This week, Knoll New York celebrated the opening of its new flagship showroom and offices, just a few blocks from Central Park and around the corner from the Museum of Modern Art, in the heart of Manhattan.
The company’s return to the same neighborhood where Hans and Florence opened their first showroom in 1938 acknowledges the company’s roots in workplace design.
The shop, on the ground floor of the furniture company’s new corporate headquarters in New York, is a two-story space at 1330 Avenue of the Americas, a neighborhood of mid-century modern glass-and-steel towers and is the company’s first direct-to-consumer store
Designed by the Knoll design team and Architecture Research Office, a fellow recipient of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award, the showroom takes advantage of floor-to-ceiling windows, and is inspired by precedents set by founder Florence Knoll.
Knoll worked with Architecture Research Office to create a shopping experience that combines intelligent planning with the sensitivity to craft and materiality that are at the heart of the Knoll brand.
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The architects used end-grain oak flooring and bright colors and fabrics to make the shop feel more like a living room.
Illuminated lacquer shelving lines the back wall, taking advantage of the double-height space to display rows of chairs, including classics by Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer and Eero Saarinen.
Vibrant textiles and finishes draw visitors through the space, a timeline, designed by graphic designer Project Projects, tells the Knoll story through graphics, textiles and objects.
The new space is both a workspace and a showroom and features the Knoll Home Design Shop, expressing what makes Knoll unique in history, in planning, in materiality and furniture solutions.
The space also presents Knoll in the context of a working office, applying research and learning based on customer experience.
Offices at the new location boast a range of alternative primary and collaborative work environments that support a variety of work styles.
Together, the showroom and offices offer a brand experience that showcases KnollOffice®, KnollTextiles®, KnollStudio®, Filzfelt® and Spinneybeck® leather products
For the official opening, Richard Schultz’s outdoor furniture took center stage – with Richard himself enjoying the evening.
richard schultz in 1966 for Knoll
