Teknion, a Toronto-based manufacturer of contract office furniture, relocated its Boston showroom to better service its clientele and set the stage for its diverse product line.
The challenge was two-fold: design a space with distinctive ceiling heights and address the prominent mushroom columns throughout the space. The solution was to address these issues with an integrative approach.
Visitors are welcomed into the space with a warm open casual meeting area defined with a large modern bench table that succeeds in accommodating visitors and staff. The table extends approximately the depth of the space. This convivial space invites collaboration with clients and Teknion staff. This area, defined as the “hearth”, reflects current trends in collaborative work styles.
Extended behind the hearth is a built-in casual library lounge consisting of a built-in cushioned bench flanked by custom integrated library bookshelves. These integrated bookshelves display the myriad of books researched and published by Teknion on the current trends in the workplace. Adjacent to the hearth is an open lounge and coffee/wine bar to further enhance the visitor experience. To address the challenge of limited ceiling height and integrate the prominent mushroom columns, the solution was to create a ceiling coffer filled with light that provides the illusion of the columns penetrating the ceiling to extend well beyond the limited floor-to-ceiling slab height. The columns then become an asset, not a restriction.
The design takes advantage of the various Teknion architectural wall systems with an abundant use of floor-to-ceiling glass office conference room partitions. This allows an abundance of natural light to penetrate the space and at the same time showcase the advantage of using Teknion product.
The showroom features an expansive Teknion Textiles display and product finish display incorporating a large workbench that provides a large expansive work table to lay out palette selections.
The overall design provides a light filled space with a warm welcome entry featuring an integrated library, lounge and coffee/wine bar to enhance collaboration to reflect the current trends in modern work styles.
