The showroom is that quintessentially Knoll ? a mix of traditional and contemporary design that the brand has championed for decades.

When Knoll announced that it was opening its first ever Home Design Shop in Los Angeles, we knew we had to fill up the tank and make the drive out to see the store ASAP. Designed by Johnston Marklee, Knoll design director Benjamin Pardo, and interior designer Barbara Reimelt of The Ninety Nine Group, the showroom is that quintessentially Knoll mix of traditional and contemporary design that the brand has championed for decades.

The design of the Shop was inspired by the 16th-century York Castle in Tangier, Morocco that was in crumbles until former Knoll president Yves Vidal bought it in 1961 and restored it to its original Moroccan glory. To Vidal, the medieval fortress was the perfect backdrop for his furniture, an indisputable example of how contemporary and traditional design can live happily and beautifully together beneath the same castle roof. Under the direction of Florence Knoll, design force of nature and wife of founder Hans Knoll, the showrooms were arranged as tableaus of habitable environments, a concept wildly forward-thinking for showrooms back then but has since become the norm.
Before stepping into the showroom, you can already start to see the Moroccan influences on the building, a terrazzo and marble-clad corner shop with oversized brass-framed windows with rounded arches inside, each framing a specific furnit...