Kimball Showroom - New York
Given all the changes in workplace design over the last decade, an office furniture showroom is no longer merely a space to showcase a product. More and more it’s a lab for exploring new ways of working, testing new theories of collaboration and creativity, debuting new forms and launching new directions in design. O+A’s vision for Kimball Park Avenue was to make this showroom a New York address for good ideas. When designers are visiting from other parts of the country or other parts of the world, Kimball will be their staging area, sanctuary, and pop-up Manhattan headquarters. We see this space changing in the same way a stage changes with each production. To that end, our design draws on a combination of stagecraft, technology and the energy of the street to create a living, ever-evolving rehearsal space for emerging talent.
Given all the changes in workplace design over the last decade, an office furniture showroom is no longer merely a space to showcase a product. More and more it’s a lab for exploring new ways of working, testing new theories of collaboration and creativity, debuting new forms and launching new directions in design. O+A’s vision for Kimball Park Avenue was to make this showroom a New York address for good ideas. When designers are visiting from other parts of the country or other parts of the world, Kimball will be their staging area, sanctuary, and pop-up Manhattan headquarters. We see this space changing in the same way a stage changes with each production. To that end, our design draws on a combination of stagecraft, technology and the energy of the street to create a living, ever-evolving rehearsal space for emerging talent.
City New York, NY
Year 2017
Size 9,254 sf
Team Primo Orpilla, Verda Alexander, Neil Bartley, Lisa Bieringer, Chase Lunt, Jill Gentles, Olivia Ward
Photographer Garrett Rowland
Showcase and Workshop
Kimball’s New York showroom is not static display space, but an active work area. By assembling everything a designer needs to present his or her work to the community, Kimball and O+A have made this space a partner to each user’s vision and creativity. The opportunity to show not only your work but also your work process makes Kimball New York a unique venue for designers.
Layers of Inspiration
A mix of presentation arts will allow each installation to grow organically from the designer’s concept. Sometimes that means technology—digital projection, interactive walls. Sometimes it means hanging a cloth. This space is adaptable to all forms of branding. The ultimate result will be a layered patina of many visions that deepens with every process of design.
A Studio in Manhattan
Every creative person wants to have an impact in the city where reputations are made. With this showroom, Kimball becomes a destination for designers from across the river in Brooklyn or across the ocean in Milan. All will now have a Manhattan showcase—and a comfortable hangout on Park Avenue.
“I think in the same way artists are indicative of what’s happening in the times, the designer provides that lens too.”
Primo Orpilla, Studio O+A
