Designing For Designers

When the International Interior Design Association moved to a headquarters by Envision, the organization aggressively sought LEED-CI Gold certification—and earned it. "Sustainability is a part of overall excellence," founding principal Ken Wilson says. This is increasingly a rule for designers to live by, as Wilson should know: He headed the IIDA's sustainability forum for two terms. The 10,000-square-foot headquarters in Chicago's venerable Merchandise Mart shows that designers can take form and function to higher and higher levels, using an ever expanding array of environmentally friendly products.

Wilson has been working on earth-conscious interiors since 1999. That's when Envision designed an office in Washington, D.C., for Greenpeace, where ecological concerns are second nature. He specified textiles woven from recycled fiber and floor tile made from discarded rubber tires, among various green elements then in an early state of development.

Beyond sustainability, the IIDA project came with its share of practical challenges. They included the fact that some of the space has large windows while another part, near the core of the immense building, is windowless. In addition, Wilson felt compelled to make sure the interior represented as many typologies as possible—office, hospitality, and residential, just for starters. "During programming, Ken was very cognizant that the IIDA represents all the specialties of design," executive vice president and CEO Cheryl Durst says.

A sense of common purpose, plus Envision's experience, made the project remarkably harmonious. Early on, it was agreed that the large, windowless zone would become a learning center. This lecture hall and a glassed-in meeting room would represent "hospitality"—as well as generating income when industry-related vendors and organizations rent the main space for training, conferences, and receptions.

Aside from the lack of natural light, the area is filled with green features. Carpet tile is recyclable; paint and adhesive are low-VOC. In the learning center, the audience sits in versions of a Charles and Ray Eames shell chair that boasts 62 percent recycled content. Paneling here and in reception is veneered in Forest Stewardship Council–certified oak with a core of rapidly renewable agri-fiber. Reception's floor tile is made from cork. On it lies a wool rug with backing that contains jute, another green material. (Suppliers provided many of these products free or at a reduced price.)

While the interior as a whole has a stripped-down aesthetic, partly to maintain a fresh look for the duration of the 15-year lease, a unique touch distinguishes the L-shape corridor from reception to the office area. Carved into one of the corridor's white-painted MDF walls are words related to the mission of interior design: value, human, inspiration, and so on. Meanwhile, the carpeted floor slopes gently upward to meet the floor of the office area, which is equipped with an efficient under-floor air-delivery system with individual temperature controls.

Aside from the workstations, which are Greenguard-certified, furnishings throughout are predominantly mid-century modern. Taraxacum S pendant fixtures by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni look fashionably atomic. Four CH_07 chairs by Hans Wegner set the "residential" tone in reception. George Nelson designed the Swag table and chairs in the pantry. In a meeting lounge, Womb chairs and Tulip side tables by Eero Saarinen accompany an Eames compact sofa. Its back is set against a wall of white tiles manufactured from bamboo pulp and ornamented with braille-style raised dots.

Does the use of classic modern furniture, designed when fossil fuels were plentiful, represent a diversion from rigorous eco-consciousness? Not at all, Wilson says. For one thing, most of these faithful editions are manufactured with sustainable materials. For another, the designs have already stood the test of time. "These pieces will always have value," Wilson says. "They will never end up in a Dumpster."

From top: In reception at the International Interior Design Association, its logo appears in stainless steel against panels veneered in Forest Stewardship Council–certified oak. The pantry's George Nelson chairs and table, versions of pieces introduced in 1958, were reissued in sustainable polypropylene in 2006. Enrico Franzolini and Vicente García Jiménez designed the pendant fixture in the hospitality area.

Clockwise from top: In reception, Hans Wegner chairs surround a custom table made of madrone. The IIDA's entry is in the windowless core of the Merchandise Mart's fourth floor. Lying on reception's cork floor tile is a custom tufted wool rug with backing in a jute-cotton blend.

Clockwise from top left: Zodiaq tops the bar in the hospitality area. In a meeting lounge, a sofa by Charles and Ray Eames backs up to wall tile made from bamboo pulp. The learning center's Eames stacking chairs have seats of molded recycled plastic.

From top: For the wall of a corridor, words that express the essence of interior design were router-cut into MDF manufactured from reclaimed wood; the surface was then painted. Workstations are Greenguard-certified for low off-gassing. Partition panels wrapped in recycled polyester meet wengé-veneered desktops.

FROM FRONT DOOGE VENEERS: PANELING (RECEPTION, HOSPITALITY, LEARNING CENTER). HERMAN MILLER: CHAIRS, TABLE (PANTRY), SOFA (LOUNGE), CHAIRS (LEARNING CENTER). FOSCARINI: PENDANT FIXTURE (HOSPITALITY). CARL HANSEN & SON: LOUNGE CHAIRS (RECEPTION). URBAN HARDWOODS: CUSTOM TABLE. MERIDA MERIDIAN: CUSTOM RUG. EXPANKO: FLOORING. CARNEGIE: DRAPERY FABRIC (RECEPTION, HOSPITALITY). ALLSTEEL: TASK CHAIRS (RECEPTION, OFFICE AREA), TABLES (LEARNING CENTER). ARTEMIDE: TASK LAMPS (RECEPTION, OFFICE AREA). DUPONT: COUNTER MATERIAL (HOSPITALITY). SHAW INDUSTRIES GROUP: CARPET TILE (HOSPITALITY, LEARNING CENTER). KNOLL: TABLES, CHAIR (LOUNGE). INHABIT: WALL TILE. HBF: WALL COVERING (LOUNGE, LEARNING CENTER). FUHR INDUSTRIAL: PAINT (HALL). HAWORTH: WORKSTATIONS (OFFICE AREA). THROUGHOUT GOTHAM: RECESSED CEILING FIXTURES. FOCAL POINT: LINEAR FIXTURES. ARMSTRONG: CEILING SYSTEM. ASI MODULEX: CUSTOM SIGNAGE. BENJAMIN MOORE & CO.: PAINT. SPARC ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN: ARCHITECT OF RECORD. SOUND INVESTMENT: AUDIOVISUAL CONSULTANT. KJWW ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS: MEP. BARSANTI WOODWORK CORPORATION: WOODWORK. TURNER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY: GENERAL CONTRACTOR.