Located in the heart of Clerkenwell, Vescom’s London home base is conceived as an inspiration point for the area’s architectural and design community. Witness first hand how Vescom’s product range – wallcovering, upholstery and curtain fabrics for the international contract market – can yield practical yet beautiful interior solutions. And, since Vescom’s product development is driven by the needs of architects and designers, the service-oriented showroom is also a space of professional exchange. It’s a place to grab a coffee with like-minded creatives, or to utilize as a temporary workspace.
The new showroom is housed within a 1890s industrial brick building: a former brewery designed by British architect William Bradford. Like a Fabergé egg, the building’s robust urban exterior belies the warm bath of material and colour that awaits within. Visitors enter a space with hefty walls and barrel-vaulted ceilings to find a modern-day Wunderkammer, a sensuous encounter with Vescom’s wallcovering, upholstery and curtain fabrics.
The contrasts continue when it comes to the materials on show, a highlight of which is mohair velvet. Vescom products embody the soft side of hard use. They may be luxurious, eye-catching and design-driven, but they also meet the toughest international contract-market standards, making them ideal for projects in such fields as hospitality, office, healthcare and education.
Christiane Müller, Vescom’s design director
‘We’re telling a story about materials through a magical combination of colours,’ says Christiane Müller, Vescom’s design director. ‘We want to inspire designers and architects – to show them what’s possible within our wallcovering, upholstery and curtain solutions. Colour is therefore key – as is the combination of structures, and the diversity of materials.’
The London location’s prominent walls inspired interior architect Bas van Tol to play with their thickness. The resulting cocoon-like space envelops visitors in Vescom’s latest product releases, including Jarvis, Puccini, Lismore and Watson wallcoverings, and Ariana, Zanzibar, Lani, Eliot, Burton and Noss upholsteries. The interior design needed to be efficient in order to best present and store Vescom’s products in a modest-sized space. The installation involves six right-angled structures, which are set at a distance from the existing walls. Clad in Vescom wallcovering, these structures offer space within for the display of curtains, wallcovering panels and upholstery, as well as storage for binders, samples and office supplies.