Project Title: Exterus Furniture

Firm: Paul Designs Project

Submitted for Consideration in: Architecture, Interiors

Client: Exterus Business Furniture

Location: Portland, ME

Project-At-a-Glance:
In one of Portland's emerging neighborhoods, a former public works warehouse has been repurposed. This commercial furniture showroom is a new home for this organization In Portland. This fit-up maximizes space to showcase products in an exciting destination for Architects, Designers, and clients to learn about the furniture lines available.

Project Narrative:

Deciding to consolidate their showrooms to Portland in an emerging neighborhood, this commercial furniture dealer created a destination for Designers to view product and meet with each other. 

A tight space, new ways to display product and create atmosphere were required.  An existing structural column in this old public works garage turned business Incubator, is surrounded by a tower designed in Lucite panels to display up to 15 chairs with color shifting lit top and bottom panels.

Along one side of the space, in front of a brick wall, thirty yards of an experimental open weave textile are draped to effect the acoustics and create a sense of depth. 

Glass demountable partitions create a conference room and private offices but do not close off the open space.  Salvaged pendant lights, repainted orange by an automotive shop, and some new LED fixtures create zones of display.

The flooring, a pattern of over 14 SKU's of carpet and LVT Is neutral with zones of color Introduced to help create product vignettes. 

The kitchenette and design center is constructed out of modular casework mixed with custom display boxes that take advantage of the 14 foot ceilings.  The patterned ceramic tile at the backsplash Is a focal point from the entrance - helping to create clarity in the space.

To add a bit of whimsy, the restroom features a custom drawn and digitally printed wallcovering.  The architects sketched four groups of animals of New England and connected them with a "trellis" of sketches of indigenous trees and shrubs.  The sketches were then digitally manipulated and colored on a dark patterned background to produce a room that transports one to a modern forest.

The project, completed for under $250,000, Is a series of vignettes that showcase the furniture and products represented by this dealer.