Bright lights: Brooklyn's Workstead aligns warmth and minimalism
Celestial lighting and attention to detail characterize the brand

If you are constantly seeking minimalist design that is also soulful, or Instagram-worthy lights, you will already love Workstead without even knowing.
Founded in 2009 by Robert Highsmith and Stefanie Brechbuehler, Workstead has since built a reputation on the sort of pared down warmth appropriate of a studio straddling Brooklyn’s creative scene and the quietude of upstate New York.
In 2012, the studio showcased their talents in designing the public spaces for Williamsburg’s now iconic Wythe Hotel. At Philadelphia’s Roost Apartment Hotel, their pendant lights pair brilliantly with the ornate ceiling molding and details of a 1920’s office space. Most recently, an old cinema on Hudson, New York’s downtown thoroughfare has become the charming Rivertown Lodge where details from the wood burning stoves to planetary sconces in their brass orbits exude coziness.
This spring they debuted their Case Goods furniture series at ICFF – a tactile hardwood credenza and wardrobe with no hardware to come between fine craftsmanship and your fingertips. Subtly grooved doors and drawers open to multi-use, timeless pieces sure to endure as the center of gravity for any room they inhabit.
It is Workstead’s sublimely celestial lighting fixtures that set the property apart
Cedar ceilings cast a glow over the lobby bar
Case Goods is a series of tactile, hardwood furniture. Pictured, ’The Wardrobe’ in beech
The ’Orbit’ table lamps and wall sconces are their own brass solar system. Table lamps are brilliantly achored by Carrara, Green Marble or Travertine
This black steel wall lamp has seemingly infinite configurations
Robert Highsmith and Stefanie Brechbuehler founded Workstead in 2009. They have studios in Brooklyn and upstate New York, and split their operations between Brooklyn and Charleston
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Workstead website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Designer Marta de la Rica’s elegant Madrid studio is full of perfectly-pitched contradictions
The studio, or ‘the laboratory’ as de la Rica and her team call it, plays with colour, texture and scale in eminently rewarding ways
By Anna Solomon Published
-
‘Nothing just because it’s beautiful’: Performance artist Marina Abramović on turning her hand to furniture design
Marina Abramović has no qualms about describing her segue into design as a ‘domestication’. But, argues the ‘grandmother of performance art’ as she unveils a collection of chairs, something doesn’t have to be provocative to be meaningful
By Anna Solomon Published
-
A local’s guide to Los Angeles by defiant artist Fawn Rogers
Oregon-born, LA-based artist Fawn Rogers gives us a personal tour of her adopted city as it hosts its sixth edition of Frieze
By Sofia de la Cruz Published