Inspirational Curb Appeal for Commercial Properties
By: Sarah
Bottom line: investing in commercial curb appeal is worth it. The ROI is there, plus it does wonders for your brand and the community’s perception of your business. The majority of our clients are homeowners, but we also work with commercial property owners regularly. These projects bring their own particular design challenges — a car wash is quite a different building than a motel, after all — and we welcome them with delight. See below for some of our favorite recent commercial property exterior designs. Get ready to be inspired.
Our mission at brick&batten is to partner with you on bringing your exterior design dreams to life. Tell us your goals, and we’ll come up with an updated exterior concept to be proud of. We render your actual property with these updates, visualized, AND give you a clickable resource list so you can get started on the renovations right away. Learn more about our virtual exterior design services.
Mixed Use with Office Storefront
The owner of this commercial building had recently moved their construction office to the main level retail space. They reached out to brick&batten to “update the look” and were hoping “to stand out from other buildings in the area.” We recommended painting the building’s original red brick an off-white (Benjamin Moore’s Seapearl) with wood accents. The canted screen wood accent certainly makes a statement!
Reimagined Building for Surgery Center
Earlier this year we rounded up some beautiful dental office designs we’ve worked on — this center for oral and facial surgery is in a tangential space. The renovation of this building to reimagine it as a surgery center involved quite the transformation. We helped the owners create a new front entrance as well as setting off both entrances with awnings. Improved steps and walkways provide better access for patients. We also built up the top of the building on both sides to add prominence to the entries and as a place to add branding. The brick is rendered in Sherwin Williams’ Iron Ore with Tricorn Black on the trim, eaves, and doors. Finally, our designers suggested wood cladding accents and column wraps with black metal roofing and aluminum columns for an elevated industrial feel.
The Magic of Paint
This 50-year-old apartment complex has some cool architectural lines, but the color palette and a few design elements were making it feel dated. Our expert designers freshened it up with a smart colorblocking solution, in a palette by Sherwin Williams. Gray Matters and Greek Villa are the two dominant colors, with Cast Iron on the ends and doors. Iron Ore provides contrast on accents. Other updates that provide more elegance to the building include new awnings, exterior lights, and balcony railings.
Revamped Retail
The owner of this historic property on the corner of a mountain town’s main street wanted to revamp it as a retail location. This area has lots of foot traffic, so windows aplenty and a distinctive front door were a must. The stucco cladding is rendered in Benjamin Moore’s Cloud Cover; the fun pop of green on the front door is Sherwin Williams’ Greenbelt. Signage that’s visible to both pedestrians and from across the street and down a block is a great way to attract customers.
Lakeside Restaurant Redesign
This was the first of three orders from the same client in an East Coast lake town — redesigning the exterior of her lakeside restaurant. Our designers went for a welcoming transitional aesthetic with a distinct coastal feel. Warm wood decking and supports pull out the richness of the stone skirting. Next, cedar shake siding in the gables and white vertical and lap siding bring the waterfront vibes. You’ll notice that we added a lighthouse to the roof of the outdoor seating area. Originally we suggested an updated cupola (see the before and after below). But, with the restaurant redesign came a rebranding. How fun to incorporate a namesake element into the design!
Ticket Booth and Office Building
The client for the Lighthouse Restaurant above reached out to us again to redesign the exterior of this ticket booth and office building. She wanted both to complement the nearby restaurant. We carried through the coastal white + stone + wood look, but went with slightly different colors to differentiate the buildings.
Boutique Hotel/Motel
Another commercial curb appeal upgrade for the same client as the two above! Here, she purchased an old motel with the goal of revamping it to be a boutique hotel + apartment buildings, all around the theme ‘Bungalows.’ Our designers delivered a put-together coastal aesthetic that makes this mixed-use property widely appealing.
Strip Mall Face Lift
We included a before and after here so you could really get a sense of the impact of this facelift. It went from dated and drab to unique and eye-catching. Our designers suggested a contemporary, industrial feel, with dark paint colors, lighter stone, and warm Ipe wood accents. We also recommended consistent styling for signage across all of the building’s tenants, for cohesion.
A Welcoming Downtown Coffee and Wine Bar
The owner of this great hangout spot was looking for a way to spruce up his commercial curb appeal while incorporating signage with his new branding. This redesign kept the natural brick. We offered signage ideas, including branding in the storefront windows and elegant lighting above the wall-mounted sign. A flower box above the door and windows allows for a splash of greenery against the manmade materials. Finally, the second level window was originally painted white; our designers visualized it painted black, to better blend with the main level windows.
Side-by-Side Buildings
We designed the building below for this client in summer 2022, and she reached out to us a handful of months later looking to see the buildings above with a complementary design. The two projects are diagonally across the street from each other. We replicated some design elements — such as the stone veneer and the black awning — but also introduced some new elements. The building on the left above shows the brick painted in Sherwin Williams’ Andiron. The brick on the building on the right is rendered in Peppercorn.
Abandoned Service Station Transformed Into Restaurant
The client above reached out to us once again for this, her third brick&batten project! Transforming this abandoned service station into a restaurant (just behind the side-by-side buildings two above) took imagination. Our designers came up with this impressive design that makes use of the station’s original garage doors for indoor-outdoor flow. The section on the left is semi-covered, while we suggested full coverage for inclement weather on the right. Sherwin Williams’ Mindful Gray on the brick and black accents coordinates with the rest of the owners’ properties.
Kudos to this client for investing in her town!
Modern Car Lot
Another main street project! This client wrote in looking to modernize their car lot and asked specifically for “a cool space to put our sign.” We suggested the cutout letters on top of the extended roof awning, which will look super cool at night with the uplighting our designers included. Additional signage on the wood cladding to the right is identifiable for those driving up. Dark siding, wood veneer, and plentiful lighting mark this property as sophisticated and on-trend.
Rural Hotel, Casino, and Inn
This prominent building — a hotel, casino, and inn — sits at the end of main street in a rural town. The owner was mostly looking for a color palette refresh with a few simple, budget-friendly additional suggestions. Our designers rendered the property in Sherwin Williams’ Useful Gray with accents in Naval. This classic pairing works well with the building’s new select stone and wood elements. Furthermore, it plays off of the necessarily large parking lot.
Having Fun at the Car Wash
This car wash was built in the 1980s, and the owner wanted to keep some of its retro vibe while bringing it into the 2020s. While we’re all about neutrals at brick&batten — whether that’s off-whites, complex mid-range colors, or near-black hues — it can be fun to play with bright colors! Here, we used Benjamin Moore hues: Margarita is the bright green, Seaport Blue plays well with the unchanged roof, and Manchester Tan replaces the fuchsia trim that the owner wanted to move away from, grounding the palette. Our designers also provided ideas for a new logo and signage as well as arched awnings that allow for signage and lighting.
Dated Tavern to Cozy, Classy Roadside Attraction
If you live in certain parts of the country, you’ve seen your fair share of taverns like the ‘before’ images pictured above. But how many have you seen that look like the ‘after’ renderings? It completely changes your perception of the eating and drinking experience to come!
Commercial curb appeal for the win
Whether you’re looking to maximize revenue, attract new customers, or simply build up your brand image, investing in commercial curb appeal upgrades is a smart move. And we’re here to help you make the right decision the first time around — saving you time and money in the long run.
Residential exterior design is the biggest part of our business, but we have specialists on our team with deep experience in commercial exterior design. We’ve even taken it upon ourselves to redesign logos as a value-added service for our clients. Visualize today, renovate tomorrow! Get started now.
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