Wolf-Gordon Unveils New Chicago Showroom at TheMART
Playfully Energetic and Interactive New Space Debuts During NeoCon 2025

| New York, NY - June 9, 2025 | American surface design brand Wolf-Gordon is proud to announce the grand opening of its new Chicago showroom at TheMART, launching during NeoCon, June 9-11, 2025. Designed by acclaimed Chicago-based architecture and design firm UrbanLab, the newly renovated 2,400-square-foot space, located on the design center’s 3rd floor (#3-100), invites visitors into a world of playful perception and bold design, challenging conventional showroom experiences.

The innovative space also champions sustainability through thoughtful reuse, notably seen in the preservation of the showroom’s distinctive curved glass façade and a number of furnishings from Wolf-Gordon’s previous showroom. 

The new Wolf-Gordon Chicago showroom embraces a "trick of the eye" design philosophy, featuring a pristine white backdrop thoughtfully punctuated by curvilinear, rectilinear, and strong geometric objects. This "Alice in Wonderland" aesthetic, infused with a subtle Memphis Design sensibility, radiates energy and color, intentionally breaking traditional design norms. UrbanLab Principals Sarah Dunn and Martin Felsen meticulously crafted the space as both a tribute to Wolf-Gordon's rich history of collaborations and a bold step into its future. 

Our vision for the Chicago showroom was to create a space that truly embodies Wolf-Gordon's spirit of innovation and design leadership. It’s a place where visitors can experience our products in a dynamic and interactive way, fostering collaboration and sparking creativity. This showroom plays by its own rules, inviting discovery and engagement at every turn.
- Marybeth Shaw, Chief Creative Officer, Marketing & Design

Conceived as an immersive environment that masterfully plays with perspective and perception, the space draws profound inspiration from Wolf-Gordon’s DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) installations by the late Ali Tayar. These seminal projects, on which Marybeth Shaw, Wolf-Gordon's Chief Creative Officer, collaborated with Tayar as early as 1997, consistently explored the nuanced interplay of dimension and viewer engagement, fostering a dynamic and intellectually stimulating dialogue with space.

The showroom is designed as an architectural promenade, guiding visitors through a series of captivating installations. It offers an engaging journey that resonates with both design professionals and the curious observer, demonstrating that sophisticated design can be profoundly interactive and universally appealing.
- Sarah Dunn, Principal at UrbanLab

We wanted to reinforce the Wolf-Gordon brand with energy and color, consistent with their past sculptural installations at The MART, translating a sense of purposeful delight into a tangible, architectural experience.
- Martin Felsen, Principal at UrbanLab

Key Design Highlights Include:

Lenticular Wall: This dynamic, 50-foot long fixture will transform annually. This year, the south entry side showcases a brightly colored, continuous wallcovering pattern, Cardoon, by Wolf-Gordon Design Studio, while the alternately angled sides feature VOLTERRA™, a new residentially-influenced wallcovering collection designed by Jannelli&Volpi, Milano.  

Drapery Silo: An interactive zone with two concentric rows of Wolf-Gordon drapery (from sheers to blackouts, acousticals to velvets), this is a more intimate space. The silo incorporates reupholstered stools from the previous showroom and features outlets for charging, all illuminated by a striking circular light fixture that creates interesting external effects.

Forest of Columns: Like a board game raised to the third dimension, a 9-square of striking 9’-4” columns, composed of 13 square cushions each, showcases Wolf-Gordon’s extensive upholstery textile collection. 

Angled Ceiling Clouds: Featuring GATHER® Acoustical Panels installed at a dynamic angle to create a dramatic visual as visitors enter from the south door, highlighting new product development.

Integrated Meeting Room: Furnished with Haworth Zodi 2 chairs and a new Haworth conference table, this room includes GATHER Acoustical Panels and acoustical drapery, in addition to a 10-panel wallcovering display. 

Scuffmaster® Painted Surfaces Throughout: The ceiling, walls and columns are finished with a beautiful, high performance Scuffmaster® eggshell paint, ensuring a bright white envelope for the showroom’s colorful elements.

Key partners whose expertise and dedication were instrumental in shaping this visionary space include:

Design & Architecture: Urban Lab (Sarah Dunn and Martin Felsen), with Sarah Dunn leading the project’s design and Martin Felsen serving as the Architect of Record.

Lighting Design: Gwen Grossman, GGLD (Gwen Grossman Lighting Design), renowned for her original lighting design work on Art on THE MART, the iconic projection art series on THE MART’S facade.

Furnishings: Haworth (conference room chairs and table), MillerKnoll (guest chairs). Notably, Wolf-Gordon’s 16’ long presentation table is reused, as well as several existing Wolf-Gordon stools, reflecting a commitment to sustainability.

Environmental Graphics: Karlssonwilker, whose innovative 3D dimensional signs featuring the Wolf-Gordon logo are partially outside and partially inside the glass facades, appearing "sliced" by the glass. Additional Wolf-Gordon logo signage on the floor plane subtly guides visitors without overpowering the architecture, creating a sense that "the glass came second."

Construction: Bear Construction

Wolf-Gordon's new Chicago showroom promises to be a must-visit destination for NeoCon attendees and the design community, offering an inspiring and interactive experience that redefines the traditional showroom model through its astute design, playful perception, and commitment to showcasing product with intelligence and artistry.

About Wolf-Gordon
Wolf-Gordon is an American design company offering designers a wide range of interior surfacing products united by the common qualities of excellent design and dependable performance. Founded in 1967 as a comprehensive source for wallcoverings, its product line has since added wall protection, upholstery textiles, paints, and Wink clear, dry-erase coating. Through its collaborations with leading national and international designers and in its Design Studio, Wolf- Gordon continues to develop new work that is provocative, inspiring, and of our time. Wolf- Gordon’s growing portfolio of licensed collections includes designs by Laurinda Spear, Karim Rashid, Petra Blaisse, Grethe Sørensen, Kevin Walz, the Boym Partners, Frank Tjepkema, Mae Engelgeer and Aliki van der Kruijs. Wolf-Gordon account executives are based in all major markets in the United States.

About UrbanLab
UrbanLab is an architecture and urban design firm founded by Martin Felsen and Sarah Dunn. UrbanLab blends design and research to produce progressive, site-specific buildings, spaces and places. Their projects set in motion new lifestyles, vibrant spatial experiences, and more sustainable environments. UrbanLab’s projects span scales, from large urban designs to small residential projects. Their primary interest is in forward-looking projects that speculate on a more resilient and resourceful tomorrow.

The practice has been recognized nationally and internationally. Awards include first prize in the History Channel’s City of the Future Competition, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows Latrobe Prize, and many AIA Chicago design awards. In 2010, the Architectural League of New York named UrbanLab as an Emerging Voice. UrbanLab exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2010 and 2012, and in the Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2015 and 2017. UrbanLab’s work is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and MoMA PS1.