From the use of sustainable materials to state-of-the-art technology, this group of recently unveiled showrooms balance eye-catching details with authentic product displays that foster discovery and inspiration.
Vipp Studio
Vipp pursued its new address on Lispenard Street in Manhattan’s TriBeCa neighborhood for four years before relocating. But the selling point wasn’t that the loft outshined its neighbors—quite the opposite, in fact. “It doesn’t stand out at all,” points out Sofie Egelund, the third-generation owner of furniture and accessories brand Vipp. “We’re happy to be surrounded by important galleries and showrooms, but our experience is different. The Vipp Studio experience is intimate.” In fact it’s so intimate the space also serves as Egelund’s private home with her husband, Frank, and their two children.
A former factory erected in the late 19th century, the cast-iron structure was a key muse for Vipp as its team, along with Lebanese firm Raëd Abillama Architects, gut renovated the 3,800-square-foot loft to fashion the Danish brand’s new home. “Our main source of inspiration was the building itself,” Egelund says. “It has history, and we stripped the space down to its bones, exposing its original beams, so we could let it dictate the studio’s interior architecture.”
The kitchen functions as the nucleus of the loft, lined with wood floors and extruded steel fixtures that juxtapose muted gray walls. Beyond, glossy ceilings mirror the soft and inviting vignettes in the double-height living room, whose high ceilings and large windows imbue the space with abundant natural light. Upholstered walls that cover built-in storage in the study and also hide workstations further embody a sense of home. “It is all about an immersion in the Vipp universe,” adds Egelund, noting the showroom captures the brand’s unabashed sense of self. “In our experience, you either get it or you don’t—we don’t see many people in between.”
Rimadesio
High-end furniture brand Rimadesio’s two-story flagship in the heart of New York’s NoMad neighborhood emerged from an 18-month renovation to set a new standard for the brand’s signature products. It’s also a testament to Italian architecture and design, allowing the 6,000-square-foot space to stand out in Manhattan’s design mecca. “We wanted to ensure we maintained an elegant and contemporary aesthetic throughout the space,” says Rimadesio USA CEO Andrea Romano, who collaborated on the design with Rimadesio Studio designer Andrea Pozzoli. “We focused on incorporating Italian design and selected a minimal color palette that aligns with the corporate identity.”
A comprehensive overview of products and finishes are celebrated across a thoughtful flow of spaces, from a dining room into a walk-in closet and workspace. The location also promotes sustainability. In addition to automated systems measuring energy consumption, the showroom’s materiality includes aluminum, glass, recycled cardboard, and 100 percent water-based paints.
The space is also equipped to host R-Academy. Dedicated to technical and material learning, R-Academy comprises a display wall showcasing all 264 finishes in the Rimadesio catalog. Romano adds: “With the new flagship store, we now have the space, team, and comprehensive product line being displayed—from doors and shelving to panels and closets—that allow architects and designers to interact with the products in person and have the opportunity to find real solutions that work with them.”
Orior
Irish furniture maker Orior moved its TriBeCa showroom to a new 4,500-square-foot space in nearby SoHo earlier this summer. The inviting atmosphere echoes the soft curves and bold materials of the furniture on display to create a holistic reflection of the brand. “Our previous furniture collections served as inspiration for the shapes and materials that we used throughout the space. Everyone on the team had a hand in the design as we wanted it to embody one of our core beliefs of co-creation between designers and makers,” says Orior creative director Ciaran McGuigan. “This is the concept that our brand was founded upon.”
The façade heralds passersby with large windows and eye-catching swiveling doors. Clad with solid oak and mirrors, the evolving angles of the doors also filter in new dialogues between light and shadow throughout the day. Oak archways and custom stone and marble tiles recall a cathedral upon arrival, while a custom, antique-brass drop plafond is suspended from the original ceiling above colorful vignettes that include a sumptuous lounge and restrained dining room. “The showroom is an architectural representation of our design ethos,” McGuigan adds. “We approached this space with the same thought process that we use when designing furniture, which is why it feels like such a natural home for our current collection.”
The Market Building
Teaming up for Coalbrook’s showroom in Clerkenwell, cofounders Na Li and Alex Holloway of London-based Holloway Li wanted to bring an experimental element to the Market Building in London. Inspired by the city’s industrial heritage, the two-story space weaves together a narrative based on “experiencing different registers of the rooms as you move through, which provides powerful backdrops that show off the clients’ products at their best,” says Holloway. On the ground floor, pops of candy-colored cast resin screens brighten the industrial space before giving way to the subterranean basement. “My favorite part is the transition between the ground and the basement level. When you walk down the feature stone staircase, from the naturally well-lit ground floor into the contrasting darker basement, your eyes take some time to adjust. With the dimmed lighting, the textured metal surfaces are slowly revealed in front of you. When you enter the cocooned boilers, the echo of your speech changes dramatically; it focuses you on the tap products and the sound of the flow from them. The design is powerful when the details are not ‘displayed’ but ‘revealed’ through a journey,” explains Holloway.
Cosentino
Cosentino reopened its Manhattan City Center showroom following a thorough upgrade that draws upon its recently enhanced outposts in Chicago and Atlanta. Housed within the city’s A&D Building, the 4,000-square-foot location has been transformed into a residentially informed retail space.“Cosentino is very intentional about designing with local relevance,” says Cosentino North America senior design leader Lucia Zapatero, who led the renovation alongside fellow design leader Cristina Hernan. “We decided to mimic a classic New York loft with an open, living room-inspired space to help customers, designers, architects, and more feel at home.”
The open floorplan balances a mix of light and dark shades to encourage creativity and instill the principle that there are no rules when combining colors. The residential influence permeates even the meeting room, which is crafted to resemble a home office. Also featured is the Atelier, a materials library and design workshop that functions as “an interactive mood board,” according to Zapatero. “This space serves as the heart of our showroom and includes a blend of physical and digital tools to best explore products and spaces.” Further, an augmented reality digital experience helps clients create kitchen and bath spaces using materials from the brand’s full range of offerings. “We began remodeling this space planning to solely replace the floor tile, but we quickly found we had many more creative ideas,” Zapatero adds. “It is an all-encompassing space for designers, customers, and architects alike to come together and create beautiful design projects.”
Fireclay Tile
In Berkeley, California, Fireclay Tile‘s Fourth Street showroom was envisioned “as a natural extension of the brand by pulling in its distinctive personality, visual identity, and innovative range of products,” says Elizabeth Dillon, directors of interiors at Arcsine. Using Fireclay Tile’s tagline, Tile to the People, as inspiration, the light and airy interiors allow the products to shine, while interactive elements help visitors navigate the design process. “Each element enhances these features and allows guests to gain inspiration and knowledge,” adds Liz Dalton, intermediate interior designer. The brand, which is a champion of sustainability, produces its tiles with a minimum of 50 percent recycled content. To continue the environmentally friendly ethos, many of the furnishings were created using sustainable or reclaimed products: The benches, stools, and design tables are made from ethically sourced wood; the wall finish is crafted from reclaimed marble sand and clay; and acoustic panels that top the design table are made from post-consumer plastic beverage bottles from landfills and the ocean.
Stellar Works
On Canal Street in New York, the two-story Stellar Works showroom serves as the brand’s global flagship, as well as its first brick-and-mortar space in the U.S. “Stellar Works has a very refined, Japanese-meets-Scandinavian material palette of wood and metal, and we wanted a space that would act as a minimal but warm backdrop for our growing furniture and lighting collections,” says the brand’s U.S. managing director Andrew Yang. Stellar Works shares the space with Calico Wallpaper, and “as a showroom for two distinguished brands, [we wanted] the space to allow the work to be presented in an approachable, harmonious, and adaptable manner,” says David Bench, principal at INCA, the architecture firm behind the design. Also notable are the show’s two entrances. The first is the main entrance for Stellar Works’ collections, and the second is designed as an experimental space for design partners, which rotate on a regular basis. “With two street frontages, it was paramount that everything be exposed yet in service of the display: raised windowsills allow platforms for furniture, which guide visitors into the space from either side; irregularly shaped existing walls were filled with a wallpaper display cabinet; and immovable egress stairways and doors are made into opportunities for wall display and wallpaper, respectively,” explains Bench.
Excella Experts Experience Center
The Excella Experts Experience Center in Mumbai sprawls across 3,500 square feet. Inspired by international exhibits, the expansive showroom infuses a gallery-like quality into its design. Inside, arched doorways delineate the spaces while leaving open sightlines between the main areas and rooms to create an overarching sense of connection throughout the space. “The interior acts like a shell, taking a subdued aesthetic that elevates the exhibited item and adds to its experiential character,” says Rahul Mistri, principal at Open Atelier Mumbai. Displaying everything from furniture to décor to lighting, the showroom “manifests the ambiance of entering an exhibit rather than just a store,” adds Mitri.
Brickworks New York Design Studio
Spread across two floors in New York, the 16,100 square-foot Brickworks New York Design Studio is situated among other legendary companies on Fifth Avenue. On the first floor, the Australia-based brand’s signature Venetian glass bricks line the walls. Inside, the space houses 20 featured product displays, including Kite Breeze, GB Masonry, and Urbanstone, in addition to all 700 of Glen-Gery’s products being available to view as brick chips. “Brick offers a duet of function and beauty as the architect explores textures, light and shadows, lines and curves, and the mason brings that design story to life through the building,” says Mark Ellenor, president of Brickworks North America. By providing ample space for designers and architects to collaborate, the flagship allows room for both independent experiences or more guided ones, including one-on-one consultations with product experts on staff. The showroom also features a state-of-the-art broadcast studio, providing opportunities to live stream events, product launches, and host podcasts.
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