Project: POLIFORM

Architect: PAUL KALOUSTIAN ARCHITECT
Collaborators: VICKEN KHATCHERIAN – JAY J  KALOUSTIAN
Client: GEAHCHAN GROUP
Location: SIN EL FIL – BEIRUT
Built-up Area: 900 m2
Completed: 2011
Photography: CARL GERGES

The IN/OUT showroom is located on a first floor of an office building in Beirut and houses the Poliform furniture brand as well as the Varenna kitchens.
The entry is conceived as an exterior ramp that leads directly into the showroom thus disconnecting it from the building.
The central element of the showroom is the lighting. We focused our design on creating a lighting feature that could allow a maximum flexibility in furniture arrangement in the 900m2 space.
The use of polycarbonate sheets covering the T5 linear fluorescent tubes generates an illuminated and blurred  horizontal surface rather than a decorative item.
By using a highly transparent facade, we exposed the showroom to the immediate context, the roads and the passing cars, and created the feeling of urbanity with the exposed furniture.