The Wing’s New Brooklyn Location Is Fit for a Queen

Inspired by the women’s clubs of the 18th and early 19th centuries, The Wing’s mission is to advance the professional, civic, social and economic standing of women through community. Offering a network of work and social spaces designed specifically for women, membership to The Wing includes access to open-plan and private workspaces, as well as amenities and events designed with women’s needs in mind.

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Interior designer Chiara de Rege and architect Alda Ly designed the club’s new 9,000-square-foot location in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood. It features meeting rooms, a library with feminist works curated by Strand bookstore, a yoga/barre studio, a podcast room, private phone booths concealed behind multi-colored bookshelves, personal vanities and showers, as well as a wide array of comfortable seating areas for either social gathering or quiet contemplation. 

Whether working or connecting with others, lighting played an important role in the overall design of The Wing. Lighting manufacturer Juniper worked with the client to ensure every detail was perfect for the new location, resulting in a partnership that will likely continue into the future.

“Juniper was a natural fit to highlight both our women-curated art walls as well as our ladies’ library,” says Laetitia Gorra, head of The Wing’s interior design. “Their sleek design lends beautifully to the overall aesthetic of our space. We are proud to be supporting local, women-empowered businesses like Juniper in our Brooklyn location and look forward to using them in our upcoming spaces as we expand throughout the country.”

interiors+sources recently caught up with the Juniper Design Team to find out more about its role in this inspiring project.

interiors+sources: What was the scope and the goals of The Wing Dumbo project, and how did Juniper get involved?
Juniper Design Team: The project came to us in a drawing, showing an intricate installation of minimal linear lighting for their entryway’s ceiling. We worked with The Wing’s design team to provide lighting that matched their vision for a luxurious, modern and above all, feminine co-working space. We showed them our THIN Surface Mount Display Lights, from which they chose customizable options to build their own installation. The design was repeated further into the space, acting as a design motif with accents of beautiful brass lighting above their inset bookcases and above their café’s menu.

i+s: What were some of the most important design criteria for The Wing and how were those met?
JDT: The Wing team wanted a grand and elegant entrance. Their original idea featured brass lighting with a minimal and linear silhouette, which happens to be our aesthetic naturally. With that silhouette in mind, the lighting needed to have enough output to illuminate the store merchandise in the entryway and enough flexibility to be used differently in additional areas. We filled those needs with our existing design, the THIN Surface Mount. If this wasn’t close enough to what they wanted, we would have been able to provide them with a custom lighting solution to fit their needs. Luckily, our THIN Surface Mount checked all of their boxes.

i+s: Talk about the role lighting design played in this project.
JDT:  To us, the lighting becomes the focus of the space, but we’re a bit biased. The rich brass finish of the entryway and interior bookcase lighting brings a warmth to the space that perfectly complements pastel and feminine tones throughout. Although the THIN Surface Mounts are one of our standard products, there are many custom features which give the fixtures new life for all users. The Wing design team chose a 7-inch standoff height for all fixtures, which is our tallest option. This helped lower the lighting from the ceiling and cast into the entryway. It also was beneficial for their very tall inset bookcases, where light should reach as far down as possible to illuminate the shelving properly. Our THIN Surface Mounts allow users to choose color temperature, lens finish and metal finish for lighting that fits into their unique space.

i+s: How does the lighting enhance the overall space?
JDT: Lighting always brings elegance, luxury and sophistication to any space when designed correctly. The Wing’s design team absolutely enhanced the space with their choice of lighting. Having a grand entrance with a patterned wall, achieved through brass lighting, was not only impressive, but it brings the design to a whole new level. Carrying the same fixture into the interior of the space and using them above the bookcases brings cohesion to the space. Repeating the fixture for a third time above their café’s menu shows three applications where this fixture thrives. It shows that the fixture is not only decorative but also functional and becomes central to the design of the space as a whole, instead of segmenting the space into parts.

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