The owners of the Sheraton LaGuardia East hotel are moving forward with the creation of a new 30,000 s/f retail concept dubbed Oasis located in the heart of Flushing, Queens.
When completed in spring 2022, the two-level, multi-million-dollar retail project (rendering top) is destined to become an iconic gathering place within one of the city’s busiest and most diverse central business districts. Oasis is located just steps away from the Flushing-Main Street rail station and three miles east of LaGuardia Airport.
Oasis will significantly improve the quality of Flushing’s street-level retail offerings through its striking exterior and interior design as well as many subtle architectural flourishes.
Award-winning architect Calvin Tsao from global design firm Tsao & McKown Architects sees Oasis’s design as a welcome addition to Flushing’s highly-diverse and affluent community. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Tsao has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Cooper Union and Syracuse University.
“Flushing is home to one of the most diverse and fast-paced downtown districts of any city on Earth,” said Tsao, who as the lead architect responded to this design challenge in several novel ways.
“Our design philosophy is about more than just drawing people into a sophisticated and highly-curated retail space. We also sought to create a welcoming environment that enables people to gather together and re-connect with one another – something that we have all longed for since early 2020. So, the visual and physical experience of simply entering the space will be rewarding for all – and the varied sequencing of the space will further encourage people to explore Oasis.”
With a transparent glass façade and digital display fronting the streetscape, visitors to Oasis will be welcomed by Kinetic lighting that will be synchronized by a variety of dynamic hues. A series of smaller and more intimate spaces – differentiated by platforms and other elevation changes – will be encountered within the main Oasis space.
Added Tsao: “As one moves deeper within the space, every step of the journey brings something new to the experience. There will be nothing cookie-cutter or mundane about visiting Oasis, and we fully expect the dynamic nature of the space to attract similarly innovative retailers who want to harness this energy.”
Tsao’s current design dossier includes a wellness and educational campus in Suzhou, a community center plus urban farm in Shanghai, an urban farm prototype in Singapore, an office tower in Tokyo, the corporate headquarters for the Glen Raven Textile Company in North Carolina, the renovation of the permanent collection galleries in New York’s Jewish Museum, and numerous residences throughout the world.
