Sometimes the perfect piece of hardware, be it functional or decorative, does not exist in any catalogue or on any shelf. In these instances Atelier Viollet is often able to develop and create custom hardware.

We either do this in our onsite metal shop, or we work very closely with our trusted local metalworking colleagues.

Be it a bronze with just the right patina, or a nickel with a lush satin sheen, our craftsman take just as much care and pride in making our custom hardware as they do in creating the pieces they will adorn.

Source: http://atelierviollet.com/blog/

Atelier Viollet is proud to support the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club. The 41st Annual Kips Bay Decorators show house is open from May 7th to June 4th. The Show House receives as many as 20,000 guests annually from across the nation. Since its inception, the Show House has raised over $17 million for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. Whilst there be sure to pick up a copy of this years Journal.

Source: http://atelierviollet.com/blog/

Jean-Paul Viollet is fond of challenges. He loves putting his team to the test. But as challenges go, this next one is exceptional. To successfully complete it, he will need to reach deep into the collective wisdom of the group. He is standing now at a table in his office, turning the brittle, yellowed pages of a book he discovered online a few years back. The text, written in his native French, was published in 1762. The subject: parchment.

He’s not looking for information. He’s simply pointing out the material’s fabled past. Without it, there would be very little recorded human history prior to the Industrial Revolution. The Dead Sea Scrolls were preserved on parchment. The Magna Carta, too. Even drafts of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Viollet’s parchment will not safeguard any words, however. It will be used to create a deluxe, one-of-a-kind room in the Park Avenue apartment of a New York City hedge fund manager. A “jewel box,” as Jean-Paul describes it. “Everything you see—except for the floor and the ceiling—will be covered in parchment.” That includes the four rounded corners, the baseboards, the crown molding, and the trim surrounding the windows and the doors.

To Viollet’s knowledge, such delicate handiwork has only been accomplished a few times in the last hundred years. In May, Architectural Digest published a photo illustrating one classic example, executed by the great Jean-Michel Frank in 1929. Another appears in a hardcover tribute to the interior designer Frances Elkins.

Working with parchment and parchment furniture is nothing new to Viollet. His parchment furniture designs have included everything from tables to beds to cabinets and screens for a quarter century. He has even employed it as a wall covering. But never before has he had to apply it to the undulating surface of a crown molding. To accomplish this feat, he will have to summon a lifetime’s worth of expertise in woodworking, adhesives and the fickle nature of New York weather. Parchment—in this case, the cream-colored skins of 250 goats—is prone to respond to changes in temperature and humidity.

To counter such variables, Viollet will construct the moldings out of basswood, a timber noted for its stability. For each decision like that one, however, there are a dozen more. In order to precisely assemble the finished room, panel by panel, in Atelier Viollet’s Brooklyn workshop, the 100-square-foot original space had to be mapped with laser measurements. “There is no margin for error,” says Jean-Paul. “At most, you’re working with a sixteenth of an inch.”

That means the moldings and panels must fit together like puzzle pieces. If just one is off by a sliver, the whole project may be jeopardized. “We have to control each process from A to Z, monitor every step to minimize potential problems,” explains Jean-Paul. “We don’t want any surprises at the end. Once you start the installation, you cannot move or turn anything because everything interlocks.”

Some craftsmen might consider that a nightmare. For Jean-Paul, it’s a thrill. “It’s very rare that you’re treated with such a challenge,” he says. “We will have problems, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be a unique room.”

This particular parchment panelling project is under construction in the workshop as we type. We’ll show you the results here on the blog in the coming weeks.

Below are images of previously installed rooms in dyed and natural parchment panels.

Source: http://atelierviollet.com/blog/

Marquetry and inlay furniture requires a battery of tools, some dating back to the Roman Empire; others as new as today’s lasers. Justly revered artisans use near-surgical precision to cut and fit designs of various materials such as wood veneers, metals, bone and mother-of-pearl onto the surfaces of our furniture. Inlay is the embedding of these same designs into grooves carved into a piece. It can be maddeningly time-consuming, but utterly stunning.

See more of Atelier Viollet’s Marquetry & inlay furniture.

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Our hand lacquered furniture technique, inspired by ancient oriental lacquerware is achieved by applying numerous coats of pigmented shellac. This unique finish produces a lush, tone-on-tone effect with incredible depth similar to what was accomplished by our master predecessors such as Jean Dunand and Eileen Gray.

We offer this traditional technique in endless color options, which can be left in their delicate natural state, or protected with a more durable finish.

See more of Atelier Viollet’s lacquer furniture.

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For Atelier Viollet, fabricating interiors is more like a reward than a challenge. To transform a mere room into a purposeful space takes all the skills we lavish on each piece of furniture we create. Which explains the pains we take with each library, den, or salon we collaborate on. Using our entire arsenal of veneers, shagreen, parchment, horn, and straw marquetry warm the heart, delight the eye, and enhance the furnishings contained therein.

Learn more about Atelier Viollet’s interiors.

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Atelier Viollet’s gypsum cabinet is featured on the World Interior Design Network website:

“Crafted from Swiss pear wood, the new artistic cabinets with gypsum veneers feature pearl-like smooth panels that cover the doors, which are carved from a soft sulfate mineral known as gypsum. Designed innovatively with the artistic use of gypsum, the cabinet makes a dominant presence in the surrounding. Featuring simple lines and straight cuts in its structure, the cabinet exudes the spirit of liveliness. Created elegantly, the new cabinet with gypsum veneers can add artistic charm to the aesthetic of any décor, modern as well as traditional.” (Source)

Learn more about Atelier Viollet’s gypsum furniture.

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Step inside Atelier Viollet workshop and you’re in a refuge from the bustle of our busy neighborhood. Quietly and serenely, a dozen or so artisans are at their cooperative jobs. Every step is bespoke, whether hammering a delicate inlay or wielding giant machine that adhere woods together.

Even to us, it’s a delight to watch a work in progress, moving through our 8000 square-ft. workplace. You’ll see a piece taking its perfect shape as it is carefully crafted, undergoing its many sandings and polishings, before its final assembly and approval.

Learn more about Atelier Viollet.

Source: http://atelierviollet.com/blog/

Material and finish samples are an integral part of the furniture making process here at Atelier Viollet. Our proposals routinely include the development of new samples, together with the shop drawings. These help to show how the actual materials and finishes will appear on the final product. We start working on them right after our initial proposal has been accepted. They are then finalized and approved before any fabrication begins. Usually two copies of each sample are made – one to be kept by our client as a control, and the other is for us to work from.

Over the years we have built an extensive library of material and finish samples. These can either be viewed in our studio, or are available to be borrowed upon request.

Source: http://atelierviollet.com/blog/

Horn furniture is undoubtedly a corner stone of the magnificent contents you’ll discover in the Atelier Viollet showroom. Using techniques unchanged since 500 AD, we turn animal horns into luxurious counterparts to wood veneers… and even bronze.

We follow tradition in slicing and pressing it into sheets, not only polishing to a luxurious sheen, but even adding color to this age-old material for a new, dynamic effect.

You may recall a few months ago when we received a shipment of horn from India and shared the moment of arrival with you. Did you imagine the contents of this burlap package could be translated into the incredible work above?

See more horn furniture at Atelier Viollet.

Source: http://atelierviollet.com/blog/