Corgan has recently completed the offices and design center for flooring manufacturer Mannington, located in Atlanta, Georgia. When Mannington decided to open their first showroom in Atlanta, they asked Corgan to capture the best of their values and vision through beautiful and functional design, centered on the customer experience.

The Customer Experience – Rather than focusing on the brand itself, the team designed around the way customers engage with the brand. Since the family-owned company has set benchmarks for customer service in the flooring industry, elevating the customer experience was the project’s main guiding principle. From the very first sketch, every decision was viewed through the lens of a customer: “How would they feel as they moved the space?” “How would they interact with each element?” “How would our choices shape their understanding of the brand?”

The overall design concept embodied the warmth inherent to Mannington, with touches of Southern hospitality reflected throughout. Upon entry, customers are greeted by a living room rather than the traditional desk so the space feels less like a showroom and more like a home. A large fireplace sits at the heart of the living room, with an adjacent coffee and drink bar. Even the conference room is “family style,” with subtle undertones of a dining room. Soft pillows, comfortable fabrics and simply-designed, unfussy furnishings complete the space.

An Art Museum for Flooring – While the project is intended to showcase Mannington floors, Corgan chose not to cover every horizontal surface with the brand’s product. Instead, the team displayed flooring as curated artwork, creating a deliberate focus on the product. The product is set into a concrete floor that acts as a canvas and was native to the space. Every enclosed room was specifically separated to allow natural daylight to flow into the museum-like space.

Hints of the Industrial Manufacturing Process – In a building that once served as a central clearinghouse for livestock through the 1800s and early 1900s, the new showroom sits at the center of one of the last remaining parcels of Atlanta’s historical industrial core. The area is quickly transitioning to become the city’s design mecca and includes architecture and interior design firms, product showrooms, trendy restaurants and boutique hotels.

The project not only elevates Mannington products, but also the brand’s processes and manufacturing story. Custom fabricated steel storefronts with tufting machine component hardware, artwork made from carpet beams, refurbished sample tufting machine, and various branding elements are showcased in the space. Wood elements, such as the library shelving and benches are made from wood reclaimed from the site, which capture and align with the industrial piece of Mannington’s story.

Designer: Corgan
Photographer: courtesy of Corgan and the Right Exposure

https://officesnapshots.com/2018/04/04/mannington-design-center-atlanta/