Brooklyn design brand Pelle has relocated to Manhattan, moving its showroom, workshop and offices to a minimal self-designed space in the Flatiron District.

When the lease on their Red Hook studio was up, founders Jean and Oliver Pelle took the opportunity to look for somewhere with more space to accommodate its production, display and administrative needs in one.

The duo looked in Brooklyn but were unable to find a location that satisfied these requirements.

"We make everything we design and need the direct contact between the design office to the the making studio," the couple told Dezeen.

"We couldn't imagine splitting up the working studio apart from the showroom, so it was then that we decided to expand the search into Manhattan and pay a premium."

Brooklyn is home to a growing number of creative studios, including many that make up the city's burgeoning lighting scene.

However, Pelle is the latest New York-based lighting brand to cross the East River to Manhattan, following Apparatus and Lindsey Adelman, among others.

This also follows a surge of European design brands opening showrooms on the island, capitalising on a strong market.

"We need to be closer to the interior designers and architects that specify our work," Pelle said.

"We wanted to be in the best neighbourhood for our design-minded clientele, and we wanted to create a wonderful workplace environment for ourselves and our staff."

The brand's new showroom is situated in the Flatiron District, where many other similar companies have set up.

It takes up the eighth storey of a building that offered an open floor plate, aside from structural columns, which provided a blank canvas when Pelle moved in.

To divide the large room, partitions were put up along the structural grid to create bays for the various functions.

The display area is placed beside large windows at one side, where visitors enter, while the workshop is situated at the other end of the long space.

In between are office areas and kitchen facilities for staff. There's also a separate "project room" for testing ideas.

"Here, we are free to get messy, create prototypes, sketch, pin up without intruding into the normal production areas," said Pelle.

A minimal feel throughout is achieved with light-toned surfaces and simple fittings, intended to complement the style of the products.

"There's really only the very necessary architecture in there as well as a little bit of flourish," the designers said. "When you start from scratch, you are really able to craft the space."

To fill the additional space, Pelle also created new furniture pieces that include a metal bar cabinet, a marble coffee table and a couple of wooden benches.

Photography is by Georgia Nerheim.