Haworth’s New York showroom, designed by Gensler, won a Silver Award in the “environments” category of the prestigious Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) competition. The annual competition, co-sponsored by Business Week and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), honors the year’s best-designed products and places.
Haworth’s showroom, located at 625 Avenue of the Americas, was selected from among 1,078 entries from throughout the world. The entries were judged by IDSA members and award winners published in the June 12 issue of Business Week. Designed to be an interactive learning environment and resource center for the interior design community, the Haworth showroom was cited for excellence in its use of space to enhance performance and perception of the company within the New York design community. It is a 17,000-square foot loft which has become an active, evolving meeting place for designers. Bold graphics and communications elements highlight the design theme: New York is a friendly town. This message is reinforced with logos, video displays, custom postcards, L.E.D. displays, “factoid” stickers and a display billboard comprised of rotating triangular pillars.
The showroom occupies the top floor of a former department store in the heart of “Ladies Mile,” a fashionable turn-of-the-century shopping district. The original cast-iron columns remain unfinished, forming a connection with the building’s past. The raised concrete floor tiles are the modern version of hardwood flooring. The large, open loft features skylights and contemporary lighting and finishes.
The Gensler design team on the project included Robin Klehr Avia, John Bricker, Kenneth Lunstead, Mark Morton and Anthony Lee.
In addition to this award, the Haworth New York showroom has received an interior citation from the New York City Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture. It was featured in the September 1999 issue of Interior Design, and was used as the location of a photo shoot for a recent Sak’s Fifth Avenue catalog. The venue has been used for numerous industry, client, dealer and student events, including the International Interior Design Association “Pioneers of the Industry” speaker series.
For more about the IDEA annual awards, visit www.IDSA.org.
