Inside R & Company’s Spectacular New Gallery

“We wanted more space, but we never thought we’d find this,” said Zesty Meyers, leading me on a tour through R & Company‘s beautiful new 8,000-square-foot annex, located on three floors at 64 White Street. “Makers, artisans, designers—they can dream in two directions now, from small to big.”

Working with architect Kulapat Yantrasast of wHY Architecture, Meyers and co-founder Evan Snyderman created the gallery of their dreams. The ground floor is mostly exhibition space with a few offices (where the pieces are also for sale); below is a conference room, more offices (“I have my own office for the first time!” said Meyers), and the R & Company archive, with a wall to show the research behind every show; and below that are more offices, a catering kitchen, and more exhibition space. The centerpiece is a three-story atrium carved into the rear, against the wall of windows. To be able to install works there—a dramatic light fixture by Jeff Zimmerman currently hangs from the ceiling—R & Company added a metal beam with a crane, and employees had to get trained in rigging.

“The rest of the space is for creators, but this is for us,” said Meyers, referring to the floating marble staircase that will lead along the back wall. (It’s still being installed.) The marble has been cut in such a way that, when you look at the staircase from below, the grain appears to go up the stairs. Also worth checking out is the restroom designed by Jeff Zimmerman, as seen in the final shot below. Artists Katie Stout and the Haas Brothers are working on the other two.

While the gallery is still receiving its finishing touches, don’t wait too long to stop by. The new space is devoted to a show, 20 Years of Discovery, that shows the breadth and focus of R & Company since it was founded in 1997. For more on the company, read the Spotlight Q&A that Meyers and Snyderman did a while back and Architectural Digest’s recent post.

 

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