Vincent Van Duysen creates “library of materials” inside Kvadrat At House

Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen channelled the aesthetic of a library inside the newest showroom of Danish textile firm Kvadrat, which has opened in west London.

Kvadrat at House is the corporate’s inaugural “residential showroom”, providing a number of textiles suited to home furnishings like rugs, curtains and cushions.

The retail house is about inside the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour and can accommodate collections by the corporate’s home-focused manufacturers, Sahco and Kinnasand, in addition to materials that Kvardat has made in collaboration with dressmaker Raf Simons.

Antwerp-based Vincent Van Duysen – who can also be the artistic director of Sahco – was tasked with growing the interiors of the 140-square-metre showroom.

He determined to create a library-like setting the place completely different swatches of materials are positioned on cabinets of the shop like books.

“Libraries are the epicentres of my inside and structure work and their rooms – I am a collector of books as nicely,” Van Duysen informed Dezeen. “So I mentioned why not create a library of materials?”

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“You come into the showroom, away from the opposite retailers, and also you get an instantly residential feeling – you come right into a room inside a room,” he continued.

“It provides a sort of freedom the place you may sit down, really feel comfy, convivial and talk about the materials inside the library.”

Ground-to-ceiling cabinets created from larch wooden have been constructed into the showroom’s partitions, all painted a darkish shade of gray.

Swathes of pattern materials are suspended from hangers on the backside of the cabinets, whereas cushions and ornamental vases are displayed within the narrower slots.

Two oak-wood tables provide prospects a spot to take a seat and have consultations with employees. Sea-green stools by Molteni&C have been slotted beneath.

Oak has additionally been used to craft the service counter and the light-hued Dinesen floorboards that run all through the showroom.

On the entrance of the shop is a small show space the place the corporate can create homely set-ups that showcase the corporate’s merchandise. On the time of opening, it featured a wall hanging comprised of mismatch blue-tone materials, a aspect desk and two rounded armchairs perched on a black version of the Kvadrat Semis rug.

“I do not like ‘soulless’ showrooms the place you simply have an quantity of furnishings that is stacked. I needed to supply a full idea of residing,” defined Van Duysen.

The interiors of the showroom observe Van Duysen’s signature “warm-minimalist” fashion, which he has utilized to earlier tasks like Antwerp’s August resort and an Aesop retailer in Hamburg.

“For me, there could be the maximalism of stripping issues down – of attending to the core. Michelangelo mentioned simplicity is the best diploma of sophistication, and I feel I consider in that,” he mentioned.

“We’re all residing in a fast-tracked digitalised world, the place every part has to occur proper now. I am a sensualist, an individual that basically needs to go to the bones and take away all the surplus. I wish to give calmness and serenity again to the individuals, and decelerate processes.”