New York Gallery by Laura Gonzalez

On a quiet street in Downtown Manhattan, behind a cast-iron facade, is French designer Laura Gonzalez’s New York gallery. Conceived as a hedonistic escape in keeping with the designer’s perpetually chic design approach, the domestic- leaning retail and gallery space is a curated celebration of France’s artistic heritage, suitably located amid Tribeca’s burgeoning gallery scene.

At three times the size of Gonzalez’s original space on Paris’s Left Bank (her studio is also in Paris), the gallery is a confident step into New York’s design landscape. Though this is her first official space stateside, she’s no stranger to the city; she designed Cartier’s Fifth Avenue flagship and has developed a growing following in the United States thanks to representation through Invisible Collection.

At three times the size of Gonzalez’s original space on Paris’s Left Bank (her studio is also in Paris), the gallery is a confident step into New York’s design landscape.

The spacious gallery, with its steely exterior, south-facing front windows and rear conservatory, showcases Gonzalez’s furniture collection as well as a selection of bespoke design pieces. Aside from the occasional glimpse to the streets outside or the flash of a yellow taxi, it could easily be a Parisian apartment thanks to Gonzalez’s know-how and the various rooms thoughtfully carved from the loft-like space. Gonzalez describes the ambience as “inviting, with soft lighting and elegant furnishings” where “history and modernity converge”.

At the front, a large table sits beneath the resplendent Sakura chandelier, its brushed metal branches adorned with Murano glass cherry blossoms. It casts “a soft, ethereal glow that bathes the space in warmth and beauty”. Further along, the Rainbow table with a multicoloured raku marquetry top is a gravitational point beneath the Lilypad chandelier, and beyond this, an exaggerated, oval archway leads to the living room at the back.

The spacious gallery, with its steely exterior, south-facing front windows and rear conservatory, showcases Gonzalez’s furniture collection as well as a selection of bespoke design pieces.

A second Lilypad chandelier, this time in organic resin as opposed to glass, hangs from the ceiling and the Himawari lamp hovers over a cluster of furniture like a delicate, drooping flower. Underfoot, a large floor rug in rust, rose and green tones softens the mood. The indisputable jewel, however, is the custom ceramic fireplace by Laurent Dufour; seemingly abstract, upon further consideration, it is a large mural featuring Gonzalez’s cherished pups.

Every corner brims with the designer’s style, making for a layered and texturally rich space. Intricate woodwork, hand-cast bronze and hammered molten brass elements emerge in the furniture and lighting. It’s all intrinsically Gonzalez, who typically combines delicate tropes with robust shapes and bold colours, and her New York gallery – deliberately pared back in its application of her signature maximalism – is no exception.

Interior design by Laura Gonzalez.