Dynamic duo

Dynamic duo
The co-branded Sony StyleComcast Labs concept brings two strong brands together in Philadelphia

By Vilma Barr, New York Editor
June 01, 2009

Dominic Episcopo Photography, Philadelphia

Commuters passing through busy Suburban Station in Philadelphia’s Center City district can now add another stop on their schedule. In the lower level of the adjacent Comcast Building, a new 3,000-sq.-ft. retail complex at 17th Street and JFK Boulevard is displaying and demonstrating the premier products and services from both Sony and Comcast.

Colorful posters in trains that transport 100,000 passengers to the terminal during the workweek carry the message: “Sony StyleComcast Labs…Above the Expected, Below the Building.”

Previously used for storage, three separate spaces within the Comcast building were transformed into retail stores and customer service centers, located at the base of the curved staircase leading from the building lobby. “This is our first co-branding project,” says Christine Belich, vice president executive creative director, Sony, which currently has 40 retail stores. “Philadelphia is Comcast’s headquarters, and by linking with Sony products, it makes it easier for the customer to recognize the benefits offered by both.” She points out that the project didn’t start with an ideal floorplan, working with three separate spaces that needed to function as a unit. Belich and architect Mitchell Kavanaugh of Toronto-based Kavacon Inc. decided on a plan to visually link them with open store fronts featuring bright lighting spilling out onto the walkway, and with a video wall accented by a color-changing LED system.

Kavanaugh had to plan the lighting to compensate for the low ceiling height in the space because of equipment for HVAC, water and other building systems. “It was a real challenge,” he says. He coordinated the illumination program with Ron Doyle, vice president of business development for the Los Angeles-based office of lighting supplier Wiedenbach-Brown. Luminaires and lamps were selected for the 300-sq.-ft. camera area, the 1,000-sq.-ft. “Play Station,” and the 1,600-sq.-ft. concierge and home theater “Life Style” section.

For wall illumination, directional fixtures from Amerlux Lighting utilize GE’s 20-watt ceramic metal halide (CMH) lamps. Juno Lighting fixtures supply ambient illumination with 51-watt compact fluorescent (CFL) GE lamps. Doyle notes that both the CMH and CFL lamps are balanced at 3000˚K with color rendition rated at 85.

“In the Life Style area, 37-watt halogen MR16 low-voltage adjustable downlights can be dimmed by the sales associates as needed near the flat-panel TVs to provide a more residential atmosphere,” Doyle says. “The IR (infrared) coating on the lamps boosts the lumens to the output of a 50-watt standard version for energy savings.”

Sales associates are encouraged to accompany customers to all three areas to offer information and assist them in their selections. “The store will also function as a way for Sony and Comcast to introduce technologies in its labs section, so people will be able to see up-and-coming technologies, and to gauge reaction to changes in the selection and to new products and services,” Belich notes. “It’s a combined strategy to differentiate both firms from other electronics retailers and service providers.”