Inside JPMorgan Chase’s Historic D.C. Offices by Studios Architecture

The nation’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., is also one of the oldest, tracing its origins to the late 1700’s. “Respecting history and supporting art and culture have been a part of our DNA since inception,” explains Farzad Boroumand, the bank’s executive director and global real estate head of design. It was only fitting, then, that when choosing a home base for its new mid-Atlantic headquarters, the financial institution would purchase a venerable property: the 1922 Bowen Building in the heart of D.C.’s Historic Fifteenth Street Financial District.

Much like JPMorgan Chase itself, which is a synthesis of many institutions that have merged or been acquired over the years, including First Republic Bank last month, the Bowen is a hybrid of several early 20th-century structures that had been combined and expanded in phases. Although the 12-story limestone edifice is not landmarked, its listed status and contribution to a historic district stipulated a sensitive renovation—and an equally conscientious design partner. After inviting proposals from several firms, the client selected Studios Architecture. “Studios stood out by suggesting innovative interior solutions that were appropriate to the classical exterior,” Boroumand recalls.

For JPMorgan Chase, Studios Architecture Designs a LEED-Certified HQ

The firm’s work at the LEED Silver–certified headquarters, totaling 231,000 square feet, encompassed a subterranean mechanicals level, the lobby and an adjacent ground-floor community center, four levels of employee and executive workspace, and a client center with a terrace. The primary challenge was to deliver the perfect marriage of old and new. “The client sought a modern scheme that spoke to who JPMorgan Chase is and would carry the organization, with its rich history, into the future,” says Studios board chair and principal Marnique Heath, who teamed with the client to lead the project with the support of Studios associate Ethan Levine, both architects from the firm’s D.C. office.

Many of the gestures, Levine notes, “were centered on thresholds, creating opportunities for visitors to pass into the bank and make them feel a sense of belonging.” That starts at the main entry sequence leading from Fifteenth Street. The client requested that it convey welcome and a sense of transparency, which Studios answered by introducing a glazed portal with revolving doors and, above, a glass canopy.

The Office Design Features Restored Details

Studios Architecture Creates a Flexible Workplace for JPMorgan Chase

The client center, up on the building’s 11th floor, houses various conference rooms and meeting areas as well as a generous terrace. Continuing the transparency theme, Studios carved out a double-height volume along the terrace-side perimeter, which serves as an airy waiting area. The firm also made substantial facade alterations here, expanding the glazing to create more openness and invite broader views of the Washington Monument and the White House. A new feature stair, its balustrade incorporating the same metalwork used on the ground floor, leads to the executive level on 12.

An elevator bay with tinted, mirrored panels and a series of LED mobile-esque chandeliers provides access to the three renovated floors of flexible work areas accommodating some 500 employees. Architect and client collaborated to uncover future-oriented strategies for the office proper. “We investigated entirely different models of working, incorporating features such as virtual meeting spaces and more homelike and lounge-y environments,” Heath recalls. A diversity of furniture types and finishes, along with 2,500 square feet of open lounges on each work floor, encourages staff members to access different settings as they shift activities throughout their day.

Ultimately, the Bowen Building stands as an example of how legacy institutions like JPMorgan Chase can build a framework for serving their communities on multiple fronts—one that acknowledges the past while making much-needed modern interventions to cocreate a better future for all.

Behind the Design of JPMorgan Chase’s D.C. Office

Studios Architecture: ashton allan; monica castro; kristian passanita; tammy chan; ruben smudde; jennifer hicks; jesse wetzel; katherine luxner; june zhu; maria percoco; gabriel boyajian

gordon: landscape architect

interior plantscapes: interior plantings

mcla: lighting designer

tce & associates: structural engineer

GHT: mep

columbia woodworking; jefferson millwork & design: millwork

boatman & magnani: stonework

gilbane building company: general contractor

bright chair: sofa, chairs (library)

modernfold: sliding door

B&B Italia: shelving

bernhardt design: tables, credenza (library), sofa (community center), coffee table, white lounge chairs (conference area)

spinneybeck: desk leather (lobby)

shickel corporation: custom screens

flos: custom pendant fixtures (lobby, client center)

bendheim: custom paneling (elevator lobby)

tech lighting: chandeliers

whitegoods: cove lighting

Stellar Works: armchairs (waiting area)

cassina: table

emerald ironworks: custom stair

planter­worx: custom planters (waiting area, terrace)

pilkington: glazing (exterior)

boon edam: revolving door

alpolic: canopy

skyfold: retractable walls (community center)

Lambert&Fils: globe pendants

vibia: pendant fix­tures

datesweiser: worktables

arper: chairs

martin brattrud: banquettes

9wood: ceiling panels (com­munity center, office entry)

londonart: wall­covering (conference area)

walter knoll: blue lounge chairs

axis lighting: linear pen­dants (conference area, lounge)

BuzziSpace: dome pendant (lounge)

spacestor: cus­tom shelving

stylex: coffee table

Scandinavian Spaces: lounge chairs

muuto: sofa, ottomans

astek: wall­covering

naughtone: two-tone sofa

milliken: carpet tile (lounge, workspace)

Andreu World: tables (ter­race)

Janus et Cie: stools, chairs, sofa

Tuuci: umbrella

stepstone: pavers

andrew neyer: pendant fixtures (office entry)

adler display: environmental graphics

Greenmood: petrified moss

viccarbe: benches

herman miller: task chairs (workspace)

knoll: workstations

armstrong: ceiling tile

applied image: privacy graphics

evensonbest: furniture supplier

transwall: glass partitions

guardian glass: exterior glazing, fins

kawneer: curtain wall, storefront system

ege: carpet tile, rugs, broadloom

Sherwin-Williams: paint

Jennifer Kolstad and Ghafari Associates Propel the Ford Experience Center in Michigan into the Future

2022 Best of Year Winner for Office Transformation

Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 and today is one of the biggest car companies in the world. Despite its long history, Ford is focused squarely on the future, developing new technologies like smart infrastructure and self-driving vehicles. Yet for over 20 years, the main events facility at its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, was a dark and uninviting concrete structure. Company executives sought to reimagine it as a cutting-edge “front door” to the 600-acre campus, which itself is being overhauled under a master plan by Snøhetta. They turned to Jennifer Kolstad, the in-house global design and brand director, and her 20-person team to renovate the 1998 building and transform it into the Ford Experience Center, or FXC.

Ford’s leaders envisioned the FXC as a dynamic hospitality-inspired hub for employees, car dealers, and major customers. It would have flexible event spaces, conference rooms, a café, and hot-desking, plus an on-site design lab where employees could work with clients like the City of Los Angeles to customize and prototype police vehicles. The FXC is also meant to reflect a new company-wide emphasis on innovation and collaboration. Positioned across the street from the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, the FXC symbolizes “Ford future facing Ford past,” Kolstad notes. Her design encompasses aspects of both.

Kolstad worked on the 95,000-square-foot project with Ghafari Associates, which served as the architect of record but also designed major elements of the interior and helped with the selection of furnishings. Together, the two teams completely transformed the existing two-story building, keeping only its structure and oval shape. “Even though the space is similar to what it was, an event center, we had to take it to the next level,” architect and Ghafari director of design Andrew Cottrell recalls. The goal was to create an environment that felt open and transparent. “Ford wishes to be the most trusted company in the world, and architecture can help that along,” Kolstad adds.

To start, the concrete walls were out. Ford and Ghafari re-skinned the facade with electrochromic glass that brings ample light to the interior but can also tint for shade. Kolstad, who was a principal at HKS before joining Ford in 2019, brought a focus on wellness and human-centered design to the project. She incorporated two green walls in the café, called the Hive, and ensured that even enclosed rooms have natural light and views of the surrounding lawns. She also integrated the building into the landscape: Terraces allow for events to flow outdoors, and the central corridor aligns with the front door of the Henry Ford Museum.

The FXC showcases the future of automobiles, but it’s grounded in Ford’s history. “The building speaks to the legacy of the company through its use of museum-quality materials,” Kolstad explains. “If the foundation is solid and well-executed, the brand can breathe and take on its own life.” In the central forum, polished white-terrazzo flooring and oak stadium seating form a timeless backdrop for what is in fact a high-tech, production-ready space. At the touch of a button, the lighting can change to suit a cocktail party, presentation, or launch event, and cars rotate on a turntable in the floor. Overhead, a sculpted white ceiling of acoustical plaster conceals lighting and mechanical systems, with cuts that mirror the lines in the terrazzo floor. “We had to coordinate myriad things to make the ceiling look seamless,” Cottrell says.

Like the building, the forum is the shape of the Ford logo: an oval. “You won’t see the logo anywhere, but you’re literally inside the Ford oval,” Kolstad says. “The space tells the company’s story in a subtle, sophisticated way.” Ovals appear in the symbol of the Hive, making the shape of a bee, and in custom lighting fixtures, while velvet in the brand’s deep blue upholsters the café’s banquettes. Covers of retro Ford Life magazines hang in phone booths, and broken ovals appear in the pattern of blue vinyl wallcovering. Kolstad’s team also deconstructed the oval to make a camouflagelike pattern for blue-and-white area rugs. All furnishings, materials, and finishes demonstrate a new palette that will be used in Ford showrooms and offices worldwide, including the nearby workplace by Snøhetta now under construction.

Though Kolstad describes the FXC as an “immersive brand experience,” you won’t find a Ford sign at reception. Instead, there’s a mirrored acrylic work by Detroit artist Tiff Massey, one of several in her team’s DEI-focused art program for the project. Inspired by traditional American quilts, it’s composed of seven designs—representing each of Ford’s company truths—laser-cut onto 90 tiles. An asymmetrical solid-walnut desk in front of it, designed by Ghafari, looks like a sculpture that alludes to movement. Elsewhere, three abstract artworks by Los Angeles artist Robert Moreland refer to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the French car race that Ford won in the late 1960’s. With the FXC, it’s leading again as a cool, tech-savvy company.

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ford environments: julia calabrese; rachael smith; chris small; don zvoch

ghafari associates: michael krebs; brittnee shaw; angela cwayna; joseph kim; delbert dee; justin finkbeiner; stephanie hrit; jennifer hatheway; katy rupp; steve lian; yuqi pan; bruce coburn; justine lim; karan panchal; ali zorkot; christopher olech; ryan raymond; cynthia harman-jones; kristina allder

illuminart: lighting consultant

farmboy: art consultant, custom wallcovering

denn-co construction; ganas; navy island: woodwork

devon industrial group: general contractor

tacchini: benches (forum)

viccarbe: benches (lounge)

dwr: chairs

bernhardt; designtex: banquette fabric (café)

Coalesse: tables (café), chair (phone booth)

geiger: chairs (café, innovation)

Stellar Works: sofas (break-out, collaboration, grand hall)

carnegie: wallcovering (break-out)

stua: coffee table

zauben: green wall (café)

preciosa: custom pendant fixtures

keilhauer: stools

Tarkett: carpet (phone booth)

Humanscale: lamp

Blu Dot: tables (innovation, grand hall)

restoration hardware: lamp (grand hall)

michielutti brothers: flooring

shaw contract: custom rugs

benjamin moore & co.: paint

George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg Design a Dramatic Hotel in Leicester Square

2021 Best of Year winner for Boutique Hotel

Plays staged in the West End have been entertaining theatergoers for over 350 years. As the scene rebounds from pandemic closures, visitors can enjoy that spectacle while staying at this equally dramatic 350-room hotel in Leicester Square masterminded by Interior Design Hall of Fame members and co-founding partners George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg in a 16-story building by Woods Bagot. “We designed it to converse with the senses and indulge in the energy of their surroundings,” Pushelberg explains. Myriad public spaces, including six restaurants and bars, and custom features invite unique experiences throughout. The lobby has a golden glow, thanks to oversize ceiling globes by artist Andrew Rae and its main staircase. The effect carries through to a private event space with sinuous sofas and patterned metal ceiling tiles. For the rooftop lounge, custom banquettes surround a firepit topped by a twisted rope installation. Also in abundance are Yabu Pushelberg furnishings, tables and chairs for Stellar Works, carpets for Tai Ping, and chairs for Avenue Road, among them. “The variety of offerings allows guests to choose their journey over and over,” Yabu adds. And if that journey calls for even more theater, they can head downstairs to the hotel’s 850-seat stage.

Yabu Pushelberg: Glenn Pushelberg; George Yabu

Jorge Pérez’s Private Collection on Display at One Park Grove in Miami by OMA and Meyer Davis

“Let’s build sculpture.” That’s how Will Meyer, principal of Meyer Davis, recalls the design team of One Park Grove—the last of three towers to be built in a Coconut Grove, Miami, waterfront residential complex—being rallied by Jorge Pérez, chairman of Related Group, which co-developed the project with Terra Group. “Jorge didn’t say, ‘Let’s build a box and decorate it,’” Meyer notes. “It’s a totally different approach to design.”

Pérez, one of Miami’s preeminent art collectors (his name graces the Pérez Art Museum Miami by Herzog & de Meuron) assembled an all-star lineup to bring One Park Grove to life. OMA, led by partner Shohei Shigematsu, envisioned the tower’s undulating architecture of exterior concrete columns that swell and contract like the trunks of royal palm trees. Studio Sofield designed the understated kitchens and bathrooms in the residences.

Landscape architect Enzo Enea laid out the parklike grounds, which cover 5 acres and include an outdoor amphitheater, a ribbon of swimming pools, and a sculpture park. And celebrity event planner Colin Cowie programmed services and experiences from music playlists to poolside towel and sunscreen selections.

Meyer Davis’s charge was designing the tower’s lobby, amenity spaces (more than 50,000 square feet of them, including a screening room, spa, and wine room), and other public areas, incorporating artwork from Pérez’s extensive private collection. “There are a lot of branded towers in Miami, but this one has a real personality,” co-principal Gray Davis says. “It touches on all the sensory points that make an enjoyable experience and give the project a real soul.”

Meyer Davis senior project manager Sonya Cheng calls One Park Grove’s interiors “bohemia on the bay.” That’s a reference to Coconut Grove’s long history—it’s the city’s oldest neighborhood—and reputation as Miami’s free-spirited artistic and intellectual hub. Onetime abode of John Singer Sargent, Tennesse Williams, and Joni Mitchell, the Grove, as it’s known, is home to the city’s top private schools and the former Coconut Grove Playhouse. The neighborhood also happens to be one of the city’s leafiest, with a dense tree canopy that stretches to the shores of Biscayne Bay. “I thought we should provide something of the essence of Coconut Grove, immersed in nature and maximizing exposure to light and air,” Shigematsu says of the 23-story tower’s 68 residences, which he likens to “stacked villas.”

Shigematsu cites another influence on OMA’s architecture: Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s 1983 Surrounded Islands, where they wrapped an archipelago of tiny islets in nearby Biscayne Bay in sheets of hot-pink polypropylene. Cheng also mentions the installation as influencing how the lobby interiors negotiate the tower’s unique peanut-shape footprint—pinched at the center with two elevator cores—and multiple grade changes. Similar to the way the islands were encircled with concentric bands of pink fabric, the designers layered ribbons of stone flooring that radiate outward from the core. “Where all those lines converge and intersect, we created ‘islands’ of seating groups,” Cheng explains. Patterned rugs ground those sitting areas—Meyer describes them as “moments of serenity, the residual between waves”—as they float between the core and the lobby’s curved glass exterior. The language of undulating forms continues vertically, with core walls clad in slats of white oak and others hosting a palisade of backlit white panels. “It’s not a traditional layout—it’s organic and really out there,” Meyer acknowledges. “It was hard to describe to people who weren’t on the team exactly what we were doing. It’s really a new language with its own logic, rules, and geometry, but it creates its own sense of space.”

Positioning large sculptures from Pérez’s collection also directed Meyer, Davis, and Cheng’s choreography of the lobby’s interior. At times, circulation took a backseat to art placement, in which Pérez played an enthusiastically active role. “Sometimes, we’d pick a spot and Jorge would say, ‘No, this piece works better over there,’” Cheng recalls. Sometimes the team accompanied Pérez to his private storage facility to preview artworks, other times to the art museum in downtown Miami. “We turned the typical design process upside down to achieve a different result,” Meyer notes.

An early recommendation was South African artist Ledelle Moe’s ensemble work Memorial Collapse, a trio of monumental heads, laid on their sides, with rebar emerging through the concrete. “When Jorge suggested those, our response was a resounding ‘Hell, yeah!’” Meyer recalls. “He gets really excited about art. When he sees the direction a designer or architect is going in, he wants them to take it as far as they can. If you lean in on his spirit, you get results.”

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Other works populating One Park Grove’s public spaces run a gamut of styles and media. Outside in the gardens, Jaume Plensa’s The Poets in Bordeaux (Body Soul God, Country, Water Fire), which comprises three 35-foot poles topped by illuminated resin busts, changes appearance as the lights cycle through different colors. Interior amenity spaces feature more subtle works, including delicate vellum drawings by Miami-based artist Michele Oka Doner and a Richard Serra etching.

One Park Grove’s well-orchestrated blend of architecture, design, and art bears an ultimate stamp of approval: Earlier this year, Pérez, who has lived on the Coconut Grove waterfront for decades, decided to trade in his Venetian palazzo-style mansion for a penthouse at One Park Grove. He donated the $33 million proceeds from the sale of his house to The Miami Foundation.

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meyer davis: scott abrahams; matthew haseltine; cass nakashima; nils sanderson; daeho lee; matthew edgardo davis; jeremy kim; gonzalo lopez; pantea tehrani; sumit sahdev; jun shimada; andrew mack; miguel darcy; betty fan; carly dean; ahmadreza schricker; britt johnson; shida salehi-esmati; jackie woon bae; ian watchorn; filippo nanni; esin erez; luke willis: oma. mei lau; drew tucker; marianne mordhorst

arquitectonica: architect of record.

arredoluce; enea garden design; plant the future: landscaping consultant

south dade lighting: lighting consultant

desimone consulting engineers: structural engineer

feller engineering: mep

vsn engineering: civil engineer

allegheny millwork; miles of wood: woodwork

excellence in stone: stonework

american upholstery: custom upholstered-goods workshop.

moriarty: general contractor

stripe vintage modern: blue armchairs (lobby)

Stellar Works: nesting tables

f&r general interiors: custom console (lobby), table (wine room)

apparatus studio: pendant fixtures (reception)

steel monkey dream shop: custom shelving (reception, lobby)

gabriel scott: pendant fixtures (lobby)

tacchini: round side tables

liaigre: floor lamp

the future perfect: modular coffee tables

phillips collection: side table

bec brittain: pendant fixture

harbour: sofa, chairs, coffee table (cabana)

marset: floor lamp

metalarte: table lamp

berhardt design: console (spa), pendant fixture (playroom)

usona: chaise longues (spa)

hbf textiles: wallcovering (screening room)

ludwig & larsen: sconces

sacco carpet: custom carpet

kravet: chair fabric

jab anstoetz: pillow fabric

opuzen: drapery fabric

tri-kes: custom wallcovering (playroom)

tommy bahama: pillows

wine cellar innovations: custom lockers (wine room)

le lampade: ceiling fixture

tailor-made textiles: custom rugs

benjamin moore & co.; scuffmaster: paint

Steller Works Introduces First Permanent U.S. Locale

Where the Manhattan neighborhoods of SoHo, TriBeCa, and Chinatown converge, Shanghai-based brand Stellar Works introduces its first permanent U.S. location. Spread over 4,000 square feet of an Italianate building on Canal Street, the space by New York architecture firm INC_A is a chance to see new work and installations with brand collaborators. Brooklyn-based Calico Wallpaper makes an appearance via Sam Baron’s Noir Type II wallcovering of bold brushstrokes. Kite is a compact armchair in various seat depths and back heights by Nendo. Luca Nichetto’s Space Invaders is a playful Murano glass collection that includes the Dhala LED floor and table lamps with glazed ceramic bases.

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Fogarty Finger Charts a New Course in the Brooklyn Navy Yard With Dock 72

Across the East River from the Lower East Side, the Brooklyn-side shoreline zigzags inward to form Wallabout Bay. This funky stretch of waterfront, once home to Lenape tribespeople and early Dutch settlers, began its modern life as an innovation hub in 1801, when President Adams designated it one of the country’s first Navy yards; during its World War II heyday, it operated six dry docks and employed 70,000 workers. More recently, the since-decommissioned site has been reborn as a hotbed of tech companies and creatives, the home address of healthcare incubators, furniture startups, small-batch juice purveyors, cutting-edge military-gear makers, film sound stages, and the country’s largest rooftop soil farm.

Until now, the majority of redevelopment in the Brooklyn Navy Yard has entailed adaptive reuse of its industrial warehouses. Enter Dock 72, the first ground-up commercial office building to be erected right on the waterfront (and, in fact, one of the largest such structures to be built in the city’s outer boroughs in many decades). The 16-story volume, with base building design by S9 Architecture, sits prowlike on a skinny pier sandwiched between two former dry docks and culminating in a new ferry terminal. In 2015, as construction documents were being drawn up, codevelopers Boston Properties and Rudin Management tapped Fogarty Finger to start conceptualizing interior architecture—from FF&E to art curation—for the entry-level lobby and commissary, second-floor fitness center, and penthouse-level conference center, totaling some 60,000 square feet of amenities. WeWork had already signed on as anchor tenant and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation was naturally involved, too, meaning there were many stakeholders to please—and to align. “Those many players had so many different opinions, which is so New York, right?” says Fogarty Finger director Alexandra Cuber, who led the project with associate director Candace Rimes. “From that delightfully tangled knot of ideas and individual preferences, we had to come up with a strong concept that had enough nuance and depth that everyone could see themselves in it and find a piece they’d contributed to.”

Ultimately, the design team sought to channel both the can-do spirit of the 300-acre industrial park and what Cuber calls its “nautical messaging”: the unique sun-bleached, rust-tinged palette and omnipresent visual language of ship details and graphics. As a guiding narrative, she and Rimes homed in on the Plimsoll Line, a technical symbol on every ship’s hull that denotes the proper immersion level given its load and the density of the water it’s traveling through. FF commissioned a rendering of Plimsoll markings in yellow neon, which now glows beaconlike at the Dock 72 entry—setting the stage for the subsequent journey.

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It’s quite a journey indeed from the front door to reception at the far end of the building, accessed via a 170-foot-long corridor with a glass wall directing eyeballs to the active adjacent dock. “To make that lengthy pathway an enjoyable process required breaking it up into ‘rooms’ that could be occupied and experienced,” Cuber explains. Changes in ancillary seating (from low- to high-back) and flooring (dark- to light-gray terrazzo) demarcate a series of vignettes along this promenade. So do blackened-steel screens and portals that cast a spirited shadow play and reflect the linearity of ship cables, sails, and razzle-dazzle camouflage.

In addition to subdividing space, the steel portals also frame wall murals by area artists who were given free rein to devise compositions that spoke to the context, but assigned a specific color palette reflecting a different type of water from the Plimsoll Line. Bryce Wymer’s depiction of ship-wrangling in a tropical storm pays homage to women who worked in the yard during wartime; an abstract color field by Kristin Texeira, who has a studio in the complex, is painted in summer-water hues.

The murals reflect another guiding principal of the project: a commitment to
locally made design. All art and much of the custom furniture were produced in or near the Navy Yard. “We were passionate about finding the right partners and a diverse group of collaborators,” Rimes notes. “It pushed us to go the extra mile: We walked all around Crown Heights, Bushwick, Greenpoint, and throughout the Navy Yard to find who can make what or submit an idea.”

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Amenities feature a veritable roll call—er, ship’s manifest—of Big Apple talent. For the ground-floor café, Concrete Collaborative crafted tiles in custom colorways derived from photographs of the yard. Dan Funderburgh contributed a lobby mural as well as a nautical-print wallpaper for the second-floor lounge and juice bar. IceStone fabricated recycled-glass table bases in the lobby. And elevator cabs function as intimate viewing rooms for large-scale Navy Yard photographs by Harrison Boyce.

The 16th-floor conference center, with a subdividable 200-capacity town hall space, plus various lounge and meeting areas, is no exception to the city-made mandate, with shapely mirrors by Bower Studios and stacked-stone tables by Souda. What’s different up here is a shift in vibe and materiality, from the pre­dominant white-oak millwork of the lower levels to warmer walnut tones and a darker palette. “The colors become saturated and inky, as if they’ve been soaked in water,” Rimes says. “It’s like being on the deck of a vintage yacht.” A perfect launching point for next-gen captains of industry.

Fogarty Finger: robert finger; tin min fong; garrett rock; allie mathison; taylor fleming; evita fanou; jacob laskowski; carl laffan; chris worton

perkins eastman: Architect of Record:

one lux studio: lighting consultant

let there be neon: custom graphics

ove aruo & partners: structural engineer

cosentini associates: mep

langan: civil engineer

armada; capitol woodwork; zsd: woodwork

argosy designs; gkd metal fabrics: metalwork

concrete works east: concrete work

gilbane; hunter roberts: general contractors

lampiste: custom dome fixtures (lobby)

andrew nyer: pendant globes (hall, café)

oluce: table lamp (hall)

hbf: tripod tables

Maharam: Bench fabric (hall), banquette fabric (meeting room)

filzfelt: felt (elevator lobby)

Hay: chairs (hall, café). la cividina: white tables, wire tables (hall)

johanson: stools

ananda: flooring (studio)

normann copen­hagen: chairs (meeting room)

bower studios: mirror

souda: table (meeting room), side table (lounge)

velis: cab (elevator)

lf illuminations: cylinder fixtures (reception)

acolyte: pendant fixtures

clé tile: floor tile (bar)

brendan ravenhill studio: pendant fix­tures

Stellar Works: stools

milliken: carpet tile (lounge)

sattler: pendant rings

arper: chairs, sofas, ottomans

garsnas: barrel chairs

light originals: pendant fix­tures

gotham lighting: can fixtures

missana: chairs (hall)

concrete collaborative: floor tile (café)

zonca terrazzo: terrazzo flooring

hudson company: wood floor­ing

ceilings plus: custom slat ceilings

trespa: paneling

tagwall: storefront systems

16 Furnishing Highlights from 3daysofdesign 2021 in Copenhagen

More than three days could easily be consumed to fully embrace 3daysofdesign 2021, held in Copenhagen this month—despite a global pandemic. In showrooms, galleries, and special event spaces around the city, there was no shortage of freshly launched furnishings, with much of the industry flying in directly from the Milan Furniture Fair. Once again the seemingly effortless ethos of Scandinavian design shined (or rather, was painstakingly hand-waxed to a soft touch, as one table collection is).

From a surprising candle holder met with much fanfare to a kit embracing 1970s electronics nostalgia to a round and layered easy chair and more than a few designs dusted off from the archives of Danish design masters, here are 16 furnishings that caught our eye at 3daysofdesign 2021.

Interconnect Candle Holder by Colin King Studio for Menu

A pronounced geometric celebration of a single candle that makes for an unorthodox center piece, the Interconnect Candle Holder by Colin King Studio for Menu is available in brass or painted steel.

Beogram 4000-series Service Upgrade Kit from Bang & Olufsen

Nostalgia for the 1970s is great..until you try hooking up the speakers. What if you could upgrade a record player half a century old with current tech? “We see e-waste climbing at a large scale,” said Kresten Bjørn Krab-Bjerre, creative director of design at Bang & Olufsen as he presented the electronic’s company’s Beogram 4000-series Service Upgrade Kit. With the kit, a vintage Beogram turntable1, introduced in the 1970s, can be restored and connected to a modern sound system.

Easy Chair by Verner Panton for Verpan

Plush and layered round shapes determine the geometry of Easy Chair by Verner Panton, designed in 1963. Now the sculptural, fully-upholstered chair returns to production, thanks to the archives of Verpan, the licensed manufacturer of designs by the Danish architect and designer.

Adesso by Josefine Winding for Gubi

Adesso, a limited-edition series of six cast-concrete side tables by Josefine Winding in collaboration with Gubi and available through Arden Asbæk Gallery, premiered among 15 sculptures, also by Winding, in the exhibition “Adesso: In the Moment.” A portion of the tables’ proceeds will be donated to charity SOS Children’s Villages through MyFoundation.

Jari Low by OEO Studio for Brdr. Krüger

Initially designed for Inua, world-renowned Copenhagen restaurant Noma’s Tokyo outpost, solid oak Jari low tables by OEO Studio can be shipped flat-packed. “The idea was tables as low as possible that could break down an otherwise slightly hard environment with organic and soft shapes,” says Jonas Krüger, creative director and co-owner of Brdr. Krüger, the 5th generation, family-owned manufacturer of the tables. “The different sizes can adapt to any seating setting, singled out or in clusters.” The tables are hand-waxed for a soft touch and available in six variations, from small side table to large elliptical.

Space Invaders by Luca Nichetto for Stellar Works

Stacked supersized Murano glass beads form the blown glass and steel Dhala table lamp in the new Space Invaders collection by Luca Nichetto for Stellar Works. The collection also includes an additional lamp and two trays.

Oxford by Fritz Hansen

Working from home during the global pandemic had many pining for that rare find: a comfortable, ergonomic home office chair that’s not ugly. In steps Fritz Hansen with the Oxford task chair. Initially conceived by Arne Jacobsen for professors at St. Catherine’s College in Oxford, England, the chair returns updated with modern necessities like increased lumbar support, adjustable seat, and angled armrests that tuck under a desk.

Imi by Sebastian Herkner for Pulpo

Handmade ceramic side table Imi by Sebastian Herkner for Pulpo is a colorful, shiny, and round tribute to German minimal artist Imi Knoebel. Two sizes are offered in several color combinations.

Barnum pouf by Vipp

Six-piece construction adds sculptural beauty to the versatile Pouf—be it seat, footrest, or side table—from Vipp. On the occasion of 3daysofdesign and to take full advantage of a one-of-a-kind showroom space in a century-old former pencil factory, Vipp also launched its own dining experience. An initiative to engage with the local community, Vipp Supper Club will highlight diverse chefs. First in line is Italian chef Riccardo Canella, formerly research and development sous chef at Noma.

Watercolour by Lykke Bloch Kjær

Watercolor paintings by Danish architect and designer Finn Juhl inspired the hues found in the Watercolour textile collection by Lykke Bloch Kjær for House of Finn Juhl. Locally woven by Danish weaver Kjellerup Væveri, the collection is available in 32 shades in a wool-cotton blend. Shown is Juhl’s Reading dining chair, upholstered in Blue Bonnet.

Front desk by Pedro Sottomayor for Mor

Designer Pedro Sottomayor, founder of Mor, a new Portuguese furniture brand embracing simplicity, chose a sunny Copenhagen apartment for its entry into the global market. Two nearly invisible drawers and cable storage are integrated into the slim lines of the Front desk, also by Sottomayor. Available in various sizes in solid ash, oak, or walnut, the desk can be used for home office or hotel reception.

Konami by Damian Williamson for Fredericia

The inner armrests of Damian Williamson’s upholstered Konami sofa for Fredericia softly curve inward like a ‘little wave’—hence its Japanese name, which means the same.

Recycled Noah by Trimm

For Recycled Noah, a collection of indoor lounge furniture, manufacturer Trimm Copenhagen deep dives into sustainability. Washable, zero waste, 100 percent recycled textile in earth-tones is paired with a soft, beaded interior of 100 percent recycled polyester fiber.

OW58 T-Chair by Ole Wanscher for Carl Hansen & Søn

A T-shaped backrest points out the craftsmanship of the OW58 T-Chair by Ole Wanscher for Carl Hansen & Søn. The archival piece, almost an inch higher than the one designed in 1958 to serve a taller humanity, joins the two chairs and a stool by the designer already in production by the manufacturer.

Connect Sofa by Anderssen & Voll for Muuto

Small feet are behind the elegant hover of the wood-framed Connect Sofa by Anderssen & Voll for Muuto. To achieve optimal comfort, a deep, low seat and loose upholstery conceal cold foam filing and cotton wadding.

Twiggy Wood by Marc Sadler for Foscarini

The Twiggy lamp by Marc Sadler for Foscarini earns an update just in time for its 15th birthday. With a honey-hued wood diffuser, carbon fiber stem, and a new LED circuit, Twiggy Wood is warmer in both light source and form.