Alise O'Brien
If the tone of the new Adam Foster Fine Jewelry Showroom is dark and moody, it’s only part of Foster’s effort to accentuate his collections rather than outshine them.
The architect for the space, Chrissy Hill Rogers of St. Louis architecture firm Arcturis, calls the look “modern Gothic luxury”—“a combination of dark and light that creates a dramatic backdrop for Adam’s one-of-a-kind designs.”
The first like it in St. Louis, this combination studio, showroom, and event space gives Foster and business partner Mary Steward the opportunity to not just entice people to buy but also educate them about the jewelry-making process.
“We make everything we sell, so it’s important that if a customer should say, ‘I don’t understand this. How do you do this?’ we can walk them over and they can see where we’re actually making the work, and we can explain how it is made,” Foster says.
Individuality is also important to Foster, and the new showroom provides a space where he can meet with clients privately (he operates by appointment only) to design pieces that match each individual’s personality. It’s all part of giving clients the experiences they deserve—in short, not your typical jewelry store encounter. The showroom is what Steward describes as a relational rather than a transactional space.
“We want you to enjoy [yourself], from the minute you walk in to the minute you leave,” says Foster. “This isn’t a store where you come and stand in front of a counter, I try to sell you something, and you walk out. There’s nothing wrong with those stores, but we really think that the jewelry we’re selling needs an experience built around it.”
Before that experience could be created, however, the space had to be. Working with Hill Rogers and interior designer Emily Castle of Castle Design, Foster and Steward transformed a nearly 4,000-square-foot blank slate—devoid of windows, lights, and plumbing—to capture the thought, creativity, and craftsmanship behind Foster’s work.
Completed in April, the showroom pays homage to Foster’s personal style and Italian roots. “Adam is inspired by both Old World tradition and supremely modern styles,” says Hill Rogers, “so the hope was for the space to evoke a feeling that combines these.”
Like Foster’s jewelry, Castle says, nearly everything about the showroom is customized, from the lighting, including a Hubbardton Forge steel-and-crystal flower chandelier, to the casework, created by Ross Wardenburg, that showcases Foster’s handcrafted collections.
Similar to European jewelry houses, the showroom has a “home-like” feel, Steward says. A fully stocked bar, a seating area that invites guests to stay awhile, and a 10-seat table speak to the fact that this, more than anything else, is an inviting place to be.
The event space, which can hold 30 to 40 people, offers another way for guests to interact with the room and the jewelry. Foster says that it’s fit for cocktail parties or more formal dinners and designed to offer a unique, cohesive experience.
“We want to make sure that the jewelry, the space, the mood, the idea behind the jewelry, what you’re drinking and eating—that everything sort of goes together,” he says. “It’s all one common theme.”
