Studio Visit: Designercarpets Drechsle

Melançon Mader collaborated with Designercarpets Drechsle, in nearby Lörrach, Germany, to design a colorful, custom carpet for a galley kitchen.

For our project, the Drechsle team translated our initial conversations and concept visuals into detailed plans with color wool samples. Following two months of production, Ms. Drechsle personally delivered the beautifully finished rug to our studio. Read Drechsle’s article, “Why designers are increasingly turning to handwoven carpets for kitchen projects.”

Neighborhood Visit: Paulusquartier

The building at the corner of Steinenring and Bachlettenstrasse is a Paulusquartier landmark. Built in 1904, it originally housed a Bell grocery store—an early example of retail integrated into residential architecture. Today, the ground floor operates as a café and, together with the buvette at the Paulus Church, serves as one of the liveliest gathering places in the neighborhood.

For the café, we were commissioned to develop an interior design concept that improves the lighting and acoustic comfort while highlighting the building’s turn-of-the-century character. Our proposal introduces a new furniture layout, new built-in banquette seating, acoustic curtains and a sound-absorbing rug, creating a more intimate atmosphere without compromising the café’s connection to the street. Read more about the buildings of the Paulusquartier in the Schweizer Heimatschutz catalog.

Studio Visit: Kvadrat

In an educational workshop at the Kvadrat Studio in Zürich, we learned about yarn, color, construction and bespoke production of Kvadrat textiles and carpets. Most relevant was how patterns, pile height and finishing details can shape not only the appearance but also the performance of a rug.

Following the workshop, we confidently sourced a made to order Kvadrat Silhouette rug, designed by Hella Jongerius for a project. Made with Bravoure yarn, the Silhouette design has a unique border of fringes composed of four colour blends that gradually overlap and transition from one tone to another. Its natural, super plush quality and custom sizing made it an ideal choice for use in a TV room.

Made to order Kvadrat carpet ‘Silouette’ sourced by Melançon Mader for a TV room.

Paris Déco Off Visit: Liberty Fabrics

Inspired by a client’s romantic garden and their request for floral accents and wallcoverings in a new extension, we discovered Liberty Fabrics. We were pleased to meet with Liberty designers at Paris Déco Off - an annual design event of leading international textile, wallpaper, and home finishing brands.

From the collections, we selected two complementary patterns whose botanical themes, color and scale suited the project. Botanical Atlas draws on Liberty’s historic archive and Sir Arthur Liberty’s travels through Japan, China, Persia and India between the 1880s and 1910s. Its flora and fauna reinterpret influences ranging from Chinoiserie and Persian garden illustrations to Mughal painting and Japanese Edo-period art for contemporary interiors. Read more about the Botanical Atlas Collection.

Installing Liberty Wallpaper Botanical Atlas Collection on our Dornach Project

Paris Déco Off Visit: Vandra Rugs

We first encountered Vandra Rugs at Paris Déco Off, an annual design event where leading international fabric, wallpaper and interior-finishing houses present their work in open ateliers across Paris. Vandra is a producer from Sweden that combines traditional Swedish röllakan weaving with contemporary geometric composition, and makes its rugs by hand at a weaving atelier in rural southern Ukraine.

For the living room of our Bachletten II project, we used Vandra’s Rettangolo rug with a pattern designed by Ami Katz. Its pixelated framing, blocks of color and tactile linen rya stripes create a subtle three-dimensional quality, while our color choice refers to the exterior fabric sunshades used on the project. Read more about the production of Vandra Rugs.

Rettangolo by Ami Katz installed on our Bachletten II Project