D&D Building Creates "World of Design"
Over the next 12 months, 15 of New York's most distinguished, world-renowned design firms have donated their time and talent creating their own unique vision within the public areas of the D&D Building's common floor areas. This plan will complement the D&D Building's commitment to extending itself to the design community by facilitating the creation of a "World of Design."
"These renovations will create a seamless transition directly from the elevator doors. By bringing the unique style of the designers from the showrooms to the hallways, we are creating a complete design experience," says D&D Building President Charles S. Cohen.
Each participating designer will showcase their unique style and the hallways will be representative of their work and design sensibility. An array of designers from those who are up-and-coming to the most influential, widely recognized talent at the forefront of the design industry have committed to this project. Jim Aman and Anne Carson of Aman & Carson, Laura Bohn, Geoffrey Bradfield, Clodagh, David Easton, Jamie Drake, Maureen Wilson Footer, Greg Jordan, Larry Laslo, Elizabeth Orenstein, Scott Salvator, Harry Schnaper, Matthew Patrick Smyth, Michael J. Valente, and Vicente Wolf will all take part in this program.
Celebrity designer, Jamie Drake, who's renovations have begun on the 17th floor of the D&D Building has said his renovation plans will, "represent my signature style, the embodiment of new American glamour... urbane, bold, sophisticated and confident". When asked how the renovations would benefit the design community, Mr. Drake said, "It will give a different set of ideas and inspirations to every floor".
The 5th floor designer, Clodagh, says, "The D&D Building contains a cornucopia of wonderful resources and inspirations. When I was invited to redesign a floor, my immediate vision was design teams walking down a quiet, powerful, well lit arcade of showrooms, each one with its individual
personality."
The designers will revitalize the hallways with their signature styles, ranging from classical to couture, contemporary and deco making each floor a truly unique experience. 10th floor designer Scott Salvator intends to create "a classic interior to reflect the style of the fabric houses on the floor." "The overall effect will be a room to room flow that will mirror the product of the showroom that adjoins it."
Many of the D&D Building's prestigious tenants have agreed to participate in this project as well. Participating Showrooms include Farrow and Ball, Vaughan, J. Pocker & Son, and Scuffmaster Architectural Finishes from Wolf-Gordon among others. Other contributing companies include Kohler.
As our renovation begins on the 17th floor, please join our conversation with Jamie Drake...
D&D: Could you please comment on your design and address your inspiration?
JD: My design for the renovation of the 17th floor was inspired by some of the fabulous products available in the D&D Building. I wanted to create a fresh modern feeling for the modern spaces.
D&D: Your color scheme?
JD: The color palette is primarily a soft kiwi green with strong chartreuse accents, bittersweet chocolate brown and cool milky white add structure to the scheme.
D&D: The showrooms that you specified from:
JD: Exciting products include the textural main wall coverings from Innovations and feature panel wall covering in the main elevator bank from Alpha Workshops through Pollack. Paints include the fantastic sharp colors from Farrow & Ball and Benjamin Moore as well as the tech savvy elevator door coating by Scuffmaster through Wolf-Gordon. Mossy carpet from A. M. Collections is underfoot.
D&D: What was the involvement of your staff in the design process as you are Drake Design Associates?
JD: Working on the plans for the renovation was a fun opportunity for Drake Design Associates to break away from our day-to-day residential projects. Product leader James Spodnick was instrumental in keeping the project's vision intact and moving forward.
D&D: Did you learn anything new in the design process or find any new
discoveries for your design?
JD: One of our greatest new discoveries was the aforementioned Scuffmaster
paint. An incredibly durable product with a glamorous sheen, we are going
to be using a lot of this resource for residential applications as well
(think playrooms, baths and kitchens).
D&D: What do you want designers to leave with after seeing your floor?
JD: I hope all D&D visitors whether occasional or daily (like our firm) will
find the 17th floor a visually invigorating experience.
The D&D Building is please to announce that renovations are underway on the 16th floor featuring the design talent of Matthew Patrick Smyth. Please join our conversation with Matthew...
D&D: After more than 15 years of being an interior designer with your own
firm how do you keep your work exciting and new?
MPS: Except for a few basic fabrics we do not keep a "sample library". This
forces us to approach each new project without any preconceived ideas of the
selections we will use. You will rarely find a wallpaper or fabric used in
more than one of our projects.
D&D: How does the 16th floor hallway project showcase your own unique
style?
MPS: I think our style is organized and suitable whether we are working on
traditional or a contemporary project. Hopefully the 16th floor project
will reflect this sensibility.
D&D: What scheme has emerged in the hallway? Please address color and
materials selected and product that might have inspired you along the way.
MPS: The project was inspired by the various showrooms on the 16th floor.
They are very different from each other, but there is a strong undercurrent
of classic design in all of the products. Christopher Norman supplied
wallpaper that has a faded Venetian damask appearance, pale gold in color
with a hint of blue. We combined this with a French carpet (supplied by
Saxony) with a strie-ed brown background. The architecture will be very
straightforward and will be painted with Farrow and Ball paints. The
Christopher Norman lighting for the hallway is being produced in Paris.
D&D: What new product did you discover on your floor that you would use
again in other projects?
MPS: Michael Taylor came into the building late, after we had finished the
scheme. But because of this project I became reacquainted with a valuable
resource.
D&D: What type of experience do you want designers to have while shopping
on the 16th floor?
MPS: I would like the 16th floor to be a subtle backdrop that relates the
fine showrooms on this floor. I did not want a scheme that would date
itself in a year's time.
D&D: What does the D&D mean to you and your team?
MPS: As I mentioned, we are always starting fresh with each client. Without
the D&D building, we would be working double time!
The D&D Building is pleased to announce that renovations are well under way on the 4th floor. This third in our series of “designer showcases” features the talent of Greg Jordan. Please join our conversation with Greg.
D&D: Your firm has been in business since the early 1980s. What are the main changes in design trends you have observed over the past two decades and what do you think is most important to clients today?
Jordan: The pendulum in design tastes swings back and forth with fair regularity. The 80s were about a rediscovery of the English Country look to the degree that Americans, never having been to an English country house, could understand and imagine that experience. It was a time of clutter and collections and well-lived in rooms. Once it became a ‘trend’, it became comical from so much misinterpretation. So shelter magazines started to promote clean, stripped-back rooms—canvas slipcovers juxtaposed with smooth accessories. Then the look was reduced to pure minimal spaces, gorgeous to the eye, but unlivable for families with children and pets and busy lives. Now there is a return to practicality in design.
D&D: What elements in your hallway project emphasize this trend?
Jordan: Our hallway project is driven totally by style, by a signature. It’s not created to serve any purpose other than to be an attractive and provocative space connecting several showrooms. Its purpose is to poke at the sensibilities of the highly creative person who will navigate there.
D&D: How did the materials available at the showrooms on this floor shape and inspire your design?
Jordan: The materials available on the floor inspired our design by their quality and the wide range of periods and styles they represent. Our selection was driven by the resources’ ability to translate into a design that was not necessarily simpatico with their intended use, like using a contemporary geometric pattern in an Asian context.
D&D: What was the greatest challenge in coming up with a viable design?
Jordan: Finding the right use of pattern and color that would integrate and disguise the unchangeable elements of the space. The hallway project is about multiple interpretations of the same space. So a simple, luxurious hotel corridor was never an option for us. We knew we were pushing the envelope a bit with the mirror and the fretwork. But Charles S. Cohen, President of the D&D Building, loved it. He and the building staff have been ideal clients!
D&D Showhalls
Geoffrey Bradfield’s 11th Floor
Debuts October 5
Please join us on October 5th at 4:30 pm to celebrate the 11th floor corridor renovation and meet Geoffrey Bradfield.
D&D: What is the design of the 11th floor corridor and what were your inspirations?
Bradfield: The 11th floor elevator corridor is unique, in a sense, in that it serves only one showroom. This ‘sole’ function allowed me to seize the opportunity and treat the space as essentially the ‘entrance hall’ to the Stark Company. We settled on a decidedly art moderne feel, introducing classical plaster pilasters and moldings to accentuate the height. The stepped ceiling adds architectural interest. Alternating a limestone brick patterned paper with mirrors, the walls are deliberately subtle. The exception in this serene space is the introduction of a dramatic neo-classic fitted carpet, which I designed as an introduction
and repeated reference to the Stark product.
D&D: What is the color scheme and the key materials in the selection process?
Bradfield: Initially, I had wanted the design woven in ivory, beige and black, but practicality forced our hand and taupe, beige and black were ultimately the colors chosen. I have always loved the design of the Holly Hunt ceiling fixtures which are so reminiscent of the 1940’s?these were a key choice, playing into our theme of circles and squares? recessed lighting added to the general illumination.
D&D: What does the D&D Building mean to you?
Bradfield: For the Design Industry in this country, the D&D Building is our definitive Flagship address. One finds decorating companies both large and small contending with huge rents simply to be in the vicinity of the Mothership? my company uses this access daily and finds it an integral part of our practice.
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