Case Study: Icebreaker achieves streamlined, data‑driven, time‑saving retail design with VectorWorks

Retailer Integrates Data with Design to Solve Merchandising Problem

Icebreaker, the New Zealand–born merino wool apparel company known for its sustainability focus and global expansion, needed a faster, more accurate way to design retail TouchLab spaces and communicate store layouts and merchandising costs to hundreds of trading partners. Existing tools couldn’t link 3D design with pricing and stock data, so Icebreaker sought a CAD solution that would combine spatial design, cost tracking and high‑quality visualizations.

By upgrading to Vectorworks Architect and investing in targeted online training, Icebreaker built a library of parametric fixtures and symbols that store cost and capacity data, produce realistic 3D renderings, and automatically recalculate merchandising and fit‑out costs as designs change. The result: dramatically faster turnaround (multiple tailored layouts delivered in hours instead of days), clearer partner buy‑in, streamlined costing across stores, and more efficient global rollout of TouchLabs alongside award‑winning retail presentations.

Icebreaker

Bill Powell

Icebreaker