Corporate Canvas

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

firm: gensler, alpha workshops
site: montvale, new jersey

An office needs a fresh coat of paint. Simple job, right? But when the client is Benjamin Moore & Co., expect the workplace scrutiny advisory level to hit Severe. Or, in this case, Neon Red. Tackling the update of the palette pro's 138,000-square-foot, two-level headquarters in Montvale, New Jersey was Dana Jenkins, design director in Gensler's nearby Morristown office, in collaboration with Doty Horn, Benjamin Moore's director of color and design. They further enlisted Kenneth Wampler's Alpha Workshops, the collaborative that employs persons living with HIV and AIDS, to develop specialty effects—using, of course, only Benjamin Moore paints. The most aggressive of these is the aptly named Bar Code Wall, a floor-to-ceiling stack of multicolored stripes that looms above the visitors sitting beneath. Alpha also conceived the playful, domino-like treatment of the employee café, using colors like Split Pea and Truffle, and the painted leaf swatches cascading down the staircase of the reception area's Color Atrium. The pièce de résistance of the space certainly must be the Brush Wall, a tactile exhibition of the manufacturer's identity, where pre-dipped paintbrushes provide a backdrop for color-coordinated upholstery. Is it any surprise that it's directly across from the office of Benjamin Moore chief Denis Abrams? It's still good to be CEO. 201-573-9600; benjaminmoore.com. circle 741 

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