“It’s almost as if you’re trying on jewelry at a friend’s house — at a very chic friend’s house,” Ann Tucker said of the intimate experience of visiting the flagship boutique her design firm Studio A Group created for award-winning Austin jeweler Nak Armstrong. “We worked very hard, Nak and I together, to create the feeling that you are in someone’s apartment. And not necessarily in the overt design — but in the experiential nature of the space.”
Situated in a prime location in Austin’s South Congress district, the impeccably appointed space is billed as “a physical articulation of the brand,” which encompasses both the Nak Armstrong Signature collection and the diffusion line Nakard.
During our conversation with Tucker, she shed light on Studio A Group’s unique approach to designing one-of-a-kind spaces.
“Our goal as a studio is to extract the essence of our clients and for us to remain invisible,” Tucker told Alexander Marchant. “[We strive to] help Nak and our clients in residential spaces create environments that are perfectly suited for them — and perfect reflections of them. Which doesn’t mean that we don’t bring ‘new’ to the table. In fact, what we like to do is: bring exactly what our clients want but never knew that they wanted.”
Combining efficiency and elegance, the boutique’s bar area features our Formera stainless-steel bar sink and California Faucets’ sleek Corsano pull-down bar faucet in polished nickel finish.
Well-known for his artful interpretations of timeless shapes, unique practice of creating “pixelated” gemstone patterns, and an undulating baguette treatment he dubbed “stone plissé,” Armstrong has been showcased by luxury retailers — from Barney’s to Bergdorf’s — and celebrated in the pages of Vogue, InStyle, Harper’s Bazaar and The New York Times.
During the planning stages for the South Congress flagship, Tucker and Armstrong arrived at a serendipitous intersection of design inspiration.
“When I first started talking to Nak, I had been reading a book called Entryways of Milan,” Tucker recalled. “By sheer serendipity, Nak and his partner Walter had been on a trip to Milan and were very inspired. And I think what we were both attracted to was the ‘discordant’ use of materials. And what I mean by that is materials that don’t necessarily appear to ‘go together’ at face value. … We used a terracotta floor paired with precious marble. In the entry we left the exposed concrete of the original shell building and paired it next to refined pink marble walls. We looked for opportunities to do that — on the macro and micro scale.”
Unexpected marriages of seemingly disparate materials are also a hallmark in the work of Armstrong, who has been quoted as saying: “I’m rarely content with what is already available and generally some sort of innovation, whether it be a new material or technique, provides for something truly fresh and modern.”
Fittingly, aspects of the boutique’s design directly reference Armstrong’s award-winning work.
“The colors [we chose] were very inspired by the stones that Nak uses in his jewelry designs,” Tucker said. “He tends to select uncommon stones — and he pairs them in a way that’s very unique.”
Those stylistic nods can be seen in everything from the jewel-like hue of the pink marble walls to one of the boutique’s focal points: a chartreuse velvet-covered pod that evokes citrine, peridot or tourmaline.
Thoughtfully, Studio A kept the entire project close to home. “Every inch of that store was custom-designed and fabricated in Austin,” Tucker said.
In addition to custom flooring and cabinetry, the Austin-sourced elements in the Nak Armstrong flagship comprise an array of luxury plumbing fixtures and architectural hardware provided by Alexander Marchant — including everything from the sink basins and faucets to the intricate locks and hinges that secure the custom jewelry cases.