to offer more.

In Glassons' case, shoppers can have their hair done, buy jewellery and see their clothes in rooms that are constantly changing in appearance.

According to the judges, "the international standards in fashion-retail design have not only been met but exceeded with this design and the innovation and attention to detail across so many areas is already apparent and has resulted in an uplifting experience".

There has been a distinct change in retail design to accommodate the demand for more "living" space rather than working space, says Gascoigne. Any large employer is going to struggle to retain its talent if there isn't ready access to shopping and, in particular, decent espresso.

"People want to be able to do [work], be able to shop, drink, eat, surf the net - all these things wherever they are," he says. "It's become retail-tainment."

This is why the fit-out of the Telecom store in Victoria St, Auckland (startling because of the almost complete absence of corporate livery), has a cafe in-store.

"You can't just have a space," he says. "Retail is becoming more about events. You've got to give them a reason to get out on a rainy Saturday morning."

Another eye-catching design was Gascoigne's work for Japanese restaurant Cocoro: "We've won lots of awards with this and it was even published in a Korean magazine and they sent me a copy of it last week - I couldn't read any of it but the pictures were good."

The key to the successful design was simplicity: "It was a tiny, low basement shop, a concrete building that the landlord painted yellow. We sandblasted that off, got in some macrocarpa timber and did a simple fit-out, which just goes with the food."

As for the future, Gascoigne intends to expand his export operations into Asia, not only piggy-backing on the success of New Zealand and Australian businesses pushing into new markets, but creating new clients.

"We're going to be doing much more work overseas," he says. "That's the great thing about the internet - people see our stuff overseas. Shopping is now global."