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Six For the Price of One

Eva Hagberg -- Interior Design, 3/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

Standing in the circular reception area at the Mohawk Group in New York, Shashi Caan begins her tour—the founder of the multidisciplinary Shashi Caan Collective is describing her Big Idea for the showroom, which incorporates six of the company's carpet brands in one fluid space. "Everything comes from Mohawk," she says, gesturing toward the gold, orange, and magenta carpet that sweeps across the floor and up the wall behind a built-in bench for waiting customers. Screening the reception desk, a latticework panel evokes traditional rug patterns and what Caan calls the "hide-and-seek nature" of the interior.

Located on the 18th floor of a Masonic building, the 16,000-square-foot showroom is divided into six main zones, one for each brand. To separate them, Caan used rolling panels of steel-framed MDF. One side, painted white, features slots to hold samples; the other shows off a photomural of the Manhattan cityscape at different times of day. In real time, morning and afternoon send sunshine through the showroom's wall of south-facing windows—visible, Caan stresses, from every corner.

Opposite the window wall, hoteling workstations occupy a row of booths lined in the same inviting gold, orange, and magenta carpet as reception—imploding the literal and symbolic wall that typically divides showroom from office space. "If individuals are delighted with their environment," Caan says, "you know everything's going to go well."

From left: Steel-framed MDF panels divide the New York showroom into six areas, one per brand; the curtain material is actually carpet backing. These samples are for the Durkan Commercial brand's Beaucoup de Boucle, a nylon broadloom.

Clockwise from top left: The rubber-rimmed steel wheel of a divider rests between nylon and wool Mohawk floor coverings. MDF latticework screens the reception area. Booths contain "hoteling" workstations. Underneath the south-facing windows, a storage system holds sample books. Like the showrooms' rolling dividers, a meeting area's stationary version displays a photomural on one side. The showroom dividers' opposite side features slots for standard samples.

Opposite: Custom-woven Karastan Contract wool carpet lines the floor and wall in reception; Mohawk samples perch on the marble top of the steel table.

WOOD FLOORING: MOHAWK INDUSTRIES; HAYWOOD BURKE (INSTALLATION). CUSTOM CURTAINS: CWC DESIGN CARPET; LEES CARPET (FABRIC). CARPET, SAMPLES: DURKAN; KARASTAN CONTRACT; LEES CARPET. FLOOR TILE: DALTILE. CUSHION FABRIC: MARAHAM. CUSTOM WALL GRAPHICS: LEAP COMMUNICATIONS. STORAGE SYSTEM: TEKNION. TABLE: HBF. PAINT: BENJAMIN MOORE CO. FURNITURE DEALER: SMART OFFICE SOLUTIONS. CARPET INSTALLATION: CONSOLIDATED CARPET. MILLWORK: PREMIER WOODCRAFT. STONEWORK: STONEBRIDGE. LIGHTING CONSULTANT: K+A DESIGN CONSULTANTS. STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: LUKE LICALZI, PE, PC, CONSULTING ENGINEERS. MEP: ALAN R. SCHWARTZ PE CONSULTING ENGINEERS. GENERAL CONTRACTOR: ARCADIAN CONSTRUCTION.