2026 | Professional
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Hudsonica, a Hoboken, New Jersey-based cannabis dispensary, opened in 2025. Our client desired a licensed, high-end cannabis experience to serve both recreational and medical customers, embodied in a localized Hoboken customer journey.
Hoboken’s rich history provided considerable inspiration for telling a localized story. Our team created the Hudsonica brand name and logo, store design, architecture and interiors, fixtures, and graphics. Throughout the store, the retro, industrial, and historical graphics set a backdrop for “everything cannabis.”
The customer journey begins in the lobby with pre-order kiosks. Wall art features the inside of a railroad repair shop and a large-scale, 78-style record leaning against the wall, evocative of Hoboken’s musical heritage.
In the retail showroom, each fixture is labelled, designed and merchandised for different product categories – pre-rolls, flower, edibles, vapes, concentrates, and glassware. The Hoboken ferry terminal is the aesthetic muse for a discovery zone with two adjacent waterfront piling fixtures showcasing products. On top of the “Find My” fixture, the tourist “binoculars,” often seen at waterside venues, encourage one to explore the various strains of cannabis displayed, with shoppers able to take a closer look using the provided microscopes.
At the “My Way” display, clientele can explore products while listening to musical selections from the area’s rich legacy. Using sound domes, the music is directed downward along the tall “Musical-Icon Graphic,” which anchors the fixture. The “Gear Up” table features various cannabis hardware and gear punctuated by slow-moving gearwheels that animate this fixture and provide a connection to Hoboken’s industrial heritage.
In the education zone, clientele can learn about cannabis/products via an interactive video display and physical products beneath it in a specialized fixture. At journey’s end, clientele pick up their purchases and indulge in last-minute impulse items at the sales/checkout area.
The terrazzo floor throughout the store is designed to illustrate Hoboken’s connection to New York City and the Hudson River. The inlay of the River is flanked by NYC on one side (with a stylized orthogonal geometry) and a layout suggestive of Hoboken’s street grid on the other.
Credits
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hb+a Architects
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Innovative Architecture - Energy-Positive and Zero-Emission Buildings
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Yuanbo Jia
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Urban Design and Planning - Urban Regeneration and Redevelopment
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C.Y.CHEN Architects & Planners | DA-YUN Interior Design
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Interior Design - Gallery (NEW)
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University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
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Student Design - Urban Design and Planning