The new Knoll Houston Showroom, which opened in the city’s River Oaks community in September 2015, has achieved LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
The showroom was designed by the Architecture Research Office, a recipient of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award and a 2014 AIA Institute Award for the design of the Knoll New York Showroom. The sprawling 8,000 square-foot space showcases a variety of cleverly planned workspaces, including work areas, meeting rooms, informal gathering areas, and dispays.
A March 2016 feature on the showroom in Contract Magazine dubbed the space “a living lab in which Knoll classics, such as Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chairs in the reception area or Eero Saarinen’s Tulip Chairs in a conference room, seamlessly play off new Knoll furnishings, textiles, and other products.”
Easily accessible from both Downtown and Uptown, the San Felipe Street Houston showroom incorporates designs from the entire Knoll constellation, with wallcoverings and spatial dividers that utilize products from Spinneybeck, FilzFelt, and KnollTextiles.
LEED is a voluntary, consensus-based, marketĀ-driven program that provides third-party verification of green buildings. “Participation in the voluntary LEED process demonstrates leadership, innovation, environmental stewardship and social responsibility,” notes the U.S. Green Buildings Council.