Design

Miriam Castells Designs a Creative Space for Figueras

The Spanish company that specializes in high-end fixed and movable seating receives a Design Centre to inspire innovation.

The Spanish company that specializes in high-end fixed and movable seating receives a Design Centre to inspire innovation.

If youve been to the Philharmonic in Paris, the United Nations Hall in Geneva, the Arts Centre in Melbourne, or the White House Press Room in Washington, D.C., chances are you sat on a Figueras chair. The nearly 90-year-old firm, which received Spains National Design Award in 2014, has installed over 10 million seats in 130 countries, making it one of the largest international brands specializing in public high-end fixed and movable chairs.

Looking to inspire a new chapter of innovation from within, the company tapped Miriam Castells Studio to rethink the interiors at its Design Centre, located near headquarters in the outskirts of Barcelona. The studio was tasked with modernizing one of Figueras’s local warehouses as a space conducive to both product design and production—a creative hub where employees can study market trends, product concepts, and consumer needs.

The designers divided the ample space into communal environments, situating a display of Figueras chairs, a workroom with tools and machines, a conference area, and a photo studio on the main floor, plus a library and work station upstairs. They preserved the basis of the industrial structure—retaining the pillars and metal trusses, zenith skylights, concrete pavement, and wide windows—while using materials such as pinewood to warm the cold, hard-edged environs. We wanted to highlight the breadth of space and offer the appearance of a large and comfortable laboratory, she says. If the Centre’s new design was conceived to inform the Figueras products of the future, chances are your next opera chair may just recline a little bit farther.

Miriam Castells Studio's Design Centre Figueras 5
Design
Miriam Castells Studio's Design Centre Figueras
Miriam Castells Studio's Design Centre Figueras

Miriam Castells Studio's Design Centre Figueras

Miriam Castells Studio's Design Centre Figueras

Miriam Castells Studio's Design Centre Figueras

Miriam Castells Studio's Design Centre Figueras

(All photos:José Hevia)

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