Occupying adjacent spaces in Chicago’s famed Merchandise Mart, these interrelated projects represent Kohler’s first-ever direct-to-consumer retail space and a new showroom type for Ann Sacks. To maximize its ability to communicate directly with customers, the Kohler space takes the form of a design exhibition devoted to the company’s kitchen and bath fixtures, with a clear circulation path leading through the individualized galleries created for each product line. As such, it serves multiple functions: brand bastion, retail outlet, product showroom. The design for Ann Sacks, meanwhile, which is also a Kohler company, presents the tile-maker’s full range of products. Here, the space functions as a sort of library, with a blackened-steel shelving system and mosaic flooring that highlights the tiles as they might be used in customers’ own homes