Eye Eye San Diego

This is the third location Best Practice has designed for Seattle eyewear and optical shop Eye Eye, and the first to venture beyond the PNW and set up shop in southern California. One block West of San Diego’s historic Balboa Park in the Bankers Hill neighborhood, the new location offers exams, fittings, and access to expertly curated frames.

Whereas our previous designs for Eye Eye integrated lens displays with fitting stations, in this space we designed elements specifically for display only, with separate spots to sit, linger, and relax. This reflects a development in Eye Eye’s customer approach. Many people enter an eyeglass shop completely lost, aimlessly walking around for a few minutes before departing. The Eye Eye team are experts in eyewear and in curating selections for their patients. The goal with the design of this new space is to put the customer at ease in the hands of experts, inviting them to have a seat while the optician does the work.

Project Type

Commercial, Wellness, Retail

Location

San Diego, CA

Neighborhood

Banker’s Hill

Status

Completed August 2026

Size

2,059 sf

Contractor

Bain & Co. Construction

CONSULTANT TEAM

Structural Engineer | Harriott Valentine Enginers
Mechanical & Plumbing Engineer| McParlane & Associates
Electrical Engineer| Enginova

COLLABORATORS

Landscape Design | Burkel Design Group
Signage Design | People People
Plastic Fabrication | MGM Plastics

The program for this newest site includes a retail front of house with a clinic back of house. The BOH includes an employee break room, utility room, storage, lens repair lab, 2 exam rooms, a pre-exam area, and 2 restrooms. The design brief, as it has been with every Eye Eye space, was to create a novel approach to the eye care experience. The Eye Eye team does not treat eye care like a sterile impersonal experience, so the space should reflect that ethos – less uninspired clinic, and more boutique store or neighborhood café: intimate, warm, and catered to people.

The central feature is the Display House, a custom powder coated steel frame arch structure, outfitted with rose-colored acrylic panels, mirrored walkways, and internally lit display shelves. It is what catches the eye from the sidewalk and the first thing seen upon entry. Located on the diagonal for greatest visual impact, it is designed to be interactive and dynamic, with the ability to walk around and through it. The Display House is a riff on the arch form so prevalent throughout Southern California and a nod to the beloved neighboring cathedral. In true Eye Eye form, it is meant to be an immersive space-within-a-space, an exploration in how we experience our environment through layering transparent and reflective materials.

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