Led by Chris Leong, MillerKnoll’s Chicago flagship journeys through its many brand identities and archives

Come Together

By Kelly Pau
millerknoll chicago

Two buildings in Chicago’s West Fulton Market make up a new flagship for MillerKnoll and its host of brands. Spanning almost 70,000 square feet in total, the complex provides a tour through each brand’s identity and archive and includes the first HAY showroom in the U.S. The design was led by Chris Leong, MillerKnoll’s vice president of interiors and founding partner of Leong Leong, who was tasked with organizing the different showrooms in distinct spaces, while also carving out offices and workspace.

millerknoll welcome space
The welcome space is anchored by a bright blue desk by DatesWeiser (Naho Kubota)

The first building, 1100 West Fulton Market, is a 5-story building where Herman Miller and Knoll come together in one place. The building is also home to exhibition space, offices, the Maharam showroom, showrooms for DatesWeiser and Geiger, and a refreshed Herman Miller retail store.

manufacturing modern exhibit
The first floor makes space for an exhibition surveying the brand’s historic chairs (Naho Kubota)

datesweiser reception desk
The reception desk is by DatesWeiser (Naho Kubota)

The ground floor offers an immediate immersion of the brand’s legacy and design across companies. A wooden desk, composed of blocky modules stacked atop one another by DatesWeiser, creates a reception area. Nearby, a custom blue table, also by DatesWeiser, is surrounded by HAY’s Rey chairs. The floor then expands to space for exhibitions. During the flagship’s debut, the ground floor held an exhibition Manufacturing Modern, featuring chairs from the archive.

offices for millerknoll
Bright blue lightens the workplace floor (Naho Kubota)

task chairs around table
Coral-colored task chairs offer places to work collaboratively (Naho Kubota)

On the above floors, workspaces are brought to life through the use of bright colors. Green soft seating makes up a lounge, blue walls and banquettes frame a conference desk, and coral task chairs offer upright places to work. Various types of seating and work settings are supported, from collaboration to solo focus and socialization. A cafe is also part of the office space, visually designated by deep hues of burgundy banquettes and walls.

cafe are in millerknoll
Deep hues make up the workplace’s cafe area (Naho Kubota)

chris leong designs millerknoll interiors
The design of the offices make room for social and informal gathering (Naho Kubota)

The second building, 1144 West Fulton Market, features showrooms for HAY, Muuto, and NaughtOne, a dedicated area for MillerKnoll’s healthcare solutions, a new Design Within Reach Store, and a courtyard designed by Michael van Valkenburgh Associates. In the 3-story building, exposed wooden beams and brick walls backdrop the display area for MilerKnoll’s healthcare offerings. This includes the Gemma Seating Family, a collection of recliners, sleep chairs, and sleep sofas designed to meet the needs of both patients and visiting family and friends.

new flagship in fulton market
Both current and archival designs are organized neatly and display cohesively in the new flagship (Naho Kubota)

The two buildings reflect MillerKnoll’s history and present direction. The consolidated complex offers architects and designers a one-stop-shop for the full host of design across brands and across typologies.

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