The Bronx NYC
Location: The Bronx, New York City. A corporate headquarters and office environment for The Chefs’ Warehouse, a specialty food and culinary products distributor.
Design Goal: The client wanted a workplace that broke from the conventional corporate mold, an energetic, design forward environment that reflected the company’s culinary identity and creative culture while supporting collaboration, focus, and community. Drawn to bold expression and an industrial, urban sensibility, they sought interiors that felt vibrant and unexpected, a space employees would be genuinely excited to spend their days in.
The office is industrial loft meets pop art, pairing raw, urban architecture with playful, high energy color and graphic statement moments. The palette is built on a foundation of exposed brick, reclaimed wood, and concrete grays, electrified by bold primary red, cobalt blue, and saturated pops throughout.
Materials are honest and textural, from salvaged timber ceilings and brickwork to glossy lacquered accents and graphic carpet tile. Signature details give the space its spirited, culinary inflected character: oversized caviar tin pop art murals, full graffiti wrapped conference rooms, vintage industrial gears as wall art, sculptural cocoon and bubble pendant lighting, cowhide upholstered egg chairs, and a custom branded logo door.
Tonally the work is bold, energetic, creative, and unexpected.
Our scope spanned space planning, finish and material selection, lighting design, custom millwork and built-ins, branding and environmental graphics, and furnishing. We approached the headquarters as an expression of the company’s culture and culinary roots, layering food inspired art, branded graphics, and vivid color against a raw industrial shell to create a workplace with genuine personality.
A variety of zones support different modes of work, from communal high top counters and graffiti clad meeting rooms to playful lounge moments for connection and casual collaboration. Lighting was used to add warmth and character throughout, weaving together sculptural pendants, linear fixtures, and accent sources against the exposed architecture.
The result is a distinctive, high energy corporate environment that turns a working office into a brand experience, a space as bold and flavorful as the company it houses.
“Julie is full of great resources and a pleasure to work with. But for me her best quality is her great taste, and ability to pull off the WOW factor in every space she has done.”
—M.P.
