Museum Piece

Staff -- Interior Design, 10/31/2008 12:00:00 AM

What's the difference betweena showroom and a gallery? In a showroom, they let you sit on the art. Such was the fine-line hybrid that George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg imagined for Avenue Road—Stephan Weishaupt's year-old line of international furnishings—and its 3,000-square-foot headquarters in Toronto. Off-white concrete floors and milky millwork by Erik Cabinets establish a blank canvas for the works of artists—sorry, designers—like Konstantin Grcic, Eileen Gray, and Christophe Delcourt, the last winningly exploiting the contrast with his Rue du Louvre pine-top console and Perry Street Boomerang sofa. Skylights cast natural lightthroughout, creating a series of vignettes that draw visitors into the central gallery. Embracing symmetry and verticality in equal doses, the Interior Design Hall of Famers devised two banks of super-sized cubbyholes that soar to the 13-foot-high ceiling.

Chairs and lamps occupy the lacquered MDF compartments. Such cubic geometry proves a fitting foil for the softer silhouettes of Ricardo Fasanello's Esfera leather chair, nestled inside a resin base, and his circular Anel leather chair with iron base. The space makes a seamless transition to offices at the rear, including a glass-encased conference room.

Yabu Pushelberg's stamp extends to the Avenue Road inventory, contributing an exclusive collection of furnishings and accessories that includes their outdoorsy St. Martin's Lane rug. Conflict of interest? No, just an interesting confluence. 416-548-7788; avenue-road.com. circle 536