April 22, 2019

StudiosC Creates Positive/Negative Volumes for L&R Distributors in Brooklyn

L&R distributes more cosmetics than any other American company—25 brands and 8,000 SKUs in all. Its new corporate headquarters in Brooklyn’s Industry City circulates something else: a wide variety of staff, each with their own spatial needs, within what StudiosC principal Stephen Conte calls “an industrial blank canvas.”

A plant wall of unstained oak, and a sofa by Gubi, greet guests at reception. Photography by Heidi Solander.

Design inspiration for the 16,000-square-foot space, Conte says, “grew from the initial distribution diagrams of the programming.” The executive offices, executive assistants, and main conference rooms were placed along part of the perimeter, he notes. “We realized that a good way of delineating space was by varying shades of the same material—oak panels and painted walls in our case—while keeping the plan as open as possible to maximize natural light and views.”

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The main conference room features a custom table by RogueBuilt, surrounded by Kimball Office chairs. Photography by Heidi Solander.

The result is a series of volumes around central spaces left open, alternating in a palette of dark stained oak and white paint best exemplified by the custom reception desk with a positive/negative logo, Conte’s favorite detail in the space.

Volumes of solid oak paneling form executive offices. Photography by Heidi Solander.
One wall of an otherwise solid oak micro conference room includes a window of electrified privacy glass. Photography by Heidi Solander.
Custom pendants illuminate a wall of oak storage on sliding doors. Photography by Heidi Solander.
RogueBuilt custom fabricated the reception desk of white wax-covered OSB board, with a walnut top and side, and walnut logo. Photography by Heidi Solander.

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