The brand experience.

Architecture, as people's most immediate environment, is a central component of branding, allowing developers, architects, corporations and individuals to build their own special brands in three dimensions.

New architectural endeavors, whether residential, commercial, retail or industrial, entail the literal construction of a concept--a brand that integrates with the structure itself, blurring the line between the architecture and the brand which it represents.

In fact, architecture has always been recognized as critical to perception, as is dramatically exemplified in Gothic cathedrals. These buildings are architecturally evocative both inside and from a great distance.

The immediate visceral reaction to being inside one of these structures is a spiritual one. Worshipers and visitors alike feel the religion from an emotional dimension which has been both promulgated by and translated into the architecture. Moreover, these monuments express the values of the society that built them.

What Is Brand Architecture?

Our mission at Klingmann Architecture Brand Development is to develop a brand for our clients that can be experienced in multiple dimensions. Simply put, we harness that same power found in Gothic cathedrals and apply it to meet our clients' needs. Our designs, which span the globe and range from resort hotels to retail, commercial and residential developments, cut through the noise of everyday life as an experience that entices rather than assails like a billboard in Times Square.

We begin by reviewing market research with the client to determine what their target consumer wants and desires. Then we devise strategies, based on extensive investigation of our own, to incorporate this market research into evocative architectural applications.

For retail clients, this includes an analysis of existing stores in similar markets to discern which programs and aesthetics are currently being pursued. We look at popular spatial components from materials and layout to amenities and services offered. We conduct trend research as well, analyzing current environments to discern what consumers presently want in terms of community, authenticity, aesthetics, materials and so on. Finally, we provide an analytical understanding of a building or store and illustrate through floor plans and architectural designs the creation of a meaningful space.

For corporate build-outs and head quarters, we determine what makes the corporation unique, what its values are and how these values are expressed. We then translate this information into the architecture. The process is similar to that of a store, but on a much larger scale. The Disney brand is an apt example. Its brand is expressed in an empire of theme parks and stores.

And it makes the Disney Corporation an awful lot of money.

The Retail Experience

Starbucks is perhaps the most familiar case-in-point. Its products and the strictly static nature of its interiors are intrinsically linked, forming a brand that has become the foundation of its success.

It is true that Starbucks is known for its strong coffee and its signature menu items. But Starbucks as a carefully crafted brand caters to the customers' total experience by focusing not just on coffee as a commodity, but also as a branded empire. Starbucks embellishes the concept of coffee as a comprehensive setting, complete with the sound of coffee beans being ground, the smell of freshly brewed coffee, comfortable seating areas and themed merchandise, reminiscent of espresso bars in Milan.

A visit to any Starbucks is an experience that is identical at every location across the globe. This signature brand transforms the product--coffee and cookies--into an environment, one in which consumers can chat, browse the internet via wi-fi, sit and read or hold a business meeting.

Development: The Inhabitable Brand

Branded architecture has since reached new heights, so to speak, by expanding its focus from the ground floor shops to the developments themselves. Buildings such as the W Times Square hotel and the IAC Building are pivotal examples. Both inside and out, such buildings become synonymous with the company they represent and the products they offer. In short, the building itself is the brand.

Over the past five years, New York City has become increasingly defined by a succession of such branded, signature buildings, creating a skyline is essentially a brandscape. Developers, realtors and marketers have discovered that brand-name architects and community outreach are the best way to increase the dollar value of a project.

Architects such as Richard Meier and Frank Gehry have been hired for residential and commercial projects, and their innovative designs have raised the bar for new development while helping to sell units. The same is true for the building's interiors. Giorgio Armani S.p.A. and EMAAR Hotels & Resorts LLC have completed a deal to create Armani-branded hotels. The first Armani will be the Burj Dubai skyscraper. EMAAR will be responsible for real estate, construction, management and operations while Armani adds the style, including interiors, furnishings, and amenities. The plan is to create seven hotels and three resports. The Armani Dubai will have 175 rooms, a spa and restaurants. The tower will also have 160 apartments which will be furnished with Armani's Casa line. Milan, London and New York will also get future Armani hotels. Just as customers are attracted to Starbucks by the experience of its interiors, residential buyers are wooed by these branded names, all the way down to the specially designed line of products from the Armani Casa home furnishings collection.

Moreover, as the condo boom continues unabated and buyers become more discerning, "priced to sell" is no longer enough to give a new residential development that essential edge. Carefully branded buildings with an evocative aesthetic and stellar amenities are the ones that sell out quickly. What could be more fitting than branding through architecture when the product is the structure itself?

This should provide you with an idea of what the emerging field of brand architecture is all about and how it makes a company stronger. Of course, just like any other specialized service, the process is far too intricate to outline in one article. If you wish to learn more about brand architecture, my new book, "Brandscapes: Architecture in the Experience Economy," which will be released in September by The MIT Press, lays out the framework by which these concepts are applied in more detail.

BY ANNA KLINGMANN, PH.D, AIA