In March of 2008, marquardt+ (work performed as Design Collaboratives)
was retained by Invista, a subsidiary of privately owned
Koch Industries, Inc., to design a completely new Antron® showroom
for their Antron Brand Carpet Fiber division. The brief required a complete
gut/renovation of their existing showroom space in Suite 10-111, Merchandise
Mart, Chicago. The brief also required marquardt+ to design
an installation that would achieve LEED certification and be ready for
occupancy in time for NeoCon® 2008.
marquardt+ designed, developed and coordinated the completion
of the new Antron Showroom in 13 weeks. The space was completed June 9th
just in time for the first day of NeoCon® and the project was awarded
LEED-Gold certification by the United State Green Building Council, (USGBC).
marquardt+ re-envisioned the Antron Carpet Fiber installation
as an educational space that would engage a new generation of young designers,
clearly present the performance and quality characteristics of Antron
Brand Carpet Fibers, and easily transform to accommodate new products
and evolving technical and educational presentations to come. The showroom
facilitates ongoing designer training and interaction relative to industry
developments, mill offerings and three core components of the Antron Brand
that differentiate Antron fiber from their competitors: Inspire, Perform,
and Sustain.
The tag line "Inspired by Science" was created to capture the
excitement of Antron's ongoing product development, creative applications,
and continuing education that bring new possibilities to carpet performance,styling
and specification. Although LEED Gold certified, the design intentionally
avoids an earthy appearance and instead captures and exploits the aesthetic
scientifically engineered beauty of long life, reuse and "up-cycleability"
inherent in the Antron product.
The space was conceptualized using the following models as reference points:
Black box (theater)
Lighting and media infrastructure are latent in the space until activated
as required to facilitate evolving training, messaging and atmospheric
moods. Ambiance and information can change throughout the day, per event
and/or on an annual basis without modification to the base infrastructure.
The idea is to create a "plug n play" wrapper that that will
accommodate future changes without wasteful deconstruction.
Transformer
Partitioning is made up of large, reused sliding glass panels from the
original installation, plus tables on casters, and rolling stools can
be reconfigured into 3 specific layouts and numerous other arrangements
as dictated by event occurring in space. Perimeter display units are easily
changeable. Focus areas and components are multifunctional and flexible
to optimize the tight footprint of the 2700 square foot space.
Mac vs. PC
Antron becomes the smart, technical and casual cool that appeals to younger
designers who have a different view of what is "hi-end", professional
and business-like. They prefer to be engaged interactively in understanding
the industry, appropriate applications, and product lifecycle ramifications.
A more informal, hands-on approach that is progressive, hip, yet approachable.
Interaction "Labs"
Replace conventional demonstrations as follows: