BCV Architects and The Irvine Company have developed design ideals for the evolution of Fashion Island from the artistic principles that arose during the Renaissance, in particular the ideals of perfection, order and harmony. These principles create a continuum of the luxury experience at The Irvine Company’s Resort at Pelican Hill, one that seeks to create an ethos of “relaxed formalism” in the retail environment.

Originally built in 1967, the current architecture of Fashion Island is rooted in the ideas of an Italian hill town, and the detail of many of the buildings in the center provides the “bones” of the transition into a luxury retail destination. BCV with Burton Landscape has applied Renaissance design principles to piazzas and buildings within Fashion Island in order to create an architectural character that has the ability to re-vision the entire shopping experience, and bring Fashion Island in alignment with the graciousness and sophistication of Pelican Hill.

BCV recognizes that Fashion Island has elements within it that are iconic and 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.