Architectural Record: David Rockwell's Layered Luxe

Published in Architectural Record, January 2014

David Rockwell is no stranger to setting the mood in hotels or restaurants, and a robust list of accolades for his hospitality work is a testament to this. But his latest endeavor in this market tackles the challenge of supplying other architects and interior designers with the ingredients to produce such environments. Layered Luxe, a line that Rockwell created in collaboration with Shaw Hospitality Group, is the first broadloom carpet collection designed by the president of New York City-based Rockwell Group, and is aimed at evoking drama, serenity, or quiet elegance for hotel spaces.

The architect characterizes this line as something of a template for designers, with each color customizable in 270 hues and 17 patterns by Shaw's state-of-the-art looms. A carpet's highlights, for instance, can be specified in neutral taupe and gray, while midtones and shadows can be colored in gemlike emerald and dark violet.

"Carpet is a singular medium with infinite varieties," Rockwell says. For the patterns themselves, "we were able to look at a range of things that are important in our architectural work: abstraction of nature, heirloom rugs, cracked pottery, and other textures and surfaces that could be woven into carpet." The look of random folds of distressed and aged textiles figures prominently in Crease; undulating layers found in mineral stones are mimicked in Geode; and fine striations shifting between light and dark inform the pattern Ombr'. The entire line is produced with Eco Solution Q nylon, which contains 20% pre-consumer and 25% post-consumer recycled content and is Cradle to Cradle certified.

Asked if he has a particular favorite of the collection, Rockwell answers, "Watermark, because it has a kind of mystery to it-it pushes what can be done with broadloom to an extreme, and it's almost impossible to find a repeat in it, which I love." He promptly adds, "But I like my other kids also."