New IIDA Headquarters Shines Bright with Adotta Glass Partitions.
NeoCon 2017 set the stage for the unveiling of the International Interior Design Association’s new International Headquarters. IIDA, the driving force of interior design thinking around the globe, needed a new space to better serve their members, to foster thought leadership and collaboration in the interior design community.
The IIDA’s new Headquarters was unveiled in a grand opening party on June 12th during the first day of NeoCon. Hundreds of interior designers from around the world gathered to celebrate the new home of IIDA. In attendance were IIDA Fellows and Board Members, as well as trendsetters and leaders of the global design community.
To help IIDA achieve their ideal space, Adotta was selected to build all of the interior walls through their Chicago distributor, Wing Partners. Adotta’s minimal glass office fronts take full advantage of natural sunlight coming in through floor-to-ceiling windows. In conference rooms, bold black translucent glass contrasts highly polished aluminum, lending privacy to designers while still allowing light to pass through. Most strikingly, the 60-foot retractable telescoping glass wall in the south end of the HQ can be closed off for private events, or fully opened to flow seamlessly with the rest of the space.
“Our new Headquarters is an open and welcoming workplace, showcasing innovation in interior design not only for our employees and IIDA members, but for anyone in the worldwide design community who visits our new event space.” -Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA, LEED AP, Executive Vice President and CEO of IIDA.
After many successful years in the Merchandise Mart, the IIDA carefully selected their new space for its architectural importance. It overlooks the Chicago Riverwalk at 111 East Wacker Drive, an iconic building designed by the legendary architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The new interior design tips its hat to this historic building with sections of ceiling open to reveal the modernist master’s structural slab.
Todd Heiser of Gensler, Contract Magazine’s 2016 Designer of the Year, designed the new space. From shared offices to temporary ones, Heiser and his team designed the interior to encourage collective work and collaboration. In the 17,000 square feet of the new IIDA Headquarters, all work modes are possible, from private offices to casual meeting spaces. There is a sense of openness and playfulness with warm, colorful seating areas set to a blank canvas of classic black & white.
The choice of Adotta Metafora also serves as a symbolic link between the architecture and interior design. If you visit Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, you can see the shared appreciation of balance and symmetry in framed glass. From the low profile with the floating effect of a continuous reveal, to the distinctive elegant exposed hardware, the Metafora system is designed to be unparalleled in the proportions of every detail. Metafora provides the perfect window to showcase IIDA’s interior design, while subtly standing on its own as an interior architectural element.
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