Laura Pirie, Pirie
Associates Architects

Trumbull, CT In the spring of 2016 CREW CT announced the winners of their annual Blue Ribbon Awards. Pirie Associates was the architect team winning Best Interior Design Project for the Denali Retail Store at the Westfield Mall.

The design of the store was developed so the customer would feel as if they were encountering a copse of woodlands inside the mall. They enter through a forest edge, coming upon a small clearing where there are remnants of long past buildings and occupants, just as one would come upon when hiking in the woods to transport the customer to the environment where they enjoy being most.

Nearly the entire store was built of reclaimed/recycled materials. The 16’ bark-on tree poles, which were destined for firewood, were given new “life” along the entire 130’ long storefront and within the store. All of the wood used in the wall displays and “buildings” was reclaimed. The cash desk and floor displays were built from items such as old wire spools, doors, trunks and barrels.

Denali Retail Store at Westfield Mall - Trumbull, CT

Denali opened the next store on Memorial Day Weekend, 2016, in their design-winning style which was first unveiled in the Westfield Trumbull location on the preceding Labor Day Weekend.  The Old Saybrook location, just under 8,000 s/f, has become a vibrant anchor on Old Saybrook’s Main Street retail corridor. 

Trailblazer/Denali is a 20-year-old, Connecticut-born company dedicated to community involvement.

Pirie Associates was founded in 2002 by Laura Pirie. The New Haven firm is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) with professional registrations in Conn., Mass., N.J. and N.Y., and is NCARB certified to practice nationwide. Pirie’s approach draws on decades of experience to create mission-driven environments in service to their clients’ unique goals and focusing on how to help them achieve their next level of growth and performance.