elements of zaw: finding the right refrigeration
The refrigerators that would hold the beer, wine, and sodas would be a crucial part of the interior scheme; we sought to design a functional and striking space uniting menu and beverage display.
Finding the right look meant working around the refrigerators, which meant endlessly researching all available commercial refrigerators to find just the right look and feel. We looked at full length refrigerators with doors, half-sized with doors, integrated walk-in refrigerator and retail side glass doors, and open-air curtain units.
Meeting with dozens of product reps, studying as much about storage capacity and energy efficiency, and discussing options and dimensions and suppliers; selecting the units that accomplished all of our demands proved quite difficult. Each change to the refrigerators resulted in changes to the way the additional dry red wine display and to the menu board design, size, and information frontages. 
The use of modular cubes at full and half heights stacked on top of each other allow the clients to change the size of the overall display depending on the varying sizes and layout of future store locations and allowed them to reconfigure the displays based on their changing advertising and sales needs.
Labels: Interior Design Seattle, MUSADESIGN, Retail Store Design, zaw pizza
zaw materials: handmade tiles
Custom handmade oversized tiles were used for the retail countertop. We wanted to use this area as a canvas to show the clients’ commitment to sustainability. After sorting through the obvious options of countertops we invariably eliminated most because they were too polished, too uniform, or coming from too far away. Tile is one of the oldest building materials. It’s made from natural materials, supplied locally, and formed by hand. It’s durable and easy to clean. We were able to create a precise look and size with the help of our friend, local ceramic artist Olga, who painstakingly formed, glazed, and baked each and every tile.
Labels: MUSADESIGN, Retail Store Design, zaw pizza
zaw capitol hill: creating strong elements
At this stage we developed ways to integrate the menu, wine, dessert, and ordering counter, creating dialogue between the shopper and the worker while showcasing the action in the kitchen.
With logo and brand identity established, we could investigate the vital store functions and elements through the eye of the brand. We could begin discussing the appropriateness of materials and how they could continue the brand's story.
We created a package of relationships: employees to customers, beverages to menus, visibility to food assembly, materials to the brand's identity.
Labels: Interior Design, MUSADESIGN, Retail Store Design, zaw pizza
zaw seattle: preliminary store designs
very early concepts, before logo or location
Without a real location or a finalized logo, we began by designing interactions: What actions will customers see in the kitchen? How will they read the menus? How will the employees greet customers? What should passersby see through the windows?
In both conceptual designs we created an open view for customer into the kitchen, which was the clients' main directive, and suggested ways to engage the customers and create a show. Integration of the menu with beverage display allowed the clients to easily suggest pairings while the increased scale and proportions of beer/wine displays and retail counter pushed the feeling more towards an old deli or bakery.
Labels: Interior Design Seattle, MUSADESIGN, Retail Store Design, zaw pizza
zaw seattle: initial design concepts
‘zaw: artisan pizza in the raw is a new place for great fresh pizza, salads, beer, and wine in Seattle. We at MusaDesign have been working with the energetic owners and visionaries to design their stores. Here we will be able to share the design process throughout its progress.
Pizza is a traditional food. It’s a meal to be shared. It has endured an onslaught of terrible modifications and experimentations. Our clients wanted to bring back classic pizzas. To us, that old-world feeling is present in bakeries and bookstores. In the wood and scale and light of those places, we can foresee dough being tossed, pizzas being assembled, and wine being displayed beautifully.
Because a ‘zaw pizza is assembled in store baked at home there’s a unique experience for the customer: shared between staying in and going out, preparing a meal without having to cook. Therefore this brand needs to follow the customer home, and to do so effectively, we feel that it has to feel a little homemade with an artisan touch.
Because fresh, local, organic ingredients would make up the main components of the pizzas and salads, the store needed to look like a place that wasn’t using microwaves to warm up bags of frozen pizza toppings. It needed to feel fresh to the customers, as well as the employees. It had to evoke trust.
We developed the mood board above to show the key elements that we felt should define the ‘zaw brand and the look of its store.
Labels: Interior Design Seattle, MUSADESIGN, Retail Store Design, zaw pizza
Finding the right look meant working around the refrigerators, which meant endlessly researching all available commercial refrigerators to find just the right look and feel. We looked at full length refrigerators with doors, half-sized with doors, integrated walk-in refrigerator and retail side glass doors, and open-air curtain units. 
