Designer: Ghislaine Viñas Interior Design
Project: Barrows Advertising Dynamic Workspace
Location: SoHo, New York City, United States
Photography: Garrett Rowland
After reconnecting with childhood friend Karen Barrows, wife of Barrows Advertising chairman Richard Barrows, Ghislaine Viñas Interior Design began designing their NYC office. The concept for the advertising company was to merge its South African roots with its gritty and soulful Soho neighborhood vibe to create a fresh and dynamic workspace.
Ghislaine mixed bold graphics and powerful pops of color with playful and interactive design elements to create a more activity based office. The creative energy of the space is apparent immediately upon stepping off the elevator into the penthouse office. The lobby features a custom rope installation spanning the length of the ceiling that leads you through the rest of the common areas. A recessed cubby, standing hub and extended bench in bright blue create a sheltered space for a coffee break or phone call, as well as an inviting and unique waiting area for receiving clients. The allocation of color is indicative of Ghislaine’s signature look, and features a playful transition from blue to green and back to blue.
The light filled atrium includes bright green mesh and upholstered chairs by Bla Station and an exaggerated high backed sofa and tiered tables by Viccarbe, creating a central meeting area in the core of the office space. A raised black and white tiled coffee bar features a chalkboard wall allowing for the creative company to freely imagine and draw, adding a youthful and ever changing back drop to the space much like the nature of the city itself.
As you enter the conference room, the graphic blue and black color blocking compliment the large black custom tube lights piercing through the ceiling and anchoring the meeting table below. These pipe like fixtures designed by Ghislaine Viñas Interior Design were fabricated by Brandon LeNoir of Collector, a friend and former employee of Ghislaine. Many more one of a kind touches were designed by Viñas throughout the office, including a hanging sculpture of painted South African gourds that ends the rope installation in the conference room. These traditional vessels hang in front of a stunning view of the New York City skyline.
Walking up the fully wallpapered staircase to the open loft is like entering a jungle, featuring Ghislaine’s newest addition to her line with Flavor Paper “Wild Thing” – an oversized pattern of foliage native to South Africa. A yellow picnic table and another pair of Bla Station mesh lounge chairs create for a perfectly secluded meeting and chill out area with a tree house vibe.
The bathrooms, mostly left raw, are punctuated with a mixture of black and white linear graphics. A pop of color is introduced with custom geometric block light fixtures – yellow in the women’s bathroom, and green in the men’s. Ghislaine’s childhood in South Africa made this a particularly captivating project filled with nostalgic inspiration and a brilliant and thoughtful melding of two cultures and styles that fundamentally represents the company’s creative design energy.
