Design Colab transforms their Johannesburg offices and showroom into a functional workplace that seamlessly integrates the firm’s furniture expertise with a vibrant environment for collaboration.

The reimagined Design Colab Johannesburg showroom puts the company’s FF&E expertise into practice. Following a complete refurbishment, the 500sqm space was designed as a live, functional workplace rather than a traditional showroom, supporting day-to-day work while providing a setting for client presentations, supplier meetings, designer collaboration and industry events.

The intent was to create an environment where furniture could be experienced in context. A curated, material-led FF&E strategy combines warm timber finishes, layered textures, softer residential-inspired forms and carefully considered acoustic solutions, creating a space that feels both refined and comfortable.

The reconfigured layout offers an open, light-filled environment, with a variety of meeting rooms and collaborative zones connected through a cohesive design language. The curved glass of the boardrooms creates a focal point and maintains openness, while a central coffee bar supports informal team interaction.

Rather than displaying products in isolation, the showroom demonstrates how furniture, finishes and spatial planning come together to create cohesive, high-performing workplaces. Carefully selected pieces showcase Design Colab’s supplier partnerships while remaining practical enough for everyday use by the team. This includes everything from ergonomic chairs, boardroom tables, storage, décor, a variety of soft seating, side tables, rugs, lighting and appliances.

As both the client and FF&E specialist, Design Colab used its own showroom to demonstrate the value of a considered, brand-independent procurement approach – sourcing, coordinating and delivering furniture that supports the way people work, meet and connect. The result is an exciting new space that functions as a workplace, client experience and live demonstration of Design Colab’s approach: “we handle the complexity, so the vision can come to life”.