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Product> Best Practitioners: Six Designers Share Their Go-To Products

Product> Best Practitioners: Six Designers Share Their Go-To Products

Trust is earned. To be ensconced in the files of a design firm, products must pass professional muster on many fronts: performance, aesthetics, and value, prime among them. From high-tech building materials to hand-crafted finishes, architects and designers share their favorite resources with AN.

Linear Plaster-In LED Systems (Pictured at top)
Pure Lighting

“Recessed lighting from Pure Lighting. So simple, clean, and neat with an huge variety of applications. Perfect to make a design statement; can be used in a group to create a pattern, or to accentuate a painting or wall, or to outline anything. This type of lighting has endless creative possibilities.”

Laura Bohn
Principal Designer
Laura Bohn Design Associates
New York City

Rectangle Basin
Vitraform

“Regarding hospitality interiors, for designers the sky is the limit. Spaces have to convey originality and stand out from the competition. That said, Vitraform basins achieve this objective. Made in the USA, each basin is one-of-a-kind and the execution of detail is flawless. I am particularly taken by the Bronze finish; with its molten, liquid-gold quality, it conveys a level of grandeur and luxury that is unmatched. The Starphire Satin Mirror finish resembles an abalone interior, iridescent and magical. Plus as the surface turns wet, it transforms into a mirrored finish and requires only minimal care. Having a resource like Vitraform that is both practical and breathtaking means minimal hassle and endless beauty. For me, that is priceless.”

Christina Hart
Senior Principal | Director of Hospitality Interior Design
HOK
New York City

SPD SmartGlass
Research Frontiers

“On the roof terrace of our USA Pavilion at the 2015 Expo in Milan, we are using almost 10,000 square feet of dimmable glass to provide shade or sun, depending on the weather and comfort needs. SPD SmartGlass changes almost instantaneously and can be treated as an array of very large pixels; we are programming images, patterns, words, and reactive motion into what would otherwise be a simple glass canopy.”

James Biber
Biber Architects
New York City

Finishing and Edge-Protection Profiles
Schluter Systems

“The product I have used in every bath and kitchen job is the tile edge from Schluter. It is an elegant accent that enhances the design, and also solves the problem of using tiles that don’t have a finished edge. It’s a perfect bespoke detail.”

Barry Goralnick
Barry Goralnick Architecture and Interior Design
New York City

Veneziano Venetian Plaster
Vasari

“We have had a ten-year obsession with Venetian plaster that dates back to measuring a Carlo Scarpa building with students in Treviso at the Canova Gypsotecha. We could never get the same quality workmanship here, so we hired Italian contractors to teach us the recipes, the troweling, the joinery. Now we teach our own subcontractors. The material is unique for its durability, depth, and subtle sheen. The variegated quality of the finish speaks of a hand-crafted surface.”

Alberto Alfonso
Alfonso Architects
Tampa, Florida

Vela LD in Onyx Stainless
MGS

“Simply put, MGS faucets are like high-precision plumbing machines. Beautifully designed, and exquisitely crafted from solid stainless steel, they are sleek and refined. The look, the feel, and the attention to detail is second to none and they are a pleasure to use. In addition to specifying MGS fittings for many of my projects, I have the Vela LD kitchen faucet installed in my home.”

Lev Bereznycky
Project Manager
Lundberg Design
San Francisco

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