Note Design Studio creates new Stockholm showroom for Tarkett
For many years, Note Design Studio’s award-winning stand-design collaborations with Tarkett at Stockholm Design Week and Furniture Fair have been the stars of the show. On 2 June, the interdisciplinary Swedish studio and the French flooring pioneer will unveil something more permanent: a bold new showroom concept in the heart of Stockholm’s design quarter.
Note has conceived Tarkett Ateljé to serve as a multifunctional hub for the brand, acting as showroom, material library, meeting venue, event space, and an immersive showcase for Tarkett’s circular-economy manifesto. Created by Note, the new showroom will be a place for the exchange of ideas, debate and discussion – somewhere architects and designers can come for information, inspiration and conversation.
Putting Tarkett in the geographic heart of Stockholm’s creative sector, the new Note-designed showroom represents a significant milestone for Tarkett as it consolidates its presence in Sweden, as well as presenting an opportunity for Note to elevate Tarkett’s visibility as a design brand among Sweden’s rising generation of architects and designers. Throughout, the driving force for Note’s design has been Tarkett's desire to create a space close to its customers that immersively demonstrates the brand’s ability to create inspiring modern spaces with a strong focus on sustainability.
“The overarching theme is about how design and sustainability interact, how they become more and more interdependent and how important they are to spur positive development in society. With Tarkett Ateljé, we wanted to create a meeting spot for conversation, reflection, exchange of thoughts and lively discussion of these ideas.”
– Lukas Petko, architect, Note Design Studio
A next-generation multifunctional showspace
Developed at a time when many brands are questioning the relevance of a conventional showroom, Note has built Tarkett Ateljé to be a long-term aesthetic platform for the company’s products and ideas, responding to the brand’s clear need for physical spaces for creative exchange.
Note’s aim for the design was to create an environment that breeds creativity and fosters collaboration, while making the case for the shift to a circular economy. More than just somewhere to introduce clients to Tarkett products, the showroom is designed to adapt to a number of different functions, ranging from client meetings and product demonstrations to exhibitions, classes, creative workshops and industry events.
Tarkett Ateljé is located in Tobaksmonopolet, a Södermalm once dominated by tobacco production. Today, many of its 1920s buildings are home to designers, architects and other creative businesses. Set in a former tobacco warehouse, the showroom is a 250sqm wedge-shaped unit previously used as an educational space, featuring a sunken auditorium area that Note’s design makes the most of.
Recyclable and flexible
Note has ensured Tarkett’s products are integral to the aesthetic fabric of the space. The showroom’s walls and floors are clad in materials from Tarkett’s Circular Selection – the brand’s flagship line of sustainable flooring surfaces, all of which are recyclable after use, phthalate-free, and made from raw materials that have been independently assessed according to Cradle to Cradle® principles. At the end of its life, each carpet tile, vinyl or linoleum material in the selection is engineered to be recycled and reconfigured as a new flooring material.
The showroom is Note’s physical tribute to principles of the circular economy that animate the Tarkett brand. The studio’s design embraces Tarkett’s Human-Conscious Design™ philosophy, which is built on the belief that spaces should support, inspire and connect the people who use them, while also considering the impact on the planet.
In keeping with the focus on recyclability and minimising environmental impact, Note has ensured that no permanent structural change was necessary to transform the existing space. Every element – from the floor tiles to the two-metre-high panelled walls – is designed to be easily removed or replaced, allowing Tarkett to use the showroom space to showcase its various surfaces exactly as they would appear when deployed on walls and floors.
“With Tarkett Ateljé, we wanted to show the holistic approach needed for circular transformation. This has driven us to design a new type of showroom that’s more than just a material library, instead a place that demonstrates how design and sustainability interact and how the circular economy goes from words to actions.”
– Kerstin Lagerlöf, marketing manager for Tarkett Sweden and Norway
Visionary and unconventional
To engage Tarkett’s Scandinavian audience of architects and designers, Note challenged the limits of what a showroom could be, resulting in an interior that is daring, imaginative and contemporary.
The visual impact of the design is apparent from the moment of entry. The showroom doors open into a corridor strikingly clad in lavender-coloured linoleum, creating a sense of forward momentum.
The entrance corridor leads into the central part of the space, a triangular room with a sunken auditorium at its heart. This space gives way to a relaxed lounge area, with sofas and armchairs designed by Swedish furniture brand Blue Station, separated from the sunken auditorium beyond by a transparent, net-like curtain in grey. Two walkways run either side of the sunken area, with steps on either side of the sunken area serving as bleachers, where audiences can sit to attend events and discussions.
