A dynamic new partnership needed a facility to showcase the 5 furniture companies they represent. A warehouse space was found on the Cherry Street harbour spit with a great roof top view towards the downtown Toronto skyline. The building was a rough jumble of industrial history, the budget was modest but the potential was high. We all felt that the key to utilizing this space was to celebrate the simple beauty that century warehouses offer. Pace Interior Design's goal was to give each furniture company its own unique space while maintaining a common corporate identity throughout. The space had to be impressive to architects, designers and specifiers. The 15,000 square foot showroom would be utilized for tours, rotating inventory, administration and entertaining clients and the area had to be easy to rearrange. We decided to sandblast the three-story brick atrium wall and the riveted iron beams in the main showroom area. The rest of the space was painted in a warm neutral tones to enhance the products being displayed. Touches of colour are incorporated from manufactures posters and special colour lighting effects. We also developed individual areas on mezzanines and connected them with open steel and wood staircases. Railings throughout are simple and airy incorporating stainless steel aircraft cable and steel tube uprights. The lighting fixtures in the main showroom are inexpensive Japanese full moon paper lampshades, which give a feeling of fantasy and soft geometric glow patterns. The real clincher for sales presentations is the skydeck lounge, which was the old skylight area filled in to create a bar area with pool table and wrap-around banquette seating. With a fantastic view of the city skyline this is where the tour ends and the deals are signed. Like many of our projects we created a master plan for completeing the job in phases. This approach allows the client to control the development and complete phases according to their budget. "John Smale and his team were able to find the balance of creativity and simplicity, which enabled us to turn a 'showroom' into a 'showcase'" Derek Hellyer, Partner H Squared