Armadillo New York

Armadillo founders Jodie Fried and Sally Pottharst enlisted longtime partners of the brand, Jon and Maša Kleinhample of Klein Agency, to realise their ambitious vision. Excited by the challenge and aligned on the intent, Klein Agency sought to strike a balance between contextual relevance and the brand’s distinctive design sensibility while embracing the building’s 19th-century bones. “Our main ethos has always been to build furniture or spaces with integrity and the ability to withstand the test of time, ignoring the trends,” Maša says.

The building’s original pine floors, columns and mouldings have been preserved as a tactile reminder of the past, while contoured walls finished in textured plaster soften and plump up the space. A dialogue between eras naturally unfurls, and it is this layered conversation that allows Armadillo’s rugs to be experienced not solely as products, but as integral elements of the interior.

There is a sense of discovery woven into the spatial experience – a condition enhanced and guided by the wavy, sculptural wall that threads through the main room. As an architectural intervention, it helps to define the program and allows visitors to intuitively move through the space. “We really wanted the interaction with the brand to be anything but simple and linear,” Maša explains. “What Armadillo hides versus what it exposes is different from every angle, and you find inspiration in its unfolding.”

With tall ceilings and two walls of windows overlooking Broadway, natural light is abundant. The depth and hue of each rug become more evident as the sun dances across the showroom each day, revealing texture and tone in their most vivid forms. It’s a gesture that places the product fittingly at the forefront of the experience, and is a nod to the unwavering quality of these handmade pieces.