July 24, 2019
Teknion Corporation today announced that its 15,514 square foot (1441m²) New York City showroom located at 641 Avenue of the Americas has achieved WELL Gold certification from The International WELL Building Institute™ and LEED Platinum Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The New York property is Teknion’s fourth to achieve WELL certification, and its second showroom this year. The New York showroom is also Teknion’s twelfth LEED certified showroom.
“Attaining WELL has been a challenging initiative,” said Tracy Backus, Director, Sustainable Programs, Teknion. “We have seen the return on the investment in our own people and business opportunities in our Boston, Dallas and Toronto locations and are confident that New York will provide similar results. The WELL Building Standard is a tool to drive change. Even if that change is incremental, it can be very inspirational. As a human-centric standard, WELL has encouraged us to give consumers what they are asking us for, including transparency.”
The Teknion New York showroom is a warm, engaging space designed to showcases the diverse Teknion portfolio, and exemplifies thinking about work and the modern workplace. Designed by Vanderbyl Design, the showroom features a building architecture with spacious tall ceilings and an open plan ordered by a rigorous grid of Classical columns. The design succinctly provides more definition to the open plan through two architectural interventions. The first are three pavilions inserted into the space offering a point of focus. Upon entering the showroom, visitors are welcomed by a hearth space offering a subtly residential sensibility. The casual meeting area defined by a generous Teknion Community Table encourages conversation and collaboration. The pavilions also integrate a library lounge while a third pavilion houses the main conference room.
The furniture that populates the showroom floor replicates a contemporary office landscape of shared spaces that encourages informal interaction and addresses various modes of collaboration. Private offices at the edge of the showroom are defined by Teknion’s architectural wall systems, used to provide full-height space division and maintain a sense of spaciousness while allowing an abundance of natural light to penetrate the space.
Designed to effectively present Teknion’s diverse product offering, including the Luum Textiles and Studio TK brands, this warm, welcoming space also reflects the changing character of the contemporary workplace and reinforces the Teknion brand − a design-focused company that brings bold creative thinking and intelligent innovation to the international contract furniture market.
“On July 11, Rachel Gutter, President of International WELL Building Institute, presented Teknion with a plaque acknowledging and honoring our Gold certification,” adds Backus. “The presentation, held in our showroom, was supported heavily by our friends at IWBI, the community at large and our staff, who will benefit the most from the space. People are motivated to improve their well-being and when we consider the built and natural environments together, we find that what’s best for the planet is what’s best for people.”
About LEED
LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. Available for virtually all building, community and home project types, LEED provides a framework to create healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings. LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement. Currently, 2.4 million square feet (223,000m²) of building space are certified LEED daily. There are over 94,000 participating LEED projects located in more than 165 countries and territories. For more information: https://new.usgbc.org/
About WELL
The International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™) is leading the global movement to transform our buildings and communities in ways that help people thrive. IWBI delivers the cutting-edge WELL Building Standard™, the leading global rating system and the first to be focused exclusively on the ways that buildings, and everything in them, can improve our comfort, drive better choices and generally enhance, not compromise, our health and wellness. For more information: https://www.wellcertified.com/