featured project
WDC Kitchen and Bath Showroom
La Quinta, CA
​
Winner of the 2024 Innovative Showroom Design Award
Presented by the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA)
​
WDC Kitchen and Bath is a family-owned, multi-location showroom and retail center. They set their presence in Southern California with five showrooms spreading from Santa Barbara to South Bay. Though each location carries the WDC branding, they are slightly different, each echoing its unique location and surrounding area. In May of 2023, WDC took an opportunity to expand into the Coachella Valley, which is 100 miles East of Los Angeles, establishing La Quinta as their 6th location. a/k/a creatives was privileged to work with the WDC team to provide a new showroom design. For this location, the owner aimed to have an airy, modern, and clean look catering to La Quinta and the surrounding area customers while maintaining a warm feeling unique to all WDC locations. a/k/a creatives designed three Thermador, four Wolf/Sub-Zero/Cove, one Dacor, one Gaggenau, one JennAir, one SKS, one La Cornue vignettes, as well as the rest of the showroom.
​
The showroom is in a stand-alone 38,000-square-foot building with a 30-foot-high ceiling. When WDC took over the building, it felt vast and lacked a personal feeling and intimacy. After a complete gut-out remodel, the front and center areas of the showroom now consist of 16 luxury kitchen appliance vignettes. The plumbing department is located off the side of the kitchen area with 13 high-end plumbing vignettes, which lead to an outdoor kitchen display area and kitchen appliance displays such as dishwashers, refrigerators, and cooktops. There is a customer coffee area behind the main reception/sales counter and two meeting rooms that architects, interior designers, and builders can use as temporary conference rooms.
​
With careful planning and placement of walls, products, lighting, and individual vignettes and departments, a/k/a creatives created a path for customers to meander through the space. We carefully crafted a view into different vignettes presenting different high-end manufacturers at each turn to pique customer interest and avoid presenting all products simultaneously to prevent over-exposure. Once, it was a vast open space with no character; now, it feels more intimate and comfortable yet open without feeling overwhelmed.
Each kitchen vignette is designed to reflect the unique branding of each manufacturer, but the showroom carries a cohesive look and feel. Careful attention was given to presenting vast amounts of product in an orderly manner. Over 400 kitchen appliances, 600 plumbing fixtures, and 200 hardware are on display. Every single appliance and hardware has its own designated display location. Also, the display cabinet details were created and built to avoid damage from frequent product changes. They are also easily modifiable without significant expense.
​
The showroom is designed to inspire consumers and trade members such as architects, interior designers, and builders. The innovative use of materials, like leather laminate, airslate walls, unique textured wood panels, and printed porcelain slabs, is seen throughout the showroom. The highly visual and hard-to-forget wallcoverings are used in the plumbing display areas, creating a well-balanced juxtaposition of scales and visual textures. The design is simple when viewed from afar, with straight lines, planes, and shapes. Up close, many surfaces are rich in textures and all come together harmoniously.
Wolf Vignette
Thermador / Bosch Vignette
Dacor Vignette
Gaggenau Vignette
Plumbing Department
Customer Amenities
Outdoor Kitchen Department
