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Botanica custom architectural glass borrows imagery from the work of photographers Henry Domke, Steven Meyers, and Zeva Oelbaum. The patterns may be rendered using a combination of textures, translucent or opaque colors, etching, and two-sided overlays, in the process creating, perhaps, several patterns as variations on a theme for a single installation. 773-278-4660; skydesign.com. circle 746
Architectural Drapery mesh interweaves weatherproof copper and stainless steel wire. Los Angeles–based designers ARYA Group used the mesh for the Village School gymnasium facade in Pacific Palisades, California, then carried it indoors for window treatments, light fixtures, and the curtain on a stage at one end of the gym. It's also available in a natural aluminum finish, nickel plated, or colorfully painted. 800-999-2645; cascadecoil.com. circle 749
Architect Zaha Hadid shares credit with Woody Yao for the zippy ZH Duemilacinque. The door lever sparkles in aerodynamic polished chrome over brass, though gleaming satin chrome is also an option. Choose a plain or square rose, or escutcheons of either an oval or rectangle shape. 877-326-2565; vallivalli-us.com.circle 747
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
“Build us a 3-D business card.” This sentiment, though unspoken, drives many corporate building projects, sending some designers scrambling for a branding guru or graphics wiz. Matteo Thun & Partners, however, went straight to the source. As the firm plotted a 43,055-square-foot executive pavilion for German wood producer Binder, it employed Binder's own plywood in the building.
“We've been known for sustainable architecture for 30 years, and it all started with wood,“says Thun, the firm's principal and Interior Design magazine Hall of Famer. On a grassy knoll adjacent to a wood mill in Kösching, Bavaria, project leaders Bruno Franchi and Uta Bahn mapped out a straightforward and linear design to spotlight the company's signature commodity. It was the ultimate product placement.
They specified use of Binder's cross-laminated BBS for the entire complex. Spruce and larch overlap in alternating layers to produce the prefabricated sheets in a process that is energy efficient. The self-insulating composite absorbs sound and resists fire, with nary a whiff of carbon emissions. Sheets come in 13 different thicknesses, up to 10½ inches, at 49 inches wide.
On the single-story facade, full-height glass panels mix with BBS sheets, generating a give-and-take between transparency and substance. Slender office quadrants of glass and wood are wedged into a glass, central entrance hall, forming an “H” that also frames two outdoor courtyards. White wood walls and limestone flooring intensify the starkness of negative space in the reception area, which is bordered by the glass conference room and its SmartWood-certified, nut-wood-top table. All beneath a flat BBS roof, forcefully projecting over the courtyards like a wide-brimmed boater. It makes a spot-on finish for a corporate tip-of-the-hat. 43-5288-601-0; binderholz.com. circle 591
“Totally unique” only begins to describe this studio's eccentric architectural hardware, made by glass artisans around the world. Among more than a hundred Art Glass doorknobs are designer Alex Matheson's clear glass–encased Florals collection. Various finishes may be applied to the metal to match adjoining hardware. 727-864-3902; outofthebluedesignstudio.com. circle 748
Plywood sits at the core of many environmental debates. Not only does the quotidian building material involve logging and waste, the chemical composition of its urea-formaldehyde adhesive has caused concerns about possible links to cancer and other health issues. A partnership between Columbia Forest Products, a manufacturer of hardwood plywood panels, and Oregon State University has been working to solve the green adhesive conundrum. The university's biomimicry research lab studied the small threads used by mussels to remain attached to shoreline rocks amidst pounding waves and discovered a protein with an unusual chemical composition. Later studies determined the mussel protein could be simulated by modifying environmentally benign soy protein. The result is the soy flour-based bonding solution called PureBond, which Columbia happily makes available to other manufacturers. 800-237-2428; cfpwood.com. circle 414
Whether fronting custom bars or wrapping walls, ¾-inch-thick fiberboard from InterMix is laminated with white Corian that's computer-carved. The 10 available carved patterns in the Specialty Products line—produced in collaboration with Marotte—include one with the Corian accented, before carving, by the addition of a top layer of natural wood veneer. 212-206-1730; archsystems.com.
Whether sold as tiny 2-inch tesserae or as gigantic 2-foot slabs, Horn tiles interpret nature using three warm, mingled tones. The thick surfacing of sparkles is polished after application to produce the shiny "under-glass" effect. 212-980-1500; rex-cerart.it.
Want the smoothness of river rocks but short on time for those few centuries of erosion? Judson Beaumont collects scraps of locally salvaged wood to craft Mountain Pine Beetle River Rocks, which are then glued onto vertical surfaces (walls, mirror frames, back-lit acrylic). The hand-drawn tile shapes are worn smooth, just like real stones—thanks to the eight hours they spend in a tumbler. 604-251-9669; straightlinedesigns.com.
To clad medium-density fiberboard, particleboard, gypsum board, and even rigid plastics, plantation-grown Italian poplar has been reengineered into 4-by-8 sheets of paper-backed composite veneer. Ebony, gray oak, cherry, zebrawood, and black oak are now among the nine color-styles sold unfinished in the new Treefrog Unfinished line. 800-830-5448; treefrogveneer.com.
Manufacturer: Darcy Miro Metals Shop.
Product: Topo.
Standout: These lacy tiles seem to defy the weight of bronze.
After introducing these perforated tiles in white bronze, Darcy Miro embraced the metal's painterly quality by shading parts of the surface. She starts with a wax form, which she manipulates to create modules 3 to 4 inches square. After casting, she drills and saws to make perforations—even breaking off little bits. She occasionally leaves a tile intact, but she prefers to see light shine through: "They become more about the neg ative space than the positive." Thinking like an interior designer, she imagines them hanging in front of a window, inserted in a door frame, or lining the mantel of a fireplace. 212-366-9896; darcymiro.com. circle 431
This feat of Clay is actually translucent white "Glow" acrylic resin that can transition seamlessly from wall to floor, indoors and out. The six standard patterns are in 50 opaque colors—either glossy smooth or rough matte, with custom options also available. All are easily carved, bent, molded, or stacked for nonporous and Class-A fire-rated applications in high-traffic areas and health care. 212-924-5558; robin-reigi.com.
The very fabric of Illumesh woven stainless wire sparks the imagination! Interspersed components deliver power and data to bars of sealed LEDs pointed at the surface of the mesh. The light show that results is driven by integral units and, what's more, they're able to take commands via the Internet. 800-453-8616; gkdmetalfabrics.com.
Design: Collection in Whites.
Standout: A textile and flooring maven puts her stamp on glass with 10 patterns, from grids to organics—all etched using an eco-friendly technique. 773-278-4660; skydesign.com. circle 447
Shaw Jevleh Design's latest in recyclable resin starts with Beads that appear to hang from a rippled textile. Kiku evokes the delicate whorl of a chrysanthemum, while Scribble is robust (and self-explanatory). Sheets up to 4 by 8 feet may be ordered in varying thicknesses, ranging from 6/10 inch to ½ inch. 212-924-5558; robin-reigi.com.
Recent graduate Teresa Maria Ramos Abrego's fingerprints are all over these new 4-by-8-foot architectural panels. Originally conceived for a product design class at Pratt Institute, Abrego's enlarged prints are molded into custom-colored panels of recycled polyester resin that can be ½ inch to an inch thick. 800-221-1540; designtex.com.
Pull down the shades and get a good look at weave 243—a.k.a. Tiger Eye. This style starts by burnishing reeds in shades of deep golden brown, then stipples them with delicate black markings, a distinction among this green importer's collection of natural-fiber handweaves. 866-426-6723; conradshades.com.
You may only see one of two patterns printed on Infusions Accent Canopies when gazing heavenward at a finished ceiling. But the flip sides of panels in this manufacturer's Graphix collection offer an additional screen print, for those times when you want to switch things up. 877-276-7876; armstrong.com/ceilings.
With nods to geometry, nature, Zen Buddhism—and even Frank Lloyd Wright—Cuban-American designer Tomas Frenes created Arestone decorative tiles. Installed just like ceramic or stone tile, the 12-inch modules showcase a mixture of sandstone and other natural elements, or they may be painted. 305-633-7446; tomasfrenes.com.
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