Vitra is set to open a flagship UK showroom at the Tramshed building in Shoreditch to coincide with the London Design Festival in September 2022.

The listed Tramshed was built as a power station for the East London Tramway in 1905 on Rivington Street in Shoreditch. Vitra has gently renovated the interior, preserving all the defining historic details and forging a link between old and new.

Tramshed will open on 20 September 2022 with an installation celebrating Vitra’s ongoing collaboration with the family of iconic French designer Jean Prouvé and will introduce some new additions to Vitra’s Jean Prouvé collection, including a limited edition of the Fauteuil Kangourou, designed in 1948.

The 920 square metre exhibition space is divided into three main areas:

On the ground floor, ‘The Club’ is an office installation geared towards the post-pandemic needs of people and companies. Vitra implemented and tested the first Club Office at its headquarters in Switzerland. The Club at the Tramshed, the home of Vitra’s London team, follows this template with its large bar and varied zones, demonstrating how the inspirational concept can be adapted to changing spatial conditions. The ground floor also includes a collage-like display of products from the Vitra Home Collection on the mezzanine.

‘The Gallery’ in the basement of the Tramshed contains an inspiring presentation of Vitra’s product portfolio and curated spaces dedicated to various themes. At the opening, the focus will be on the comprehensively updated Jean Prouvé collection.

The third area – ‘The Loft’ – is a space to host events and meetings. It is located on the first floor of the Tramshed and will open in 2023.

Visitors to the Tramshed will also get a sneak peek into the Vitra Session planned for this fall.

Address
Tramshed, 32 Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3LX

Opening hours
Open from 20 September 2022.
Monday to Thursday from 9am to 5:30pm, Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Appointments by prior arrangement, no direct sales in the Tramshed.
Closed at weekends and on public holidays.

Opening hours during London Design Festival
21 - 23 September 2022, 9am - 6pm
24 - 25 September 2022, 10am - 5pm

In autumn 2022, Vitra is reissuing four designs by Jean Prouvé: Abat-Jour Conique, a conical lamp shade that Prouvé developed in 1947 for the wall lamp Potence, the two stools Tabouret N° 307 and Tabouret Métallique as well as the wall-mounted shelving unit Rayonnage Mural.

Vitra is expanding the palette for Jean Prouvé’s furniture to include some of the original Prouvé colours: the existing options of deep black, Japanese red and Blanc Colombe will be joined by Gris Vermeer, Bleu Dynastie, Blé Vert and Bleu Marcoule, as well as the Métal Brut variant in unpainted steel.

Photo Credit: Jasper Morrison Studio, Danielle Barnes, Jerome Coutrial, Dishoom, Lyle’s London, Sam A Harris, Lucy Thompson