PROFESSIONAL HELP: BOCONCEPT

Furniture Design Week: While Denmark’s BoConcept has long been a household name when it comes to household design, its professional contract division has, in recent years, become a trusted, go-to planning partner for architects.

BoConcept’s brief for the Max hotel in Seefeld, Austria required an interior that is modern, minimal but also comfortable. The 23 bedrooms at the Max hotel feature a soft neutral palette, that is unmistakably modern but also enduring, so the interiors do not date quickly.

The dasMax Hotel in Tyrolean Seefeld, completed in December 2019, is the latest hospitality project delivered by BoConcept’s Innsbruck team. Following its success in bridging old and new design in the interior of nearby hotel Sonnenburg, they were approached by the architects of the Max Hotel to help inject some modernity into the somewhat faded winter resort of Seefeld. The interiors needed to be cool and contemporary, but also timeless so they don’t date too quickly. The professional team met the challenge with a plan for comfortable minimalism in a neutral palette. Ticking all the client’s boxes, the 23 rooms of the small aparthotel were installed within 2 days.

The Audi showroom in Hong Kong was designed by the local BoConcept team. Karim Rashid’s Ottawa sofa design proved to be a match for Audi’s own sporty design ethos.

A different challenge was set when Audi knocked on BoConcept’s door in Hong Kong in 2020. Looking to create an environment for their new showroom that would encourage clients to linger, the space was zoned, and areas of comfortable seating, that echo the sporty, streamlined silhouettes of the vehicles, introduced. ‘The Ottawa sofa designed by Karim Rashid stood out,’ says Phoebe Ho from the Hong Kong BoConcept team. Not only were design details required to gently reflect the aesthetics of Audi’s cars, but colours and measurements had to meet company guidelines. BoConcept’s flexibility in adapting its broad standardised range to match Audi’s stipulations gave them the edge over the long-lead customisation programs of their rivals.

Fairbrook Grove, a residential show-room design project executed by BoConcept’s professional Canterbury team in the UK, was conceived with the profile of a social, eco-conscious, outdoor-loving client in mind

3. In the latter half of 2020, the UK’s Canterbury office was busy delivering an apartment design for the nearby award-winning, sustainably-minded residential development, Fairbrook Grove. The challenge to the team headed by Rachel Sanders, was to identify the lifestyle traits of a likely buyer and plan their ideal interior. ‘Understanding the tastes of somebody who is interested in living sustainability was key,’ says Sanders. The profile of an outdoorsy person, who is active and likes walks and is conscious about the environment was compiled. ‘For them, less is more. They need an uncluttered environment with space – they are also sociable.’ The team chose furniture and accessories with clean lines, neutral colours, natural textures and sought to bring in the outside with plants.