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Danish furniture brand Carl Hansen & Son has relocated its showroom in Manhattan, filling a loft-style space near Gramercy Park with its modernist Scandinavian products. The new space on the 13th floor of a pre-war building replaces the brand’s SoHo location, which opened in 2011. Located on Park Avenue South, it joins countless other design stores and showrooms in the Flatiron District, including recent move-ins Pelle. “New York is a renowned centre for modern design,” said Thomas Vagner, Carl Hansen & Son’s president of Americas. “Our timeless aesthetic has been so well received here, perfectly complementing both contemporary and classic interiors.” The company designed the showroom in-house, transforming the dilapidated interior that had sat vacant for around two decades with white walls and a light-toned flooring.
The 7,659-square-foot (703-square-metre) floor plate is naturally divided into different areas by the building’s structural grid, which the team used to delineate separating black-framed glass walls and doors. These glazed partitions create rooms within the otherwise open plan, but allow the natural light entering from two sides to permeate. Furthest away from the windows is a kitchen, enabling the space to host catered events, while open lounge areas are intended to give the showroom a “relaxed, residential atmosphere”. Closest for the entrance and opposite a reception desk is the area for presenting contract furniture, where material samples adorn the walls.
A corner room is dedicated to the furniture of revered Danish modernist Hans J Wegner, who worked for Carl Hansen & Son from the early stages of his career and is perhaps best for the iconic Wishbone Chair. Since marking what would have been Wegner’s 100th birthday in 2014 by adopting a 1950s logo he designed for the company, Carl Hansen & Son has reissued and updated a series of his designs. Many of these pieces are displayed in the new showroom, including the CH22 lounge chair, and the Oculus armchair that was recently refreshed with a black frame. For its opening this month, the space has been styled with spring shades – lots of light woods and pastel-coloured upholstery. Carl Hansen & Son is one of many European design brands capitalising on success in the US.
Moooi, Arper and Lee Broom have all opened showrooms in New York over the past couple of years, while Tom Dixon has recently expanded his retail offering to both coasts. “After years of success and significant growth in the US market, it is time to strengthen our presence in New York with a new and larger showroom,” said CEO Knud Erik Hansen. “New York is a hub for furniture design with some of the world’s best architects and interior designers working out of this design-led city,” he added. “At the same time, interest in sublime craftsmanship and quality is also on the rise in the US.”
Design: Carl Hansen & Son
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