Rough and Tumble
For the Equinox Dumbo, INC developed a design that captured the most up-to-the-minute Equinox design ethos— the aesthetics of the Dumbo context and the spirit of the neighborhood's vibrant culture. The neighborhood has become a mecca for tech and creative populations. In Dumbo, a design-savvy audience would be looking for a chic and in-your-face environment. The spaces needed to be rough, ready, casual, well-designed, and luxurious. It needed to feel like Brooklyn but look like an Equinox. The luxury of REAL materials like blackened steel, bluestone, marble, cement plaster, poured concrete and wood give the spaces a tactile and sensual attitude. Most of the materials were installed in their most textured form. Finishes were patinaed, roughed-up, sand-blasted, hand-troweled, and stressed to bring out their natural honest beauty. However, the architectural forms to which these materials were applied are all strong, forceful, and clean-lined. Muscular modernism of robust curved forms evocative of a ship's hull is found in the stair that is suspended from massive bent straps. High contrast compositions of black, white, and gray dominate the spaces. Humble black, glazed subway tiles are juxtaposed against white craquele tile. Pale grey concrete is contrasted with blackened steel. Deep charcoal wood textures are set against the bright white plaster. The spaces evoke a surprising set of contrasts between old-world materiality and athletic modernism. They are at once rough and luxurious, sleek and sensuous in a manner that feels just right in Dumbo.
