RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, opened its leaded glass double doors on Friday, June 12 at 11 am, bringing 50,000 square feet of luxury interior and exterior furnishings and style to SouthPark.
Aptly described by the company as blurring “the lines between residential and retail, indoors and outdoors, home and hospitality” RH Charlotte feels like a visit to the most stylish gigantic home of your most architecturally design-gifted, rich friend, where everything in every room is for sale. Or for order actually, as RH is not “cash & carry”, but is a showroom of endless possibility. It’s really quite spectacular.
And while the rooftop restaurant conservatory is the showpiece of the showcase, you will also want to wander the rooms and floors, taking in the grand vistas as well as the tiny details. If modern luxe is your thing, RH is a mecca, so set aside time for several trips. The photos just can’t do it justice.
Here’s the detail on the design of the place, provided to us by the company, to accompany our photos by Heather Ison. It’s a little granular, so if decor & design isn’t your interest, just scroll through and enjoy the pics.
THE EXTERIOR
Conceptualized as a transparent, multi-level contemporary structure filled with fresh air and natural light, RH Charlotte is 50,000 total interior and exterior square feet.
It features a charcoal grey Venetian plaster exterior with an expanse of glass-and-steel French doors that open onto a lush garden courtyard marked by a progression of boxwood topiaries and pleached elm trees.
Flanked by dramatic loggias, the entry courtyard is punctuated by grandly scaled boxwood topiaries, the sound of trickling fountains, and monolithic bluestone slabs embedded in decomposed granite.
Passing through a 25-foot threshold of glass and steel, you’ll continue into the Gallery’s central hall with its soaring 14-foot ceilings. Once indoors, enjoy unobstructed views across the entire main level to a corresponding courtyard beyond.
Along the periphery, barrel-vaulted passage ways lead to a classical arrangement of rooms with artistic installations featuring RH Interiors collections from internationally renowned designers, as well as one-of-a-kind antiques and artifacts from RH Chairman, CEO and Design Principal Gary Friedman’s world travels.
To access the upper floors, guests ascend a grand double floating staircase spanning nearly 40 feet. Natural light emanates from a massive skylight three floors above, while a spectacular installation of crystal chandeliers hanging 52 feet overhead highlight a composition of gilded antique mirrors cascading down the stairwell to create an endless reflection and further illuminate the way.
LEVEL TWO – RH MODERN COLLECTION and RH INTERIOR DESIGN & ATELIER
On the second level, visitors will discover an 8,000-square-foot exhibition space presenting RH Modern, one of the largest curated and fully integrated assortments of modern furnishings, lighting, textiles and décor under one brand in the world.
Contemporary art from the GENERAL PUBLIC for RH Collection – featuring nearly 200 works from acclaimed artists across the globe hang on every wall. Longtime art collector, Portia de Rossi, founded GENERAL PUBLIC with a view to bringing good art to more people. Her company’s groundbreaking 3-D technology makes that possible by redefining the limits of printing–capturing every nuance of brushwork, texture, and technique to authentically reveal the artist’s hand.
Level two is also where you’ll find the RH Interior Design Firm & Atelier, an interactive studio providing an unprecedented level of professional design services.
Defined by a dramatic 37-foot-wall of floor-to-ceiling glass, designers from RH Interior Design create in a highly styled workspace complete with private client presentation rooms and state-of-the-art technology.
Additional resources include an RH Rugs Showroom presenting the finest hand-knotted and hand-woven rugs in the world; specialized galleries for luxury window treatments, bed and bath linens, and bath hardware; and a design library offering access to RH’s vast assortment of fabrics, leathers, and furniture and lighting finishes.
This immersive space is punctuated by a rhythmic progression of glass and steel French doors with Juliet balconies that line the entire perimeter of the floor, as well as two lush garden terraces featuring geometric topiaries, crystal and iron chandeliers, and steel and cedar trellises.
LEVEL THREE – ROOF TOP RESTAURANT & PARK, RH OUTDOOR
At the top of the grand double floating staircase, you arrive to the Rooftop Restaurant – a year-round, skylit conservatory offering breakfast, lunch and dinner in a space layered with glimmering crystal chandeliers, elegant banquette seating defined by Japanese boxwood hedging, and heritage olive trees. It’s important to know that the restaurant is only open during the showrooms hours, so when RH closes each evening, so does the eatery. Current hours for RH are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m to 6 p.m. on Sunday, although the company plans to potentially expand the store hours in the future.
Seamlessly extending from indoors to out, the restaurant opens onto a beautifully landscaped park reminiscent of the classical gardens of Europe. Here you’ll enjoy RH Outdoor lounge spaces where all the furnishings are available for order, with overhead canopies, trellised London plane trees and the sound of trickling fountains.
All photos captured by Heather Ison Photography
