Radnor Sutton Tower
Design gallery Radnor has taken up residency in Sutton Tower, the tallest residential building on Manhattan’s East Side, and designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen. With 360-degree views of New York City’s skyline, the full-floor penthouse makes for a mesmeric gallery setting and multifaceted, design-driven experience.
Founded by Susan Clark in 2016, Radnor brings together a panoply of contemporary designers united by a commitment to process-driven, well-made furniture, lighting and objects. Sutton Tower is the gallery’s third instalment: it previously occupied an apartment in a David Chipperfield-designed tower overlooking Bryant Park, followed by a space created in collaboration with Elizabeth Roberts Architects, which “felt like a townhouse in the sky”, says Clark.
Moving every two to three years keeps things fresh for Clark and her clients – both end users and trade professionals – and the penthouse at Sutton Tower presented a new and intriguing condition. “It’s very ‘capital-A’ architecture,” says Clark. “It has an austerity and a cleanliness, and I was curious about how we could contrast against it but also celebrate it.” She adds that it was “the first time we tackled something with full-height windows”.
Located on the 70th floor and set against a palette of timber and natural stone, the gallery is a warm and tactile environment featuring work from Egg Collective, Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, Workstead and Studio Henry Wilson, among others. Semi-sheer Kvadrat curtains help to temper the bright southern light over the course of the day, and rugs by Elizabeth Roberts for Radnor Made – a line produced by the gallery – bring intimacy to the architectural framework.
The inaugural exhibition, ‘Evolution of Form’, introduced new works by Sebastian Cox and marked the launch of Radnor’s first outdoor furniture collection, designed in collaboration with Bunn Studio. More recently, the gallery has welcomed two new artists, including Los Angeles textile artist Rachel Duvall – a “colour theorist who is very much in the world of Anni and Josef Albers” – and New York-based lighting designer Steffany Trần of Vy Voi. “She’s formidable and she’s creating a special collection that will be exclusive to us. I’m working with her to embrace a larger scale.”
Clark’s deep-seated appreciation for craft-driven design and affinity for how things are made stem from her own experience in metal fabrication, glassblowing and woodcarving. She was an early adopter of presenting collectible design in a domestic setting, a now ubiquitous concept that has been embraced by galleries and showrooms alike. She says the approach works twofold – not only can her clients experience Radnor’s collection in situ, but it’s an opportunity for her to recontextualise the pieces she carries.
“I enjoy the challenge of interacting with the architecture of New York,” she says. “It gives me a new environment and point of view, and forces me to ask myself, ‘How do I get this table into a penthouse or tackle an awkward space?’”
Radnor’s nomadic nature suits Clark just fine, and though there’s no saying where she’ll set the gallery’s roots down in future, its current iteration at Sutton Tower is home for the foreseeable future and well worth a visit while it’s in residence.
Architecture by Thomas Juul-Hansen. Interior design by Susan Clark.
