BCV Architects and The Irvine Company have developed design ideals for the evolution of Fashion Island based on Renaissance artistic principles, particularly perfection, order and harmony, to create a luxury experience that seeks to create an ethos of “relaxed formalism” in the retail environment.

Originally built in 1967, Fashion Island is rooted in the ideas of a histroric Italian city, and the detail of many of the buildings provide the “bones” of the transition into a luxury retail destination. BCV has applied Renaissance design principles to the center’s piazzas and buildings to create an architectural character that has the ability to re-vision the entire shopping experience, and bring Fashion Island into alignment with the graciousness and sophistication of adjacent resort Pelican Hill.

BCV recognized that Fashion Island has elements that already suggest a sense of elegance and place-making unrivaled anywhere in Southern California. The proposed design maintains much of the existing organization of buildings and exterior spaces, but seeks to reinvent their detail, scale and proportions so that the facades are more classical in their construct. Further, the intention is that the facades are not mere decorations, but are extensions of the structure within, so larger buildings can properly contain the retail tenant program.

A new group of restaurants at the entry to Fashion Island extends the identity of the complex to to the street. These restaurants are conceptualized as a village on the edge of town.