Bernd Gruber—Manufactory for Interior Design displays rich contrasts
Bernd Gruber’s Manufactory for Interior Design was expanded. Handling the interior design himself, he drew on natural materials, with black contrasts—and emphasized with ERCO accent lighting.
Snow-covered mountain peaks, forest all the way up to the tree line, clouds that float from the valley across the crest of the mountains. In between, a building designed on clear geometric lines. Its concrete mirrors the rock of the mountains, the wooden frontage the surrounding forest. The glass facades create a fluid transition between inside and outside. Inspired by the Pinzgau Alps—and state-of-the-art architecture—Bernd Gruber designs and produces high quality interiors.
Seeking the beautiful in design
Bernd Gruber—a name that stands for exclusive interior design from Austria. His factory is located in Stuhlfelden; the showroom is in Aurach, near Kitzbühel. In 1992 Bernd Gruber took over the carpentry workshop that his father had run for over thirty years and restructured the business along his own lines. In doing so, he set great store by combining high-quality craftsmanship with contemporary and local interior design. In his view, it is only with sensitivity and intuition that the atmosphere of a given space can be understood in such a way that further design will produce something unique and beautiful. Bernd Gruber works with a network of regional craftspeople including blacksmiths and glass artisans. His portfolio meanwhile includes entire house interiors, and his international projects range from Vienna to Los Angeles.
Light wood surfaces with black contrasts
The factory in Stuhlfelden was recently expanded from 2,000 to 3,500 square metres. Bernd Gruber commissioned the firm of Büro Egger Architekten in Kitzbühel with the architecture. The end result was a concrete structure with wooden elements and floor-to-ceiling windows. Bernd Gruber personally took charge of the interior fit-out. He chose exposed concrete, poured screed, wood panelling and furniture made of local oak. Apart from materials used—largely natural—carefully positioned black elements such as cupboard doors, office chairs, table frames and accessories such as the Eames House Bird, create graphic accents. The overall feel of the room is defined by the contrast between light, iridescent and dark, monochrome surfaces.
Accent lighting and surface-mounted wiring as a graphic element
The reception areas, office workspaces, meeting zones, staff kitchen and corridors have been lit by ERCO. Parscan spotlights are deployed throughout with spot, flood and wide flood distributions, connected loads of 15W or 30W, luminous flux of 1260 lumen or 2520 lumen, and light colour of 3000° Kelvin. The accent lighting emphasises the creative contrast between the light, natural materials and the black surfaces. The luminaires were mounted on singlets with exposed, surface-mounted wiring which, just like the luminaires, is black. Set against the pale grey concrete ceilings and walls, this has produced an expressive play of lines.
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