Mark Shale

Kansas City

Mark Shale approached Charles Sparks + Company with the challenge of converting a two-story, 32,000-square-foot specialty department store building into multi-tenant use, with Mark Shale as the primary tenant. This site would serve as the foundation for an ongoing re-imaging of the chain, and would provide a viable architectural identity within the themed and historic district of the Country Club Plaza.

The existing exterior façade and interior space lacked the presence of a second floor. After considering an appropriate historical reference for a redesign of the façade in keeping with the historic district, Sparks designed a new curtain wall of vertical glazing and a clerestory treatment surrounding the existing stone-carved entrance. This design allowed the expression of the second floor, together with a new, grand circular staircase on the interior.