Introducing the Architecture Research Office Collection
Spinneybeck is pleased to introduce the Architecture Research Office Collection. This collection combines the natural beauty of Spinneybeck full grain leather with repetition and pattern to create modular architectural finishes that are elegant and easy to install. Composed of full grain leather vacuum formed to extruded foam or PET substrate, ARO Plank enables variation across large areas by combining standard modules. Available in 36 qualities and 945 colorways, the modular planks assemble to create standard patterns and yield a continuous architectural finish that evokes movement and is quietly animated by light and shadow. Planks install quickly and easily with Spinneybeck’s Interlock Mounting System.
ARO Plank 1 has two distinct half round modules that are composed of leather-wrapped extruded foam and available in four standard configurations. ARO Plank 2 has two distinct faceted modules: Wide (A) and Narrow (B). Modules have angled edges and rotate 180 degrees for additional variation in pattern and is available in five standard configurations. ARO Plank 3 has one faceted module which is rotated and repeated. ARO Plank 4 has three distinct modules: Wide (A), Narrow (B), and Rib (C). Flat planks are accented by ribs, creating a striped, corrugated effect. ARO Plank 5 draws inspiration from the clapboard siding at Architecture Research Office’s Martha’s Vineyard House with three modules of Wide, Narrow A, and Narrow B chamfered and set at varying depths to cast compelling, evolving shadows.
Commenting on the continuing collaboration with Architecture Research Office, Traci Roloff, Vice President of Marketing + Communications explains, “Following the success of Architecture Research Office’s collection for FilzFelt, we decided to expand the material offerings to our line of Spinneybeck leathers. ARO’s designs are beautiful and thoughtful providing a complete system that is easy to specify and install.”
Kim Yao, Principal at Architecture Research Office, remarks, “In our work, we seek to elevate simple, everyday materials with creative detailing and unexpected applications. The Architecture Research Office Collection for Spinneybeck expands this palette to leather, transforming the natural material into an architectural finish that is simultaneously flexible and modular, tailored and beautiful.”
About Spinneybeck
Spinneybeck introduced full grain, aniline dyed Italian leathers to North America in 1962. With more than 1,000 colorways in over 30 families of leather upholstery as well as architectural products, Spinneybeck is recognized as a leading provider of high-quality leather to architects and interior designers.
Over the decades, the company has evolved from a supplier of full grain, aniline dyed Italian leather for upholstery and aircraft interiors to a manufacturer of pioneering, leather architectural products that cover the floor, walls, and everywhere in between. In addition, Spinneybeck’s work with industry design leaders in the fields of sculpture, architecture, interior design, and textiles has generated inventive leathers, color work, patterned wall tiles, drawer pulls, and sculpted wall systems. Regardless of the application, Spinneybeck has consistently held the same high standards for quality, originative products, environmental practices, and customer service.
About Architecture Research Office
Architecture Research Office is the New York City firm led by Stephen Cassell, Kim Yao and Adam Yarinsky. Founded in 1993, ARO has earned a reputation for elegant, innovative and imaginative architecture born out of relentless exploration and engagement.
Through investigation, analysis, and testing, Architecture Research Office creates designs that unite the conceptual and the pragmatic within a strong, compelling vision. This research-driven process enables the firm to operate on a wide variety of projects spanning strategic planning, architecture and urban design, and to craft elegant solutions to seemingly intractable problems. From a 1,000-square-foot, low-income, sustainable housing prototype to a proposal to reinvent the role of ecology and infrastructure in New York City, ARO’s work is materially sensuous, intellectually rigorous and socially engaging.
Architecture Research Office received the 2011 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters honored the firm with their 2010 Academy Award for Architecture. The firm’s work has been exhibited widely and is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.
