LUXURY NOW
INTERIORS // ARCHITECTURE // FASHION // ART // DESIGN
PACIFIC NORTHWEST DESIGN
N O 32 :
FEBRUARY / MARCH. 2017
The PNW takes on
LUXURY How we do it here.
THE NEW GLAMOUR Linen curtains, custom wallpaper, & other fine finishes
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PORCELANOSA SEATTLE 88 Spring Street, Suite 120 Seattle, WA 98104 206.673.8395
Photo Michel Gibert. Special thanks: TASCHEN. 1Conditions apply, ask your store for more details. 2Program available on selected items and subject to availability.
French Art de Vivre
Reflexion. Large 3 seat sofa in leather, design Philippe Bouix. Séquoïa. Cocktail table and end table, design Erwan Péron. Spoutnik. Armchairs, design Sacha Lakic. Manufactured in Europe.
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Architecture: Heliotrope Architects; Photography: Benjamin Benschneider
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cont 24
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february–march.17
12. hello
Luxury is...
SCENE 23. happenings
News, events, and openings.
28. retail
Minimalist boutique Spartan Shop proves less is more.
30. retail
Moissonnier’s new Vancouver flagship brings French luxury to North America.
32. textile
Felt artist Janice Arnold turns traditional wool craft into fine art.
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STYLE 37. ask
Designer Olivia Lam gives us the penthouse perspective on Canada’s luxury condos.
42. textile
Cloth Studio offers luxe Belgian linen for the “horizontal lifestyle.”
56. art
After decades in design, Louise Durocher rockets onto Seattle’s art scene.
62. context
Acclaimed designer Patricia Urquiola offers a refreshing perspective on real luxury.
46. jewelry
66. made here
48. fashion
70. sourced
Hume Atelier’s conflict-free fine jewelry reflects its makers’ global mission. Beth Richards’s new swimwear collection channels a modern Brigitte Bardot.
Old World design techniques look entirely new at Normandie Woodworks. From African anigre panels to mineral muralpapers, these wall treatments are anything but one-dimensional.
tents 88
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IN-DEPTH 79. northern exposure
A modern getaway is off the grid on Nelson Island, B.C.—and off the charts for its prefab design.
88. domestic drama
Designer Casey Keasler gives a 1911 Portland home the Hollywood treatment.
94. the car stays in the picture Start your engines. An artistdesigner’s Vancouver home shifts custom design into high gear.
& MORE 102. interiors
Vancouver’s Royal Dinette brings fine dining down to counter height.
106. architecture
Portland’s One North office building is a multistory model for the sustainable workplace.
110. resources
Design professionals, furnishings, and suppliers in this issue.
114. obsession
Wood & Faulk’s Matthew Pierce shines a light on his lantern collection.
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✤
On the Cover
Pooling linen curtains by Cloth Studio lend moody drama to a South Vancouver bathroom. SEE PAGE
42 Photographed by RAVI PANKHANIA
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interior design
Award-winning Interior Design. Full-service Kitchen/Bath Design. Custom Furnishings & Cabinetry. S ince 2 001 16 11 NW No rt hrup Por tland 503.295.01 51 MaisonInc.com
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ANDY sofa. LA BIBLIOTHÈQUE FIL shelf. Design Pierre Paulin. www.ligne-roset.com
VANCOUVER 1706 West 1st Ave Vancouver, BC V6J 0E4 Tel. (604) 683-1116 www.livingspace.com
SEATTLE 112 Westlake Avenue North Seattle, WA 98109 Tel. (206) 341-9990 graymag . com
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| hello |
Striking a pose in the Hot New Next cover–inspired photo booth at GRAY’s fifth anniversary party.
LUXURY IS... A) B) C) D) E)
A house literally built around a vintage Mercedes.1 Fine jewelry made from ethically sourced gold and diamonds.2 An off-the-grid prefab house designed to embody utter simplicity.3 A 150-foot yacht with leather and velvet interiors.4 Dozens of magnolias painstakingly hand-painted on an entryway wall.5
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Pg. 95 Pg. 46 3 Pg. 79 4 Pg. 40 5 Pg. 93 2
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PHOTOTAINMENT
THE ANSWER TO THIS POP QUIZ IS, OF COURSE, “ALL OF THE ABOVE.” And also “Depends who you ask.”
Why? Because luxury is personal. While most would agree that dense thread counts, custombuilt homes, and fast, fancy cars epitomize the high life, not everyone—even those with the means—thinks luxury equals a big price tag. I’m inclined to concur with Patricia Urquiola, the powerhouse Milan-based designer, that the greatest indulgences today don’t necessarily empty your bank account. (Though I wouldn’t mind sinking into her 550 Beam Sofa System sectional, starting price $11,640.) In her chat with writer Renske Werner (pg. 62), Urquiola cites a new kind of luxury: transparency. Transparency means understanding exactly what you’re buying and why you’re buying it; it means that you appreciate quality and ethical production. Think of finding a treasured item whose provenance—its materials and its maker—you fully grasp and respect. Or the new directto-consumer model in fashion, which reveals the supply chain in its entirety while eliminating hidden markups. Or even the experience of sitting in an open kitchen, watching a famed chef prepare your meal. “Quality becomes luxury when the process is understood and appreciated by the user,” Urquiola says. “We understand more about the environmental and social impact of processes and our purchases. This heightened consciousness changed what we consider to be of high value.” Many intangible luxuries simply can’t be bought, only earned or claimed. For Urquiola, it’s time with family— that’s why she runs her international company out of a studio right below her home. For others, it’s the pursuit of a passion: Louise Durocher (pg. 56), for example, who’s enjoyed a decades-long career in architecture, has decided to devote herself full time to sculpture, her lifelong avocation. As I write this, she’s in a quarry in Pietrasanta, Italy, hewing out a gigantic hunk of marble—and, quite possibly, her place in the history of contemporary art. When we interpret the “good life” this way, we recognize that it isn’t about fancy trappings. It’s about honing your priorities to suit your passions, and choosing your luxuries thoughtfully. As for me, I’ll take the burnished life over a bedazzled one any day.
Jaime Gillin, Director of Editorial + Content Strategy jaime@graymag.com
Sterling sofa, $1699; Sanders cocktail table, $699; Glen rug, $599. University Village 2675 NE University Village Street, Seattle roomandboard.com
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No. 32 Copyright ©2017. Published bimonthly (DEC, FEB, APR, JUNE, AUG, OCT) by GRAY Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint or quote excerpts granted by written request only. While every attempt has been made, GRAY cannot guarantee the legality, completeness, or accuracy of the information presented and accepts no warranty or responsibility for such. GRAY is not responsible for loss, damage, or other injury to unsolicited manuscripts, photography, art, or any other unsolicited material. Unsolicited material will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. If submitting material, do not send originals unless specifically requested to do so by GRAY in writing. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to GRAY, 5628 Airport Way S., Ste. 330 Seattle, WA 98108 Subscriptions $30 us for one year; $50 us for two years.
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THE PREMIERE WOOD DESIGN, BUILDING, AND MANUFACTURING EVENT SERIES WITH 4 EVENTS OVER 10 DAYS
| contributors |
GEORGE BARBERIS pg 88, 114 georgebarberis.com
HADANI DITMARS pg 30, 37 hadaniditmars.com
JEREMY JUDE LEE pg 62 jeremyjudelee.com
JANIS NICOLAY pg 94 janisnicolay.com
EMA PETER pg 37 emapeter.com
ANDREW POGUE pg 106 andrewpogue.com
CHARLIE SCHUCK pg 56 charlieschuck.com
KAITY TEER pg 42 kaitlynteer.com
RENSKE WERNER pg 62 renskewerner.com
AMANDA ZURITA pg 48 amandazurita.com
conversations at wood week LIVING WITH WOOD DESIGN FORUM
February 24, 2017 at Museum of Vancouver Join BC Wood for a dynamic panel discussion moderated by GRAY Magazine editor Jaime Gillin, with designer-artist Brent Comber; architect Javier Campos of Campos Studio; interior designer Gaile Guevara of Gaile Guevara Studio; and furniture designer Brent Freedman of Gamla Studio. We’ll explore the “softer side of wood” and its creative applications for interiors, furnishings, architecture, and art. Hear about the process of design as it relates to the products we live and interact with, rather than the structures we inhabit. Bring your questions!
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w w w. k u s h r u g s . c o m
scene PROMOTIONAL IMAGE, EXTERIOR MARIMEKKO FACTORY, VANHA TALVITIE 6, HELSINKI, C. 1975. © MARIMEKKO
A model wearing a Marimekko kimono poses outside the company’s Helsinki factory in 1975.
MARIMEKKO, WITH LOVE
Before Seattle’s Nordic Heritage Museum moves to its new, Mithun-designed building on Ballard’s Market Street in spring 2018, its old location just to the north will host the Northwest debut of the landmark textile exhibition “Marimekko, with Love.” Opening March 10, the retrospective celebrates the Finnish print company’s iconic patterns, its impact on textile history, and Nordic design’s embrace of simplicity and its honoring of objects’ utility and beauty. The show focuses on classic pieces created by company founders Armi and Viljo Ratia from the 1950s through the ’70s, including the still-bestselling Unikko (Poppy) pattern from 1964 and the loosely structured
Jokapoika shirt, the oldest continuously produced Marimekko piece, originally created in 1956 as a unisex design— a revolutionary idea at the time. More than just bold, splashy patterns, Marimekko represents a Nordic design ethos that resonates with Northwesterners: “creative freedom, dedication to environmental sensitivity, and a socially progressive vision,” according to museum CEO Eric Nelson. “Marimekko is particularly relevant to Seattle not just because of the area’s deep Nordic roots, but also because we’re a forward-thinking city of innovators.” h nordicmuseum.org graymag . com
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NEXT STOP
Seattle’s latest men’s apparel destination is Division Road. Owner (and former architectural designer) Jason Pecarich promotes a “buy once” ethos, stocking heritage and small-batch goods such as cult Viberg boots and raw Japanese denim by Benzak Denim Developer. He also collaborates with makers on exclusive collections— up next are cardigans with Portland’s Dehen 1920. divisionroadinc.com
ON VIEW
Memento, a custom chandelier created by Illuminata Art Glass Design for Seattle’s Living Computer Museum, immortalizes 11 early-model computer memory cards, repurposed as light diffusers inside oversized blown-glass globes. Artist Julie Conway discovered the cards, each holding a paltry 512 bytes of unknown data, in the museum’s basement, and saw beauty: “With their fine copper threads and silver solder, they look like giant sequins.” illuminataglass.com
COMING SOON This August, Portland’s Tanner Goods will begin selling its first large-scale piece of furniture: the midcentury-inspired Tekio. The modular shelving system comes in white oak or Oregon black walnut with black metal frames. tannergoods.com
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DRINK HERE
Embracing the industrial vibe of its namesake Vancouver neighborhood, Strathcona Beer Company opened its first tasting room in July 2016. Designed by Simcic + Uhrich Architects and constructed by Heatherbrae Builders, the modern space features white oak tables, concrete floors, and neon signs that edge up the character. strathconabeer.com
STRATHCONA BEER COMPANY: ASH LEWIS
EDITOR PICKS
Walk in with Walk out with
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NOW OPEN
With December’s opening of Ai & Om, owned by veteran chef Douglas Chang, Vancouverites of all culinary stripes got instant access to a high-style selection of Japanese knives, sharpening stones, and cutting boards. The Chinatown shop features interiors by Scott & Scott Architects, with wall-mounted knife display shelving and cedar, leather, and blackened steel cases that match the artful simplicity of the hand-forged blades. aiandomknives.ca
DON’T MISS
MUST SEE NEXT STOP
Phase one of the $40 million renovation of Victoria, B.C.’s Fairmont Empress Hotel has wrapped, and the glam new Q restaurant and bar is one result. (Revamped guestrooms and public spaces are coming summer 2017). Designed by the Puccini Group, Q at the Empress pairs preserved elements of the hotel’s 1908 architecture—mahogany paneling, an Edwardian-style coffered ceiling—with contemporary updates including a Caesarstone bar and cloud-inspired Preciosa light fixtures. Stretched-fabric portraits of Queen Victoria, printed in Technicolor hues that channel the City of Gardens’ rainbow palette, decorate the space. Hail to the Q! fairmont.com/empress-victoria
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Seattle graphic design studio Civilization recently moved into new, bigger digs—a former art gallery in Pioneer Square—and launched graphics-centric Non-Breaking Space, dedicated to graphic design on view and for sale (including the pin at left, designed by Milton Glaser in 2003). Its first show, “The Design of Dissent,” curated with Glaser ´ surveys prominent and Mirko Ilic, graphic works of social and political protest spanning the past 50 years (though April 6). builtbycivilization.com h
AI & OM: ALANA PATERSON; KENGO KUMA: DENNIS GOCER, THE COLLECTIVE YOU
Through February 28, Vancouver’s Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel hosts “Japan Unlayered,” an exhibition celebrating contemporary Japanese architecture, design, and culture through all the senses. The exhibit, curated by none other than starchitect Kengo Kuma, dives into the Japanese philosophy of layering and offers a retrospective look at Kuma’s work. Afterward, stop into pop-up shops by renowned Japanese brands MUJI and BEAMS. fairmont.com/pacific-rim-vancouver
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SHOP AND STARE Written by AMARA HOLSTEIN
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE:
Owner Currie Person calls Spartan Shop’s minimalist aesthetic “clean, classic, and warm.” The Amphora hanging vases are by Kati von Lehman; the lights are by Lambert et Fils. Much of the furniture was made by De Jong & Co., including the Mandelbrot credenza, holding a Workstead lamp and glassware by Esque Studio. Various table toppers include leather wallets and Fort Standard bottle openers.
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producer Currie Person opened Spartan Shop on SE Grand this past fall, that trifecta was her goal—and she’s achieved it, creating a cosmopolitan boutique with a unique selection of artisan goods. “I wanted it to feel like a cool European loft where people could just hang out,” she explains of her company’s second location (the first is in Austin, Texas). Codesigned with De Jong & Co., the century-old former automotive shop provides an all-white setting with exposed ceiling beams and epoxied concrete floors. A live-edge walnut table holds hand-forged brass serving spoons from Japan, and locally made ceramics by Lilith Rockett nudge up against stemless Spanish wine glasses. A custom black deer-tanned cowhide leather couch by De Jong invites guests to pick up a book and lounge, while Person amplifies the laid-back vibe with frequent art shows, wine tastings, and dinners. “It feels warm and welcoming,” she says. “It’s all about having fewer but better things—not necessarily luxurious things, but quality ones that you’ll use every day.” h
CURRIE PERSON AND PHILIP DE JONG
LIGHT, BRIGHT, AND FABULOUS AREN’T WORDS USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH PORTLAND’S INDUSTRIAL SOUTHEAST. But when former location scout and film
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Husband-and-wife designers Nader and Mana Mobargha (right) own the new Moissonnier showroom in Vancouver. It features handcrafted European homewares such as the Bonaparte empire day bed and Louis XIV Bergère chairs (top). The Mobarghas customized the bespoke Moissonnier commode (below) with shipping rope, travel motifs, and postcards.
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FRENCH TWIST
Written by HADANI DITMARS : Photographed by ALI FARSHCHIAN
AFTER YEARS OF COLLABORATION WITH STORIED FRENCH FURNITURE MAKERS MOISSONNIER on international projects ranging from villas in Baku to penthouses in Knightsbridge, Iranian-Canadian designers Mana and Nader Mobargha opened the company’s North American outpost in Vancouver’s Yaletown neighborhood in December 2016. Moissonnier’s 3,000-square-foot flagship shop shows off the company’s very Parisian game of chic-choc, with layered antique patinas on modern interpretations of French classics. Featuring oak, cherry, walnut, pear, beech, and other woods sourced directly from French forests, each Moissonnier design is made by master craftspeople working to the high standards befitting a firm that France has officially designated as a part of its ‘living heritage.’ The showroom, designed as a series of narrative vignettes, is divided into five distinct spaces: living, dining, office, bedroom, and outdoor areas. In addition to showcasing iconic Moissonnier pieces, the shop features items from exclusive European brands, including blown-glass chandeliers by Arte Veneziana, fine porcelain by Bernadaud, and encaustic cement tiles by Carocim. Of their decision to open the showroom, one of a growing number of global luxury homewares brands to set up shop in Vancouver (the first North American Versace Home opened here in the winter of 2014), Mana says: “Vancouverites are ready for a more sophisticated take on luxury, one that’s all about quality, character, and design. In a world that’s increasingly full of fakes, luxury today is about authenticity”—a quality that the venerable Moissonnier exhibits in spades. h
Š 2017 Design Within Reach, Inc.
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Artist Janice Arnold (right) incorporated recycled coffee bags, metal, mohair, and merino wool into 2016’s Folded Time, a wavy, 277-foot-long felt sculpture, to create textures evoking a sense of evolution and time.
THE PULL OF WOOL Written by RACHEL GALLAHER
of a 40-foot table in her downtown Olympia, Washington, studio, the founder of JA Felt is running her nimble fingers along the undulating edges of a large handmade felt textile patterned with swirling foliage. “One thing I love about working with wool,” she notes with a smile, “is the more you beat it up, the more beautiful it gets.” This deceptively simple statement belies the amount of physically demanding labor Arnold puts into each of her felt-based projects—she’ll invest up to a month of work in a single piece. The 23-foot-long leaf-scattered textile on the table, which epitomizes her ability to push traditional craft into the realm of fine art, will be featured in “FELT DeCoded | Wool: Nature’s Technology,” the solo exhibition she’s curated for San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Design (it runs February 11 to June 4, 2017). Since her first foray into the craft 18 years ago, the selftaught artist has been a pivotal figure in the revitalization of the handmade felt industry, creating work ranging from costumes for the L.A. Opera’s “Grendel” in 2006 to »
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JASMINE OLSON; PORTRAIT: SHAUNA BITTLE
“GO AHEAD, YOU CAN TOUCH THAT—IT’S NATURALLY DURABLE, SO YOU CAN’T REALLY HURT IT,” says artist Janice Arnold. Standing at one end
DESIGNWEEKPORTLAND.COM graymag . com
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FROM TOP: Arnold’s team at work on Cave of Memories, a new piece on view for the first time in the “FELT DeCoded” exhibition at San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Design. Arnold also creates richly textured scarves made from velvet, silk, and merino wool. Much like a cut geode, a cross-section of this thick slab of felt—an artwork created from the offcuts of a bench Arnold created for the Gates Foundation— reveals strata formed by the natural colors of the wool. A series of reversible bicolored felt sheets are vibrant both front and back.
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2009’s site-specific “Palace Yurt” installation at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. While Arnold has always been drawn to textiles, her artistic career in felt didn’t begin until her early 40s, sparked by a material sourcing issue she encountered while working in Seattle as a consultant to the Nordstrom visual merchandizing team. “They wanted to create sculptural, couture gown–inspired installations using felt in rich, autumnal colors in the windows of the flagship store,” Arnold recalls. “In the ’90s, industrial felt was only available in dull gray palettes, so I started reading about handmade colored felt. No suppliers in the country could provide the amount we needed, so I decided to make it myself.” Diving into research mode, Arnold spent six months learning the ancient felt-making techniques of Central Asian nomads (she would later travel there to study with a master felt craftsman), which involve layering dry wool fibers, repeatedly working the material with warm water, and dragging the roll behind a camel or horse to agitate and tangle the wool fibers into a matted material. “I didn’t have a camel,” Arnold exclaims, “so I just hooked the roll to the back of my car and started driving!” Twenty years later, her process has evolved (she now has two studios and a custom-designed felt roller), but Arnold is still committed to the authenticity of handmade products, sourcing her wool fiber from local farms, and to educating the public about the craft. “What people generally think of as felt isn’t actually made from wool but from synthetic fibers,” she says. “I want people to understand what goes into making real felt.” It’s one reason she was so adamant that “FELT DeCoded” include an educational component that takes visitors through the history and cultural significance of felt and the process of creating it. The show also includes an immersive installation, furniture, and a selection of textiles—all testaments to this ever-evolving art. “I spend a lot of time exploring uncharted territory with handmade felt, experimenting and creating new recipes and combinations of fibers,” Arnold says. “It’s an ancient fabric that becomes a very new medium in my hands.” h
FROM TOP: SCOT WHITNEY; BOB IYAL; JANICE ARNOLD; JANICE ARNOLD
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style
At the new Burnaby Concord Brentwood sales center, designer Olivia Lam lures in buyers with a double-mirrored ceiling, a 7-foot-long helix light installation, and a backlit onyx reception desk. The design plays with solidity and transparency and, perhaps more philosophically, suggests the permanence and transience of Vancouver’s rollercoaster real estate world.
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DREAM WEAVER
Written by HADANI DITMARS : Photographed by EMA PETER
of Vancouver’s most exclusive towers. After obtaining a science degree at the University of British Columbia—and shortly thereafter realizing that her true passion was design— Lam traveled through Europe, living in Coco Chanel’s former suite at the Ritz in Paris for several weeks and spending hours studying the chandeliers at Versailles. In 2012, while still in her late 20s, she started her own firm, Liv Interiors, and channeled her understanding of luxury into glamorous interior projects. As Vancouver’s real estate market boomed, the wunderkind honed her craft, quickly building a reputation for richly imagined model condo units and sales centers that invite buyers to envision their new lives via finely detailed vignettes. Here Lam weighs in on today’s luxury homebuyer, her favorite tricks to amplify space, and the technologies no home should be without.
What does luxury mean in the Pacific Northwest today? Luxury here is about walking into a space and feeling immediately at ease. It’s about high-end materials and meticulous attention to finishes and detailing. I use a lot of marble and crystal, but soft, tactile fabrics are also key because this region is very much about places you can relax in and enjoy with a group of friends in yoga gear. Who is the new luxury buyer in Vancouver? The market is increasingly international; they’re used to a certain kind of opulence. They’re keen on color,
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sumptuous finishes, and a bit of exotic luxury. In Concord Gardens in Richmond, I decorated the display suite with blue and white porcelain chinoiserie vases— and I love using Carrera marble wherever I can. What is the role of technology in high-end homes? Advances in technology create opportunities for smart home design and add luxury and comfort within a small framework. I’m currently designing motion- and energy-sensitive LED lighting for a project in Surrey that will integrate human interactions with AI to create art on the building’s façade. I’m envisioning lighting »
THOMPSON CHAN
DESIGNER OLIVIA LAM HAS CARVED OUT AN UNEXPECTED NICHE: creating fantasy suites in some
“THE FLOOD OF PROJECTS IN VANCOUVER MEANS THAT DESIGN’S IMPORTANCE IS AUGMENTED AND SALES CENTERS NEED TO STAND OUT. BUYERS ARE SOPHISTICATED AND DISCERNING, SO CREATIVE CONDO INTERIORS HAVE TO CONVEY A SENSE OF QUALITY AND DURABILITY.” —OLIVIA LAM, DESIGNER
Condo sales centers have become omnipresent in Vancouver’s heated market, but designer Olivia Lam has elevated their aesthetic considerably, snapping up a fleet of IDIBC Shine awards for her work in the process. In a three-bedroom show suite at the Burnaby Concord Brentwood, Lam punctuated a neutral palette with sophisticated jewel tones and gold.
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that will change with different weather conditions; it will create a snow effect when it’s snowing, for example, and mimic sunlight when it’s bright out. And I think no home should be without a Google Home system. You can ask it to turn on the lights, turn down the heat, and even play Taylor Swift. I’ve put it into a custom 150-foot yacht I’m currently designing, with interiors of leather, velvet, and tropical hardwood. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: A bar at the Concord Brentwood features honeycombinspired shelving. At the Walter Francl–designed Arc Building in Vancouver, due to open in 2018, Lam backlit the triple-height 20th floor and stretched a transparent film imprinted with colorful, abstracted maple leaves across the ceiling. At the Concord Gardens project in Richmond, she created a kids’ room with luminescent surfaces, a green wall, and a cloud-like bed.
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How has luxury evolved over the years? It used to be about ostentation, but now it’s about functionality and convenience. In price-per-squarefoot-obsessed Vancouver, space is the new luxury. Even in compact condos, I strive to create spaciousness through a strategic use of lighting, translucent materials, and a real connection between indoor and outdoor space. I like to use custom-built Murphy beds and moving walls—sliding walls that can transform a bedroom into an additional entertaining space, for example—to amplify the sense of volume. In addition, all my kitchens and bathrooms are ergonomically designed, with custom-built drawers and compartments that ensure everything has a specific place, from condiment drawers in the pantry to hair-dryer holders in the vanity. Everything needs to be smartly designed and have a purpose, with no wasted space. High-end buyers are very educated and insist on cost efficiency and judicious design. h
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soft focus A maverick curtain maker stitches together a new industry model. Written by KAITY TEER : Photographed by YUSHIIN
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ast spring, after 15 years of running an eponymous Richmond, B.C., design studio that he describes as being “to soft furnishings what Ferrari and Bentley are to automobiles,” founder Ravi Pankhania was ready to shift gears. His company had had a successful run producing handcrafted curtains and soft furnishings for high-end commercial and residential projects across North America, but in recent years, Pankhania noticed ripples in the field. “The industry is changing in every direction simultaneously,” he notes. Customers are looking for natural textiles and clean lines; material costs are up; and an older generation of expert artisans is being replaced by “a very weak and inexperienced labor pool.” In response, Pankhania redesigned every aspect of his business, slaying inefficiencies and waste to forge “a simpler, more modern company.” He moved into a new studio in the industrial Ironwood neighborhood and adopted
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a lean manufacturing system as well as a new, straightforward name: Cloth Studio. He invested in innovative technologies and proprietary equipment that cut down on creation time, such as a dustless woodcutting system that is safer, cleaner, and more mobile than a stationary table, shaving 30 percent off production timelines and allowing less experienced staff to create high-quality products. He also cut out the wholesale middleman and commissioned his own line of fabrics directly from reputable mills in Europe: heavy, stonewashed linen for upholstery and blackout curtains; gauzy, ethereal linen for sunlight-diffusing sheers; and a new series of “burnt linen,” so called for its black-flecked appearance. »
Cloth Studio blends traditional sewing techniques with its own pioneering methods, such as hemming curtains as they hang. Founder and self-proclaimed “Belgian linen addict” Ravi Pankhania has been sewing since he was 15. He transferred his design skills from dressmaking to soft furnishings when he started to fabricate slipcovers in the ’90s.
“First and foremost, we are curtain makers. Rogue curtain makers.” —RAVI PANKHANIA, FOUNDER, CLOTH STUDIO
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Cloth Studio debuted its new line of pillows, bedding, window coverings, and custom upholstered furniture—all with an updated modern look—at Vancouver’s Address Assembly show in May 2016. Despite his aesthetic shift, curtains remain Pankhania’s focus; in the past year and a half, his studio has designed large-scale installations for top design firms including Measured Architecture and Public. “If you have a home that’s predominantly made of concrete, steel, wood, and glass, you want soft, sculptural window coverings made of natural fibers that are designed to feel like part of the space,” says Pankhania, who first discovered his love of cloth in a 10th-grade sewing class where students stitched together cotton and felt to make, as he says, “terrible garments.” In addition to creating window coverings, Pankhania outfits his clients for what he calls a “horizontal lifestyle.” He is positively evangelistic about the relaxed, everyday luxuries of lounging on a linen sofa and sleeping in linen sheets. For a private client, he recently completed a 100-square-foot modular sectional with cushions so deep and so plush that they can be fully experienced only by lying down. “Linen just envelops you,” says Pankhania. “It’s an honest textile, approachable, comfortable, and practical. A beautifully curated linen palette invites you into a room, and it’s so durable you don’t have to worry about using it every day.”
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THIS PAGE BOTTOM, OPPOSITE TOP LEFT AND BOTTOM: RAVI PANKHANIA
ABOVE: Cloth Studio’s workroom, arranged for maximum efficiency, will be redesigned this year to accommodate a recently acquired Pernick, a hefty 30-year-old fabricmeasuring machine that weighs in at 2,500 pounds. BELOW: Anna Sano, who oversees production and specializes in cutting and sewing, wears a protective mask while serging fabric to avoid breathing in the fluffy particles the textile emits as its ends are finished.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Pankhania repurposed material—originally used to camouflage tanks in snowy conditions—that he found in a military surplus store into a privacy curtain that separates Cloth Studio’s kitchen from its workroom. The studio keeps a collection of ready-made linen-wool throw blankets in stock. Linen sheers in a residential project spill to the floor, lending privacy, sunshade, and drama to a spacious bathroom. h
“Our mission is to bring more linen into everyone’s life.” — RAVI PANKHANIA, FOUNDER, CLOTH STUDIO
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jewelry | “WE’RE STARTING TO SEE A SIGNIFICANT SHIFT IN CONSCIOUSNESS. PEOPLE ARE JUST STARTING TO BECOME AWARE OF THE IMPACT OF THE METAL THEY BUY.” —GENEVIEVE ENNIS,
Written by JENNIFER MCCULLUM
“PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT CONFLICT DIAMONDS. WE CAN CREDIT LEONARDO DICAPRIO [and his 2006 film Blood
Diamond] for that,” says Genevieve Ennis, co-founder of Vancouver-based fine-jewelry studio Hume Atelier. “But that awareness hasn’t translated to metals.” Ennis and her partner, goldsmith and gemologist Kevin Hume, are on a mission to pull the curtain back on the often-shrouded origins of fine jewelry and make ethical sourcing an industry-wide priority. Since founding Hume Atelier in 2008, Ennis and Hume have advocated for ethical mining and fair trade. They’ve walked their talk, too, eliminating conflict materials from their bespoke jewelry designs and collaborating with governmental and intergovernmental agencies to aid artisanal and small-scale miners. The challenge is to maintain transparency at each stage of the supply chain, says Ennis. To that end, the duo travels around the world to meet with artisanal miners and processors, gathering information about local industry and developing solutions on both the micro and macro level. In 2009, they worked in Ecuador with the UN Industrial Development
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Hume Atelier founders Kevin Hume and Genevieve Ennis craft ethical jewelry using Fairmined-certified gold and diamonds grown in a lab or sourced from Canada.
Organization to help inform benchmarks for fair-trade gold accreditation. In 2015, they spent a month in Côte d’Ivoire, helping USAID design a traceable and transparent diamond supply chain centered on miner land rights. As Hume Atelier helps to shape ethical standards for the jewelry industry, it’s also diving into cutting-edge technology. Since 2015, Ennis has conducted research at the Harvard Graduate School of Design on the relationships among mineral extraction, conflict, and territory, as well as exploring material and fabrication technologies at MIT’s Media Lab and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. “Goldsmithing is a very old-school, beautiful craft,” she says, “but we want to update it and integrate it with new technologies.” (Soft robotics applications for jewelry making are her latest fixation.) Ennis’s technical pursuits square neatly with her studio’s efforts in the policy arena. As she explains, “Education is an important part of our process. By aligning ourselves with initiatives that seek to make systemic changes, we can help make things better.” h
COURTESY GLASFURD & WALKER
GOLD STANDARDS
COFOUNDER, HUME ATELIER
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Designer Beth Richards wears a T-shirt of her own design, its black oblong meant to suggest censorship and the marginalization of women and their bodies. The motif, she explains, conveys that “we will not be censored. We will be heard and do what we want. Now more than ever, women must support each other.� LEFT: Faye bikini top. OPPOSITE: Sophia top, Naomi bikini bottom.
the swimsuit issue Finally, swimwear that suits us. Written by AMANDA ZURITA : Photographed by MAL TAYAG
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THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST MAY NOT BE THE FIRST PLACE YOU’D PEG AS HEADQUARTERS OF A LUXURY SWIMWEAR LINE, but for designer
Beth Richards, the region’s minimalist disposition and proximity to nature make it an ideal environment. The Toronto native discovered Vancouver’s beaches after a move out west, but what she couldn’t find was a proper suit to bathe in. The swimwear on offer was too skimpy, too ornate, too poorly made. “I saw an opportunity to design swim, because it had been left behind,” she says. Launching her eponymous brand in 2011, the fashion-industry vet began producing modern, clean-lined swimwear inspired by vintage sensibilities— think solid colors and flattering silhouettes with alluring details, and shapes pulled from athletic gear rather than traditional beach wear. “I try to give my customer something new to get excited about,” says Richards. The result? A line truly worth diving into. »
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“Typically, swimwear is a chance to get half naked and show everything,” says Richards. But her own line, she explains, harks back to the days when “more was more.” Her spring-summer 2017 collection, shown here, nods to the era of Brigitte Bardot (a huge source of inspiration for the designer) while adding easy refinements for the modern woman. THIS PAGE: Coco one-piece. OPPOSITE: Knot bikini top, a Beth Richards bestseller. »
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“I ask myself, ‘What makes this feel new?What haven’t I seen?’ And I go from there.” —BETH RICHARDS, DESIGNER
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fashion | The brand’s tagline, “Quality Modern Swimwear,” describes the design process from start to finish. The suits are ethically manufactured in Canada from top-notch Italian technical fabrics that provide 50+ UVB protection. “We are not making fast, disposable items,” Richards says. “For many people, these are investment pieces, and they need to have integrity.” THIS PAGE: Ines top, Classic high-waist bottom. OPPOSITE: Second Skin bra top. »
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“My focus is always on the silhouette first.” —BETH RICHARDS, DESIGNER
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“What’s truly sexy is what you can’t see.”
—BETH RICHARDS, DESIGNER
Richards is fully aware of the anxiety swimsuit shopping can cause. “Most times women are not in love with what they see,” she notes. But when a shopper’s confidence is bolstered by a great suit, “it feels like her armor.” Her customer “has a busy life, so the suits need to work for her and keep her ‘up and in.’ Women are incredibly beautiful on their own; it’s my job to enhance that, not overpower it.” THIS PAGE: Andy one-piece. h
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5th Avenue | Seattle
Rings by Turgeon Raine • Bracelet by Michael Bondanza
Tu r g e o n R a i n e . c o m
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MAKING HER MARK
After a decades-long career that has intertwined architecture and fine art, sexagenarian Louise Durocher comes into her own as a sculptor. Written by STACY KENDALL : Photographed by CHARLIE SCHUCK
SIXTY-FOUR MIGHT SEEM A LATE AGE FOR A HOT UP-AND-COMER TO APPEAR ON THE ART SCENE,
but Louise Durocher revels in defying expectations. For most of her career, the Montreal-born, Seattle-based artist was a renowned architect and landscape designer. Her residences and gardens were published in international magazines, and she spent her late 30s and 40s crisscrossing the globe to shape art galleries, boutiques, and homes in the U.S., Japan, and Europe. Yet despite all her success, she always felt an underlying pull toward fine arts. “From 1990 to 2001, I’d start my day at 6 a.m., working on my architecture and design projects until 3:30 p.m. and then my art and sculpture until midnight,” she recalls, sitting on a slipper chair in her Queen Anne studio. “When I was a student at the University of Washington, I sculpted on weekends. I have never been without a studio.” Her current space, a 2,400-square-foot warehouse that once belonged to the late, celebrated furniture designer David Gulassa, is a work of art in itself. Durocher resurrected it from disrepair in 2012, recognizing in its raw bones the studio she’d always wanted: “The walls
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and ceiling were made of rusty sheet metal, but in the first five minutes I could see it finished in my head.” Its renovation, which she tackled singlehandedly, was extensive inside and out. Only the concrete floors of the original structure remain, with the new interior spaces carved into designated “pristine rooms,” where she displays finished work and prints her monotypes (she creates one each time she completes a sculpture), and a “dirty room,” where she makes models, carves stone, and works with metals and plexiglass. A sleek galley kitchen and a sizeable bathroom with a shower support her long stretches of creating, and clerestory windows and a glazed garage door ensure good light and airflow through the space. Outside, Durocher flexed her landscape design muscles; the front garden, which was wildly overgrown when she bought the property, now resembles a courtyard in a picturesque French village. In mid-2016, after time spent winding down her architecture practice—capped by a “year of exhaustion” due to an unusually hiccup-ridden design project for a law firm—Durocher left full-time design behind. “On the one »
Architect and artist Louise Durocher in her Seattle studio next to a plasterof-Paris model of Ubusu, a marble sculpture she carved in Pietrasanta, Italy, in 2014. “I love working with stone because it demands discipline, a clear vision, patience, and physical strength,” she says. OPPOSITE: Detail of Durocher’s 2012 sculpture Rock to Sleep, made of white-and-peachveined black marble.
“I always knew there would come a time when I would not do architecture full time. I just didn’t know when.” —LOUISE DUROCHER, ARTIST
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: A view from the sculpting studio to Durocher’s office and gallery. A garage door with translucent windows lets in plenty of fresh air. Tools to mix plaster are close at hand in the studio, as well as a maquette of Durocher’s One Way Conversation, a work in progress. OPPOSITE: The completed Ubusu, a 9-foottall, 8,000-pound marble sculpture, marked Durocher’s public debut as a sculptor and reflects her feelings about loss and the act of moving on.
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hand, I was thrilled,” recalls Durocher. “On the other, I had an identity crisis. People respect architects. It took me a good four months to realize I was the same person with the same capacity.” One thing that boosted her confidence was the memory of a six-week trip she took to Pietrasanta, Italy, in 2014, on a mission to create Ubusu, a monumental sculpture she’d been sketching and modeling for 30 years. The piece, carved from two 8-ton blocks of Carrera Bianco marble, makes manifest her complex feelings about the choices we make in life. “It’s about letting go of something that you want more than anything, knowing it is never going to come back. But by doing this, a beautiful new life starts. We have to let go of a few things to move forward,” she says. The piece was so tall that she had to carve it sideways in the quarry. Ubusu’s size, the fact that it wasn’t a commissioned
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: A raw hunk of marble awaits its destiny in the studio. In her office, Durocher displays finished work and meets with clients. Though she’s dedicated herself to sculpture full time, she’s open to the possibility of select design commissions. “I don’t see a line in the sand where design and art start and end,” she says. Durocher’s print studio is a pristine space dedicated to the creation of monotypes. Rock to Sleep, sculpted from black marble, depicts a woman dozing on a canopy bed. The “escape” of sleep, Durocher says, is an illusion. “The canopy of the bed reminds us that she will always be in the confinement of her subconscious.”
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work, and its classical-meets-contemporary aesthetic made her stand out amid the male quarry workers. “I did have to prove that I could do it—including to myself, really,” Durocher reflects. “It’s not that I want to play the gender card, but Ubusu’s scale and difficulty gained me respect in the quarry. Even today in the sculpture world, very few women do large pieces.” Her flag now firmly planted in the world of monumental sculpture, Durocher is moving onward piece by piece. With a mix of commissioned and personal projects currently on the boards, Durocher is about to return to Pietrasanta to undertake her next large work, One Way Conversation—two figures, one 6 feet high, carved from white marble. It’s Durocher’s second large-scale sculpture, and it won’t be her last: “I have so many things in my head that need to come out.” h
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Chuck Close. Self-Portrait/Five Part. 2009. Jacquard tapestry. Private Collection. Image courtesy of the artist.
Chuck Close Photographs was developed by Terrie Sultan, Director, Parrish Art Museum, and Colin Westerbeck, independent curator. The exhibition is made possible, in part, by the generous support of the Lannan Foundation; Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation; Louise and Leonard Riggio; The Muriel F. Siebert Foundation; Pace Gallery, New York; Amanda and Glenn Fuhrman; Jennifer Rice and Michael Forman; Marie Josée and Henry R. Kravis; The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation; Joseph M. Cohen; Andrea Krantz and Harvey Sawikin; Gretchen and Andrew McFarland; Arthur Loeb Foundation, and those who wish to remain anonymous donors. The presentation at the Henry is organized by Sylvia Wolf, John S. Behnke Director, with support from ArtsFund, The Boeing Company, the Lannan Foundation, and the T. William and Beatrice Booth Exhibition Fund.
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PATRICIA URQUIOLA KNOWS LUXURY—AND ITS TRUE MEANING IN TODAY’S WORLD. GRAY quizzes the Milanbased design superstar during a recent 24-hour Vancouver stopover. Written by RENSKE WERNER Portrait by JEREMY JUDE LEE
TOP RIGHT: Internationally famed designer Patricia Urquiola takes a break in Inform Interiors’ Gastown showroom. ABOVE: Her new Gender chair blends rigidity and flexibility, hard and soft surfaces, and layered materials (steel, leather, fabric) in what Urquiola terms a “genderless” effect.
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Patricia Urquiola settled into a Gentry sofa in Inform Interiors’ Urquiolathemed window to chat with GRAY about the evolution of luxury on a global and a personal scale. In Vancouver on a whirlwind trip to help celebrate Inform’s 50th birthday, she was jetlagged but vibrant. She commented on pieces in the showroom, including her own new-to-Canada Gender chair for Cassina. “It’s unexpected, no?” she said. “It has curves and edges, it is soft and hard. It’s genderless, made up of masculine and feminine shapes that blend together as one. People respond to the colors and shapes differently, allowing gender to be the fluid concept that it is.” She pulled up one leg, accepted a compliment on her eye-catching Maison Margiela sneakers with metallic details, and threw her arm along the backrest, a posture perfectly in line with the Gentry sofa’s design concept: a sitter can forgo good manners in favor of flopping into its comfortable confines, padded with loose cushions. Her hands moved as she passionately talked about design. “When I started my career as an architect, I thought there was only Architecture with a capital A,” she said. “Design was a lowercase word: small and not very important. But then I discovered the creativity that goes into the craft, and my opinion flipped upside down.” »
COURTESY CASSINA
THIS PAST NOVEMBER, renowned Spanish-born, Milan-based designer
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In the early ’90s, she was mentored by Achille Castiglioni and Vico Magistretti, two great masters of industrial design. She opened her own studio in 2001 and quickly gained commissions from luxury brands such as Bosa, Louis Vuitton, and BMW. Today she’s renowned for her elegant and artistic designs—a 3-D felt flower petal–appliquéd chaise longue for Moroso; woven, highly textured outdoor furniture for B&B Italia—which don’t follow trends but rather set them.
This is your first visit to the Pacific Northwest. What is your impression so far? I love the emphasis on local talent as well as the open view toward European design. This mix gives design in the Pacific Northwest an elegant personality that feels familiar to me. Soon after I arrived, [Inform Interiors co-owners] Nancy and Niels Bendtsen took me to the Bensen design studio to show me how their furniture is manufactured. Being transparent about how design
is made is of high importance in our new global society—and my impression is that working together and utilizing each other’s knowledge and talents to create better designs are already the norm here in Vancouver. Let’s talk luxury. What meaning does it have in your work? I think luxury is a word we use too much and in the wrong way. In my opinion, the term quality is often a better fit. Luxury is wanting the best; quality is giving the best. I do the latter. Whether I am designing a hotel or a sofa, I try to understand it in a new way; I investigate new technologies and new materials in order to create the best. Quality becomes luxury when this process is understood and appreciated by the user. Then these products and buildings become good friends in your life and have longevity. Is that a different interpretation of luxury than you might have given a decade ago? Yes, definitely. For example, five years ago on a trip like this, I would have
LEFT: Ribbed stain-
less-steel tableware, designed for Danish design house Georg Jensen, nods to the brand’s royal heritage while remaining modern in execution. BELOW: Urquiola calls her modular, reconfigurable 550 Beam Sofa System, designed in 2016 for Cassina, “an ode to my first love, architecture.”
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been treated to a fantastic lunch in the city’s best restaurant, where top chefs prepared a meal behind closed doors. But today Nancy and Niels brought me to their showroom, and we sat in this simple setting with 14 local designers while the chef prepared our meal in the Salinas open kitchen I designed for Boffi. The chef was chopping, cooking, plating, and cleaning up right in front of our eyes. There was no covering up messes. It was all open and transparent. That transparency is defining a new kind of luxury. What’s behind this shift? Very simple—we became more conscious. We understand more about the environmental and social impact of processes and our purchases. This heightened consciousness changed what we consider to be of high value. We are more concerned about the products we use and the food we eat. Consumers demand information about materials and where products are made. As a designer and architect, I am part of this dialogue in a big way, constantly working toward sustainability and innovation. What is your greatest luxury in life? I run a business in several countries, and I have a husband and two daughters. So I wanted my house and my studio in Milan to share one address. It is the old Italian concept where the shop is below and the living above. This concept was a fast track to creating more time: time to see my daughters, time to read a book, time to visit a museum with my husband. Having more time is the greatest luxury of all. h
TOP: COURTESY GEORG JENSEN; BOTTOM: COURTESY CASSINA
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STRAW INTO GOLD
A little studio in rural Washington retools an ancient technique to fashion furniture fit for royalty. Written by STACY KENDALL
PARCHMENT AND HORN, SHAGREEN AND HIDE, EVEN RECYCLED BULLET CASINGS—the antique material palette deployed by Rainier,
Washington’s Normandie Woodworks sounds more like something from an Old World cottage workshop than like modern décor. But in the hands of master woodworker Bruno Hervieux and his artist wife, Shannon, centuries-old craft techniques look utterly revolutionary. Before settling in Washington and launching Normandie Woodworks— a custom furniture shop that employs old-school methods to create contemporary pieces—Normandy-born Bruno honed his skills in top woodshops in France and New York. After 18 years building furniture for acclaimed architects and designers, he decamped to the Northwest to create custom luxury yacht interiors. “I learned a lot about crafting curved furniture and the level of build quality that is required for such demanding use,” Bruno says. »
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Normandie Woodworks’ latest design, the Geminid—straw marquetry–clad shapes pierced by a brass rod— can be used for hanging necklaces, neckties, scarves, or other objects.
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Normandie Woodworks cofounder Bruno Hervieux lays out parchment next to a vintage band saw in his studio (right). Normandie specializes in using unexpected materials in its designs, such as goat parchment on the Milk & Honey credenza and Helios side tables (bottom left and middle); metal bullet casings on the Beacon credenza (below); and straw marquetry on the Geminid wall hanger (bottom right).
“STRAW MARQUETRY IS VERY OLD WORLD, AND NOBODY ELSE DOES IT HERE. WE WANT TO SHOW DESIGNERS ITS POSSIBILITIES FOR CONTEMPORARY DESIGN.” —SHANNON HERVIEUX, NORMANDIE WOODWORKS
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Today Bruno and Shannon parlay those lofty standards into the heirloom-quality furniture they produce in their own studio, which they founded in 2012. Normandie Woodworks’ designs, with their bevy of unconventional materials, are fashioned by “looking at classic materials through a modern lens, which opens up a world of design possibilities,” explains Shannon, a partner in the new business who assists in finishing its pieces. Recently, Shannon taught herself the ancient art of straw marquetry, a technique in which thick French rye straw (a strain typically used in roofing) is applied as a finish surface. The look has enjoyed periods of popularity, including during Louis XV’s reign and again in the Art Deco era, when it graced chic cabinets, screens, wall paneling, and jewelry boxes. “Once the grass is cut, dried, flattened, and applied to a form, it plays with light and takes on an almost magical quality,” says Shannon. The duo’s latest rye-clad designs—the Milk & Honey credenza (adorned with hexagons of straw marquetry and goat parchment), the Black Diamond mirror (with coal-colored straw and brass), and the Geminid wall-mounted hanger (bright-hued crystalline polyhedrons pierced with a brass rod)—show off straw’s shimmering striations to stunning effect. The material may be Old World, but its attitude is entirely new. h
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WOOD WORKS
Cross-laminated, multilayer African anigre wood panels from Budapest-based Mokointerior feature double-curvature surfaces achieved by steaming the veneer for hours and then pressing it into molds. The panels come in 13 designs, all customizable with a variety of veneers and finishes. Available from Code Showroom, Vancouver, codeshowroom.com
One-dimensional paint is out—and lush custom treatments are in. From gold-leaf sgraffito to embossed paper with patterns plucked from the annals of history, today’s chicest homes sport specialty effects that elevate wall coverings to an art form. Written by JENNIFER MCCULLUM
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MOKOINTERIOR
ON THE SURFACE
AARON LEITZ
PLASTER PERFECT
Studio C founder Cathy Conner’s artistic range can barely be contained within four walls; her specialties range from faux-marble finishes to hand-painted chinoiserie to hand-troweled black plaster adorned with metallic sgraffito (seen here in a handsome Seattle home designed by Maker Agent). cathyconner.com 
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MIDAS TOUCH
MICHAEL PAULUS
The golden palms that shade the entry of this Portland Craftsman home were hand-drawn by artist Michael Paulus in collaboration with fellow artist and designer Trish Grantham (for more by Paulus, see page 93). Here Paulus brushed the gold paint atop Benjamin Moore’s Midsummer Night to guard against the uniform application that a roller might create. “I wanted an elegant drama in the space,” says Grantham. michaelpaulus.com trishgrantham.com
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ROCK WALLS
JOHN PARRISH
Dallas-based designer Brenda Houston’s dramatic mural wallpapers—enlarged photographs of quartz, malachite, agate, and other minerals from her private collection—can be spotted in high-profile projects around the world (e.g., a royal residence in Saudi Arabia). All her designs can be customized by scale and palette, creating the illusion, for example, of one solid piece of stone stretching from wall to wall. Available from Bedford Brown, Portland, bedfordbrown.com »
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RARE FINDS
PANEL DISCUSSION CONCRETE EXAMPLE
Hand-troweled on site, Distinct Interiors’ concrete overlay is just a quarter-inch deep. Vancouver decorative artist Randy Orr carefully builds up a series of thin layers, providing the look, feel, and durability of concrete without its typical weight or structural issues. distinctinteriors.net
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Seattle designer Tamara Codor’s classical training is on striking display in the 7-foot-tall panels she crafts in her studio using acrylic, latex house paint, gold leaf, and numerous layers of varnish. After earning a BFA in set design, Codor spent years helming painting crews that crafted stage backdrops that often included enormous sky scenes. “I have been interested in painting clouds since I was very young,” she says. “The continually morphing skyscape spans every metaphor of human emotion, so it is an endless source of inspiration.” codordesign.com h
TOP LEFT: SCOTT TICE PHOTOGRAPHY; BOTTOM LEFT: TRACY AYTON
Portland-based Bolling & Co.’s forte is sourcing extremely rare antique wallpaper. For a 1910 Joseph Jacobberger–designed dining room in Irvington, the company installed hand-block-printed M. H. Birge & Sons embossed-“leather” paper dating from the early 20th century. They had exactly three rolls of original paper and finished the project without a single scrap remaining. bollingco.com
DC09 Inoda+Sveje
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THREE WORDS:
GRAY. DESIGN. AWARDS. graymag.com/designawards
METROPOLIST SETS THE TABLE FOR GREATNESS, & invites
EVERYONE
TO COME FOR DINNER.
Calling all Real Estate Brokers: We are on the lookout for new faces here at Metropolist. If you have a collaborative spirit and a dedicated nature we would love to talk to you. Whether you have been in the real estate field for decades or are just contemplating a career change, Metropolist could be a great place for you to take life and career to the next level. Visit us at MetropolistGroup.com/join-us to find out more. We are Metropolists. The question remains, are you?
MetropolistGroup.com | info@metropolistgroup.com | 206-623-5118 | 2931 1st Ave S, Suite A, Seattle WA 98134
M ILGARD ® MOVING GLA SS WA L L SYSTE MS. DE SI G N THAT M OV E S . Open up to an entirely new way to look at luxury. Our Moving Glass Wall System operates smoothly and effortlessly. Despite their larger-than-life size, these doors open and close with just the push of a finger. Typically moving glass walls are only a custom option in high-end homes; Milgard has reframed the conversation. Now you can expand your living space through 12 standard sizes in 3- and 4-panel configurations. Plus, enjoy the outstanding service, support and design you’ve come to expect from Milgard.
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If you think it looks good, come and open it in person at our newly remodeled showroom.
2425 NW Market Street, Seattle WA 98107 Showroom hours are M-F 8 AM to 5 PM and by appointment. (206)789-1122 • lundgrenenterprises.com
KEVIN SCOTT
in depth
For a prefab getaway on remote Nelson Island in British Columbia, architect Peter Brunner worked with K|B Architectural to design custom pivoting steel doors that seal the house off-season, protecting it from wild elements both human and natural. See page 80 for more.
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Embracing the challenge of building on hard-to-access Nelson Island, in British Columbia, Seattle architect Peter Brunner designed a prefab, off-the-grid vacation home that was barged to the site and then towed into place—all in a day and a half. The metal siding’s understated charcoal-brown hue helps the house disappear into its surroundings. The clients had owned land on the island for 15 years, returning each summer to camp, before building the house. »
DESIGN TEAM
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architecture: Peter Brunner prefabrication: Method Homes on-site construction: Spick & Sons Projects pivot door consultant: K|B Architectural
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NORTHERN EXPOSURE On a rugged British Columbia island, a Seattle architect embraces prefab’s possibilities in a retreat that redefines glamping. Written by RACHEL EGGERS : Photographed by KEVIN SCOTT
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THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE: Exposed ceiling framing and conduit lighting in the kitchen and dining area embody the home’s simple rusticity, promote cross-ventilation, and provide nooks to fill with art and knickknacks. The Emeco 111 Navy chairs and custom table made by Method Homes were already in the house when it was shipped in pieces to the island.
“THIS PROJECT DEMONSTRATES THAT YOU CAN DO SOMETHING VERY REFINED WITH PREFAB. THE WAY TO DO IT IS NOT TO HIDE YOUR METHOD BUT TO SHOW IT.” —PETER BRUNNER, ARCHITECT
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magine a barge pulling through dark waters on an early February morning in the middle of a snowstorm. On the barge, in several huge pieces like a giant’s building blocks, is a new home, complete with furniture. This was the epic beginning of what would eventually become a resolutely simple prefabricated home tucked into a meadow on the far west side of Nelson Island in British Columbia. The couple who would eventually live there—a Seattle real estate investor and his wife—own 42 acres on the island and had been camping there for more than 15 years. They’d travel by boat and rough it, joining the island’s 200 or so inhabitants, very few of whom reside there year-round. They loved the island’s old-growth forests, dramatic beaches, and rainforest-like foliage. Now they were ready for a permanent retreat that would accommodate them—plus their grown children and grandchildren— for years to come. The clients wanted something “a step above camping,” but nothing pretentious or disruptive to the lush surroundings.
The husband reached out to Seattle architect Peter Brunner, whom he’d known since they went to grade school together on Mercer Island. “We stayed in touch as we developed our professional careers,” explains the client. “I admire how he works with the bones of a structure; he keeps things simple without sacrificing great design.” This trust between client and architect was key to Brunner (then at Olson Kundig and now at Perkins+Will), as this would be his first off-the-grid, prefabricated project. The challenges were many, but the upside would be a well-designed home created in factory-perfect conditions at a significant discount relative to on-site construction. Brunner designed two units under a single canopy shed roof: the main unit, housing the kitchen and dining rooms and the master bedroom, and the second unit, holding a shower house with a second bedroom. A third, offset unit contains a private cabin for guests that’s accessible via a metal grate bridge. Fronting the home are large concrete terraces, laid before the February installation, that look out toward the waterfront. The design team ably tackled the site’s many demands. Method Homes constructed Brunner’s design and coordinated » graymag . com
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The master bedroom’s Tolomeo LED lamps by Artemide are powered by an on-site propane generator. The clients use them sparingly, preferring to follow the natural rhythms of the day. OPPOSITE FROM TOP: Originally designed with two bedrooms, the home eventually grew to contain three, including a bunkroom for the grandchildren. “When just my wife and I stay here, sometimes we’ll try out one of the other rooms,” says the client. “Each has its own personality.” The clean-lined bathroom prioritizes function, with corrugated metal paneling and a cedar floor that drains directly into a drain pan underneath. The clients salvaged the bathtub from a now-demolished post–World War I homestead on their acreage and had it reenameled.
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the wintry barge ride and installation of the home. Spick & Sons Projects handled the sitework, foundations, hardscaping, on-site finishing and systems, and the generator that powers the home’s minimal lighting. Three Danish-made wood-burning stoves heat the house. Factory-coated corrugated siding is a durable barrier against the elements, and an aluminum window system, with fixed glass and sliding doors, lets in light. Brunner worked with Jeremy Kramp of K|B Architectural to create the custom-designed steel doors that pivot 180 degrees, signaling to island dwellers whether the owners are home and protecting the cabin in the off-season. The interior of the home is mostly plain sliced Douglas fir, chosen for its informal open grain and graceful aging. To counteract the fir’s redness, Brunner whitewashed it in Benjamin Moore Arborcoat in Maritime White. “I wanted to make it feel like a camp shelter,” he says. Exposed ceiling and wall framing also keeps the home from looking too polished and allows cross-ventilation, discouraging mold growth in the wet months. Brunner calls it the “embrace-the-kit look. It’s like the Eameses, whose work showed how things fit together. They didn’t try to mask the process. There’s a playfulness to the home that I enjoy.” His approach mirrors the lifestyle the owners enjoy on the island. Dragonflies come out in droves in the late afternoon. Hummingbirds zing around, and deer wander through. One morning, the family awoke to see a black bear ambling by. “Our day revolves around routines,” says the client. “You brew a pot of coffee, build a fire, clam and fish for dinner, and forge new trails for hikes. It’s everything I hoped it would be.” » graymag . com
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ABOVE: The concrete terraces were laid before the home was installed on the site. Rocky outcroppings and a meadow lead to the waterfront. BELOW: Brunner worked with Jeremy Kramp of K|B Architectural on the design of the pivoting steel doors, which open from the inside and lock at top and bottom. OPPOSITE: The satellite unit, used as a guest cabin, is connected to the main structure via a metal grate bridge. h
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“THE HOUSE REFLECTS AN OBSERVING INSTINCT, NOT A TAMING INSTINCT. IT’S ABOUT MAKING A MINIMAL FOOTPRINT AND LETTING THE WORLD REMAIN WILD AROUND YOU.” —PETER BRUNNER, ARCHITECT
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domestic drama With moody interiors and hand-painted wallpaper, a turn-of-the-century Portland bungalow takes a page from Old Hollywood. Written by RACHEL GALLAHER : Photographed by GEORGE BARBERIS
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DESIGN TEAM
interiors: Casework custom painting: Michael Paulus
Interior designer Casey Keasler layered texture and tone in the living room of a 1911 Portland house, bringing elegant edge to an otherwise relaxed space. The blue velvet sofa, leather chairs, and mirror are from Anthropologie. The glass-and-brass coffee table is from Design Within Reach. A Schoolhouse Electric rug grounds it all with a hit of herringbone. A custom walnut mantle, designed by Keasler and built by Brian Pietrowsky, replaced the old and incongruous brick one and echoes the room’s original millwork. 
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A small nook off the dining room houses the clients’ enviable collection of vintage vinyl in a custom shelving unit by Tretiak Works. A gray chair from Blu Dot is a nest for easy listening, and the Cedar & Moss pendant nods to the brass details throughout the first floor. OPPOSITE: All items in the dining room are vintage, including a Gaetano Sciolari chandelier and a set of Milo Baughman-style chairs. “I selected midcentury, art deco, and ’70s pieces to balance the early-1900s style of the house and blend glamour with tradition,” notes Keasler. “Pairing luxurious materials like velvet, silk, and brass with current pieces keeps the home from feeling too formal.”
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hen Portland interior designer Casey Keasler first stepped inside her clients’ home in the historic Ladd’s Addition neighborhood, she instantly spotted promise in its wealth of unfinished woodwork. The mahogany details throughout the 1911 house were dull, nicked, and scratched—showing a century’s worth of wear and tear—but Keasler, founder and creative director of Casework, recognized them as the aesthetic driver of her redesign. After breathing new life into the millwork and the old fir floors, sanding and refinishing them to their glowing original state, Keasler tackled the décor, “bringing in brass, velvet, and curvy lines to soften the wood.” She balanced a clubby look (leather chairs, angular lamps, shades of blue and gray) with hints of golden-age Hollywood glam, most notably in the form of a striking cobalt-velvet sofa in the living room and a black-painted entryway festooned with white magnolia blooms by local artist Michael Paulus. “Wallpaper didn’t seem significant enough,” Keasler says of the hand-painted flora. “We wanted drama with an artful side. The flowers really make a statement when you walk in the door.” »
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The entryway’s show-stopping hand-painted magnolias are by local artist Michael Paulus, whose flowerwork also lights up the walls of Portland’s Angel Face bar. OPPOSITE: Thoughtfully layered details in the living room, such as a Schoolhouse Electric lamp, a mustard-yellow chair from Anthropologie, and a RH accent table, make a modern statement against the restored fir floors and mahogany moldings. h
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To heed height restrictions while taking advantage of west-facing views of the ocean and Point Grey lighthouse, residential designer Craig Chevalier stretched this West Vancouver house horizontally, placing the most-used public spaces—kitchen, living room, office, great room—as well as the master and two spare bedrooms on the main level. Resident and designer Rachelle Chambers stands in the dining room with her Weimaraner, Avia. OPPOSITE: The residents’ 1959 Mercedes 300D Adenauer sits at the ready in a custom Indianalimestone garage. »
DESIGN TEAM
home design: Craig Chevalier Designs interiors: Chambers & Stark Design Studio construction: WoodRose Homes custom millwork: Sage Cabinetry
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the car stays in the picture
An artist-designer and a vintage Mercedes fanatic find peace—and a surprising centerpiece—in a custom West Vancouver home. Written by RACHEL GALLAHER : Photographed by JANIS NICOLAY
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Chambers filled her home with neutral tones (grays, browns, and tans) inspired by the rocks, driftwood, and mussel shells of the nearby shoreline. A custom limestone fireplace and feature walls introduce texture that prevents the living room’s restricted palette from falling flat. The sectional sofa from Van Gogh Designs has proven durable against dog claws. Kolbe windows let in a hint of palette-complementing green. The flooring is porcelain tile from Ames Tile & Stone. Dark millwork around the TV ensures the screen isn’t the focal point of the room and provides plenty of extra storage.
ALL HOUSES ARE BUILT AROUND A SET OF CONSTRAINTS—lot size, budget, height restrictions—
but once in a while, a unique challenge throws even the most seasoned designer for a loop. For North Vancouver custom home designer Craig Chevalier, it was a car. After 28 years in the business, Chevalier was used to requests for swimming pools and upsized rooms. But when local artist and designer Rachelle Chambers and her partner asked him to integrate their rare 1959 Mercedes 300D Adenauer into the design of their new West Vancouver home, Chevalier was initially stumped.
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“I went in blind. I never saw the car—not even in pictures— until they moved in,” he says. The designer solved the puzzle by creating a custom garage with limestone-andglass walls that permit views of the vehicle (which originally belonged to the wife of the owner of Campbell’s Soup) from the living room and entry hall. “I love the end result,” says Chevalier. “It’s super sexy.” The scheme satisfied the residents, too. “My partner is German and always dreamed of having this particular Mercedes,” says Chambers, cofounder of Chambers & Stark Design Studio. “He wanted it in the living room, but I had to put my foot down on that one.” »
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LEFT: Rather than tuck away their prized Mercedes, Chambers and her partner opted to visibly integrate it into the design of the house. TOP: In the kitchen, dark oak cabinetry and a cantilevered ceiling panel contrast with the whitewashed oak-andCaesarstone island, updating Chambers’s favored midcentury style. “Many midcentury spaces used two woods—one stained or painted black, and the other a natural oak, maple, or walnut color,” she notes. “I wanted to tie in the millwork from the adjacent hall to draw you into the kitchen and make it feel grand.” Classicon Selene Copper pendants add understated glitz. OPPOSITE: A smoked-glass Modo chandelier from Roll & Hill, sourced from LightForm, crowns the Bensen dining table, while an acrylic painting by Chambers hangs on the back wall. »
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“I don’t like living with a lot of color. I find a natural palette very soothing.”
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—RACHELLE CHAMBERS, DESIGNER
An acrylic painting by Chambers, installed on a stair landing, was inspired by the texture of tree bark. OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: In the powder
room, Mare Bianco marble with a slightly brushed finish, sourced through Ames Tile & Stone, is set in a herringbone pattern. The vanity is white oak stained to match the cabinetry in the kitchen (Sage Cabinetry crafted both). The sink is Duravit, and the faucets are from Blu Bathworks. In the master bedroom, the custom headboard with floating nightstands was designed by Chambers and fabricated by Sage. Chambers also created and installed the artwork above the bed. “I wanted something light in color and feeling,” she says of the piece, which is made from yarn dipped in paint and papier-mâché. “It’s meant to resemble a sort of wacky nest.” A replica midcentury chair provides a warm perch by the Kozy Heat fireplace. h
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GOLDPLATE SPECIAL 102
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Farm-to-table fare. Miles of marble. ‘Diner’ doesn’t begin to describe it. Written by NICOLE MUNSON : Photographed by BEMOVED MEDIA
Vancouver-based designer Reisa Pollard rendered a formerly bland bistro elegant and welcoming through clever design moves, including slicking gold paint on the bar’s existing industrial-style lighting and structural columns. 
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t
ucked among the austere glass-and-steel skyscrapers of downtown Vancouver’s Financial District, Royal Dinette offers an unfussy antidote to fine dining. Part vintage diner, part glam pantry, the restaurant serves straightfrom-the-field food in a decidedly approachable yet high-impact environment. “No one feels intimidated by a diner—it’s a comforting place,” says designer Reisa Pollard, founder of Vancouver’s Beyond Beige Interior Design. “Serving finely crafted food in a casual dining environment is an interesting juxtaposition.” A joint venture from the Donnelly Group (purveyors of more than a dozen popular Vancouver pubs and nightclubs) and chef David Gunawan of Farmer’s Apprentice (known for its organic, daily-changing menu), Royal Dinette feels like an old neighborhood favorite given a shiny new twist. In alignment with Gunawan’s sustainable food philosophies, which include working with mostly seasonal ingredients and wasting as little food as possible, Pollard sought to reclaim materials and décor from the former tenant (a run-of-the-mill bistro), including the cut-marble floors and counters and swiveling barstools. A coat of cream paint masked dark-stained heavy wood wall paneling and brightens the space. Where she couldn’t make structural changes, Pollard employed textures and patterns to transform the room. She clad the back of the bar with grayed barn wood and other walls with botanical wallpaper and sleek subway tile. A muted palette subdues potential pattern overload, and industrial-inspired lighting over the bar and in the dining room cuts the precious vibe. Together with Milltown Contracting, Pollard also overhauled the layout, raising the ceiling, creating a new enclosed entry area, and carving out distinct eating experiences from the inherited shell: a cushy banquette at the back corner of the restaurant suits intimate meals; the bar, lined with leather stools, serves up late-night custom cocktails; and a table between the bar and main dining area provides a place for communal gatherings. Reclaimed wood shelves near the back banquette display Gunawan’s hand-canned jars of fruit and vegetables in colorful rows, elevating ingredients to the status of art—a suitable treatment in a restaurant that puts slow food in the spotlight. “I was inspired by a fresh food market,” says Pollard. “I wanted to make patrons’ mouths water before they even try a bite.” h
FROM TOP: Open food prep stations make chef David Gunawan’s fresh food philosophies a part of the dining experience, allowing guests to watch how pasta, bread, and pastries are prepared. Pollard cadges a seat at the bar. A table for two at the window, built of reclaimed wood, warms up the cut-marble floors.
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Pollard applied glossy light-blue paint to the coffered ceiling to impart a sense of airiness and suggest an art deco diner of the past. Inset shelves made from reclaimed wood and brass pipes by Milltown Contracting line the walls, framing canned produce and local wines.
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NEXT WAVE
The undulating façades of Portland’s new One North office complex reveal the future of green office design. Written by BRIAN LIBBY : Photographed by ANDREW POGUE
FOR ARCHITECT, DEVELOPER, AND OCCUPANT ALIKE,
One North—a commercial project on Portland’s burgeoning Williams Avenue—is a chance to take a leap forward. It’s the second collaboration between award-winning Holst Architecture and environmental lawyer, vintner, and philanthropist Eric Lemelson. The first, four years back, was Lemelson’s own residence: the über-sustainable Karuna House, the world’s first home to earn not only LEED Platinum and Passive House Institute certification but also Switzerland’s Minergie label. Yet as a high-end, high-cost home, the lessons learned from its ultragreen design were only partially replicable in other projects. One North is the next step in their vision. Holst and Lemelson (along with co-developers Nels and Owen Gabbert and contractor R&H Construction) sought to build it in the greenest way they could at a market rate. “Our goal was to create a model for sustainable offices in Portland and show it’s possible
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to get a return on your investment,” recalls Holst partner Kevin Valk. To ensure the building’s longevity, they made it arrestingly beautiful, too. Lemelson, inspired on his travels by the work of Spanish master Antoni Gaudí, challenged Holst to move beyond boxy forms to design supple curves that communicate movement and energy. Meanwhile, across town, creative agency Instrument was looking for a new space after outgrowing the Northeast warehouse it called home. “We wanted a space that could mimic our old office’s open feel, which helps everyone to run into one another and gather together—only we needed a lot more natural light,” explains Instrument chief creative officer JD Hooge. One North, completed in 2015, comprises two multistory buildings flanking a shared 14,000-square-foot public courtyard designed by local landscape architecture firm Lango Hansen. Fifty percent more energy efficient than code requires, the »
Creative agency Instrument’s new HQ inside One North—designed by Holst Architecture and one of Portland’s greenest office buildings—wraps around a three-story atrium with bleachers that accommodate impromptu meetings, conversations, and lunch breaks. Interior designers Osmose Design festooned the office with hundreds of potted green plants, a trademark move that softens the clean lines of the structure. OPPOSITE LEFT: One North faces a new public courtyard designed by Lango Hansen. OPPOSITE RIGHT: Glass walls with retractable sheer curtains create private areas without disrupting natural light.
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Instrument devotes ample space to video conference rooms and shared areas that foster collaboration. Each level features a wall of floor-toceiling glass that curves to face the rising or setting sun. The top floor has a large kitchen and bar area for communal meals. OPPOSITE: The white window apertures are complemented by cedar cladding harvested from a Washington forest.
buildings feature super-insulated envelopes, high-performance curtain wall window systems, and distinctive façades with curving window apertures that seem to twist and turn to take in views of Portland from every angle. Instrument’s new office, in One North’s east building—which underwent a customized design by Holst and tenant improvement build-out by Hammer & Hand—is all about light and circulation. Workspaces wrap around a three-story atrium that doubles as an auditorium and a meeting spot. The surrounding floors are as free of columns and walls as structurally possible, enabling employees to see one another even when they’re at opposite corners of the building. The interior design, a collaboration between Holst and Osmose Design, prioritized flexibility, “with a variety of environments: comfy lounge spaces, conference rooms, and almost
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random spaces,” says Valk. The latter—including work counters overlooking the atrium and felt-enclosed steel pods that Osmose designed to resemble children’s blanket forts—“can be used however occupants like, allowing creativity in their work flow.” Adds Daryll Fry, project manager at Hammer & Hand, “Instrument discerned the difference between a creativelooking space and a space that actually fosters creativity. They wanted many places where people could interact, enabling on-the-fly creative sparks.” Now you’ll see employees snugged together in a felt-and-steel pod to chat or check email and groups brainstorming around whiteboard-topped worktables. “Instrument is a big laboratory, but it’s also a playground,” says Hooge. “Whatever task you’re trying to do, there’s an ideal space for it. One North has been transformative for us.” h
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| resources |
23. HAPPENINGS Ai & Om Knives Vancouver aiandomknives.ca Civilization Seattle builtbycivilization.com Division Road Seattle divisionroadinc.com Illuminata Glass Seattle Illuminataglass.com Fairmont Empress Hotel Victoria, B.C. fairmont.com Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver fairmont.com Heatherbrae Builders Richmond, B.C. heatherbrae.com Nordic Heritage Museum Seattle nordicmuseum.org Scott & Scott Architects Vancouver scottandscott.ca Simcic + Uhrich Architects Vancouver simcicuhric.com Strathcona Beer Company Vancouver strathconabeer.com Tanner Goods Portland tannergoods.com
28. RETAIL De Jong & Co. dejongandco.com Esque Studio Portland esque-studio.com
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Kati von Lehman Portland kativonlehman.com Lambert et Fils lambertetfils.com Lilith Rockett Portland lilithrockett.com Spartan Shop Portland spartan-shop.com Workstead workstead.com
30. RETAIL Arte Veneziana arteveneziana.com Bernardaud bernardaud.com Carocim carocim.com Moissonnier Vancouver moissonnier.ca
32. TEXTILE JA Felt Studio Olympia, WA jafelt.com Museum of Craft and Design sfmcd.org
37. ASK Concord Pacific concordpacific.com Francl Architecture Vancouver franclarchitecture.com Liv Interiors Vancouver liv.ca
42. TEXTILE Cloth Studio Vancouver clothstudio.ca
46. JEWELRY Hume Atelier Vancouver humeatelier.com
48. FASHION Beth Richards Vancouver bethrichards.com
56. ART Louise Durocher Seattle louisedurocher.com
62. CONTEXT Cassina cassina.com Georg Jensen georgjensen.com Inform Interiors Vancouver informinteriors.com Patricia Urquiola patriciaurquiola.com
66. MADE HERE Normandie Woodworks Rainier, WA normandiewoodworks. com
70. SOURCED Bolling & Company Portland bollingco.com Brenda Houston Designs brendahouston.com
Cathy Conner Seattle cathyconner.com Code Showroom Vancouver codeshowroom.com Codor Design Seattle codordesign.com Distinct Interiors Vancouver distinctinteriors.net Maker Agent Seattle maker-agent.com Michael Paulus Portland michaelpaulus.com
Spick & Sons Projects Powell River, B.C. spickandsons.com
88. DOMESTIC DRAMA Anthropologie anthropologie.com Brian Pietrowsky Portland 503-449-4955 Casework Portland casework.it Cedar & Moss Portland cedarandmoss.com
Mokointerior mokointerior.com
Design Within Reach Seattle and Portland dwr.com
Trish Grantham Portland trishgrantham.com
Michael Paulus Portland michaelpaulus.com
79. NORTHERN EXPOSURE Artemide artemide.com K|B Architectural Seattle kbarchitectural.com Method Homes Seattle methodhomes.net Morsø moresoe.com
Restoration Hardware restorationhardware.com Schoolhouse Electric Portland schoolhouseelectric.com Tretiak Works Portland tretiakworks.com
94. THE CAR STAYS IN THE PICTURE Ames Tile & Stone Vancouver and Burnaby, B.C. amestile.com
Olson Kundig Seattle olsonkundigarchitects.com Bensen Vancouver Perkins + Will bensen.ca Seattle and Vancouver perkinswill.com Blu Bathworks Vancouver Peter Brunner blubathworks.com Seattle 206-769-0465 Caesarstone Kent, WA and Vancouver Rais caesarstone.com rais.com
(206) 547-0565 stillwaterdwellings.com
INNOVATIVE CUSTOM PREFAB HOMES
| resources |
Chambers & Stark North Vancouver chambersandstark.com
Instrument Portland instrument.com
AD INDEX 36. AGS Stainless AGSstainless.com/CEU
Classicon classicon.com
Lango Hansen Landscape Architects Portland langohansen.com
14. Issaquah Cedar & Lumber Issaquah, WA cedarexperts.com
65. Ragen & Associates Seattle ragenassociates.com
67. American Indian College Fund americanindiancollege fund.org
111. Kasala Seattle kasala.com
5. Roche Bobois Seattle and Portland roche-bobois.com
Nels Gabbert Portland ngpdx.com
41. Cosentino Tualatin, OR; Kent, WA; Spokane Valley, WA; Burnaby, B.C.
75. Kozai Modern Vancouver kozaimoderntrade.com
13. Room & Board Seattle roomandboard.com
22. Kush Handmade Rugs Portland kushrugs.com
17. Schuchart/Dow Seattle schuchartdow.com
Craig Chevalier Designs North Vancouver chevalierdesigns.com Duravit duravit.com Kolbe kolbe-kolbe.com Kozy Heat kozyheat.com Roll & Hill rollandhill.com Sage Cabinetry North Vancouver sagecabinetry.com Van Gogh Designs Surrey, B.C. vangoghdesigns.com Woodrose Homes West Vancouver woodrosehomes.com
102. INTERIORS Beyond Beige Interior Design Vancouver beyondbeige.com Donnelly Group Vancouver donnellygroup.ca Milltown Contracting Vancouver 778-847-3826
106. ARCHITECTURE Hammer & Hand Portland and Seattle hammerandhand.com Holst Architecture Portland holstarc.com
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Osmose Design Portland osmosedesign.com R&H Construction Portland rhconst.com
114. OBSESSION Wood & Faulk Portland woodandfaulk.com
33. Design Week Portland Portland designweekportland.com 31. Design Within Reach Seattle and Portland dwr.com 47. Distinct Interiors Vancouver distinctinteriors.net 6. Dovetail General Contractors Seattle dovetailgc.com 69. Ilve Available through: Luwa Bellevue, WA luwaluxury.com 61. EWF Modern Portland ewfmodern.com 35. Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery Multiple PNW locations fergusonshowrooms.com 27. Hammer & Hand Seattle and Portland hammerandhand.com 61. Henry Art Gallery Seattle henryart.org 2. Hive Portland hivemodern.com
11. Ligne Roset Seattle ligne-roset-usa.com Available through: Livingspace Vancouver livingspace.com 78. Lundgren Enterprises Seattle lundgrenenterprises.com 75. Madera Furniture Company Tacoma, WA maderafurnitureco.com
111. Stillwater Dwellings Seattle stillwaterdwellings.com 25. Sub-Zero and Wolf Available through: Bradlee Distributors Seattle subzero.com/seattle 7. The Shade Store Seattle and Portland theshadestore.com 75. Terrain Seattle terrainseattle.com
10. Maison Inc. Portland maisoninc.com
65. Tirto Furniture Seattle tirtofurniture.com
77. Metropolist Real Estate Seattle metropolistgroup.com/ real-estate
55. Turgeon Raine Jewelers Seattle turgeonraine.com
75. Paper Hammer Seattle paper-hammer.com
29. Tufenkian Portland tufenkianportland.com
15. Parterre Seattle parterreseattle.com
116. Urban Hardwoods Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles urbanhardwoods.com
4. Porcelanosa Seattle porcelanosa-usa.com
16. Wood Week BC Vancouver woodweekbc.com
63. Provenance Hotels provenancehotels.com
115. Woodrose Homes West Vancouver woodrosehomes.com
| market | THE ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE Alchemy Collections
Kat & Maouche
Located in downtown Seattle, Alchemy Collections is your Western Washington source for modern and contemporary furniture. Sensing a void in the Seattle furniture landscape, Alchemy Collections opened in 2004, bringing a modern yet accessible furniture venue to the everyday Seattleite.
Traditional Techniques + Modern Design Specializing in authentic vintage Moroccan rugs. Each is carefully sourced and chosen for its expressive modern style and cultural significance. 33 N.W. 4th Ave., Portland, OR katandmaouche.com Instagram @katandmaouche
(206) 448-3309 alchemycollections.com
ILVE Offers Custom Color Program for its Italian Majestic and Nostalgie Ranges
The Shade Store The Shade Store is an American custom window treatments company, specializing in handcrafted shades, blinds, and draperies. An exclusive designer collection of more than 1,000 materials makes it easier than ever to customize something you love for your windows.
With over 220 colors on offer— resulting in more personalized options than ever before—ILVE ranges are available in 60”, 48”, 40”, 36” and 30” sizes. Options include single and double ovens, as well as dual fuel and all-gas connections.
(800) 820-7817 theshadestore.com
ilveappliances.com
Porcelanosa
Porcelanosa is one of the leading manufacturers and distributors of tiles, bathroom collections, kitchen cabinetry, mosaics, and hardwood in the industry. Porcelanosa is known for making its advanced design innovations readily available to both consumers and the A&D community. (206) 673-8395 porcelanosa-usa.com
Driftwood Modern Driftwood Modern offers a carefully curated collection of authentic midcentury modern fine art and furniture. Located just 15 minutes north of Seattle in charming waterfront Edmonds, we provide pieces of interest, quality, and integrity. Beauty in our lives! (360) 298-1246 driftwoodmodern.com
not2big® React. Reduce. Rethink. Recycle. Relax. At not2big, we build modern artisan furniture and accessories one piece at a time. Handcrafted and individually numbered, no two pieces are exactly alike. Our designs combine the warmth of wood with a creative mix of other materials to produce timeless furniture that is functional and beautiful. Whether you choose an in-house design or a custom piece, it will be a true original. Our goal is to inspire, delight, and surprise, bringing our clients a personalized experience and providing them with a unique product not available anywhere else. We’re rethinking how furniture is made. (425) 503-0710 | not2big.com
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| obsession |
WHAT’S YOUR DESIGN OBSESSION? Write to us at submissions@ graymag.com See others at graymag.com/obsession
WHY I COLLECT VINTAGE LANTERNS By MATTHEW PIERCE, FOUNDER AND DESIGNER, WOOD & FAULK Photographed by GEORGE BARBERIS
“Lanterns came on my radar four years ago when I was rooting around in junk shops, as I like to do. I grew up in Wichita, Kansas, home of the Coleman factory, but I didn’t visit its museum, with its huge collection of lanterns, until I was an adult. With my background as a graphic designer, I’m drawn to aesthetics, but my interest in various building disciplines also draws me to manufacturing. Lanterns are practical, well-made objects with dramatic forms; I like the way they look lined up on a shelf, as well as what they represent: the beauty of something that’s been used and loved. There is luxury in things that are built to last, with an intention and a spirit in them. That’s what we try to produce at Wood & Faulk: luxury that isn’t fussy or precious.” h
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Wo odR o se Hom e s lt d
EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOM HOME BUILDER & RENOVATIONS 2423 Dundarave Lane, West Vancouver, BC | 604-913-0630 | www.woodrosehomes.com.
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FINE FURNITURE FROM SALVAGED TREES SEATTLE
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LOS ANGELES
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