Hardware brand Hendel & Hendel has recently opened the doors to its new Experience Studio in Shoreditch, which has been created to help designers and retailers get hands-on with its product portfolio.
The new appointment-only studio is set within a former Shoreditch art gallery, and is designed to not only show off Hendel & Hendel products, but also serve as a working space, where design professionals can progress their work and make product decisions.
According to the brand, one central feature is the studio’s Materials Lab, which houses products by brands such as Little Greene, Ca’ Pietra, de Le Cuona and Brockway Carpets. The space can be used to pair Hendel & Hendel finishes with paints, tiles, textiles and floor coverings, with the goal of making hardware an early decision in the design process, instead of an afterthought.
In the near future, the hardware brand says it plans to use the studio to host talks, panels, and hands-on sessions. This will also reportedly include specification workshops, finish and patina clinics, and project round-tables.
“We have been blown away by the support and overwhelmingly positive reaction to the opening of our Experience Studio,” commented Terence Haughton, Hendel & Hendel managing director. “We wanted to create something beyond the ordinary; a place to share our collections in the most tangible way possible, to meet the design and retail community, and to help fuel the creative process. Shoreditch felt like the right place to do that.”
Studio manager Alicia Le Bellego adds: “This is a working studio rather than a showroom. Designers and retailers can book time, bring drawings, lay out samples and build a clear materials story. We are on hand to advise on proportions, hole centres, fixings and finishes – the practical details that shape how a kitchen or dressing room feels to use every day.”
The opening of Hendel & Hendel’s Experience Studio follows shortly after the hardware brand opened a new 30,000 sq ft distribution facility in Tuxford, Nottinghamshire, earlier this year.