Brooklyn studios Workstead and Calico Wallpaper have created cosy nooks inside an arcade-cum-cafe in Manhattan to present their latest launches for this year's NYCxDesign festival.
Calico Wallpaper and Workstead designed the installation to take over Tribeca's Arcade Bakery – a cafe that Workstead completed in 2014.
Located inside the historic Merchants Square Building, the bakery features a marble-floored corridor with inlays and contours that house fold-down tables for customers to enjoy baked goods.
Within these nooks are Workstead's latest sconces, alongside new Calico Wallpaper designs.
Together, the two elements are fused and complement the building's historic character, which features neoclassical details like arched ceilings, moulding, columns and green marble floors.
Workstead's new sculptural metal fixtures, called Chamber, are made of brass and add a warm glow to the narrow space, enhancing the natural light provided by large glass doors. Covers on the sconces can be moved to conceal or reveal light by varying degrees.
Overhead is the larger Chamber chandelier, whose sheen picks out the bright white lighting on the ceiling above.
Joining the fixtures are Calico Wallpaper's latest pattern, Relic. The design showcases a mixture of sheer tissue paper and metallic and matte elements that relate to the varying materials in the narrow space.
The abstract pattern is inlaid within the bakery's cosy alcoves – in soft blue, gold and white hues – lending an understated opulence that relates to the historic nature of the building, built in 1929.
"We are longtime fans of Workstead's design approach, and their ability to transform spaces and products," said Nick Cope, co-founder of Calico Wallpaper.
"Our collaboration is meant to create a design moment that can be enjoyed by all visitors, whether they are regulars at the bakery or stopping by for the first time," he said.
Calico Wallpaper is a bespoke wallpaper company, founded in Brooklyn in 2013 by Nick and Rachel Cope.
Last year, the company partnered with New York lighting designer Lindsey Adelman for an installation that similarly paired the light and wallpaper designs at Milan Design Week. In 2017, the brand collaborated with Faye Toogood, Ana Kraš, Snarkitecture and BCXSY for new paper designs.
Workstead is led by Stefanie Brechbuehler, Ryan Mahoney, and Robert Highsmith, and established in 2009. The design studio, which recently moved from Charleston to Brooklyn, works on a range of projects, from interiors to furniture and lighting.
Other projects include a renovated home in Charleston, a bar in Oklahoma, as well as lights that feature movable metal reflectors.
Arcade is on display from 14 May to 21 May 2019, and is part of a series of temporary exhibitions and installations set up for NYCxDesign 2019. Among the others is the female-focused Deeper than Text showcase at 1stdibs gallery in Chelsea.
Photography is by Matthew Williams.