Designed in collaboration with award-winning design practice PTID, Zenith’s new Melbourne showroom is a delight for the senses.

At Zenith, workplace furniture has always been about more than just functionality. Over the years, we’ve expanded from making workstations to creating vibrant spaces that support the evolving ways in which people work, learn, and socialise. At every stage we’ve remained true to our understanding that furniture plays a critical role in creating a sense of place and building a community.

Designed in collaboration with award-winning design practice PTID, our new Melbourne showroom takes each of these values and translates them into a flagship concept experience. Part showroom, part workplace, part entertainment hub, part event space, the new space places Zenith furniture front and centre in a vivid tableau of the future of work. From carefully curated display areas and flexible learning environments to casual breakout spaces and agile work zones, the showroom is the perfect embodiment of Zenith’s wide, flexible offering.

“The Victorian landscape is both a literal reference to the history of Zenith Interiors, but also a metaphor for the robust and long-lasting beauty that the company represents,” Ben Lornie, Senior Associate at PTID explained, “The flora and fauna of this place is a key design inspiration taking cues into the palate, and using landforms as a design reference for the hospitality area and display form that divides the showroom like a mountain range.”

A focus on creating spaces that respond to changing user needs in novel, unexpected ways is evident throughout the space. Drawing inspiration from the tactility and rich, vibrant palette of nature, the Melbourne showroom is a sensorial delight. On arrival, visitors enter the space by passing through a timber entry tunnel illuminated by recessed linear lighting. Toward the end of the tunnel, the dark walls, floor, and ceiling unfurl to reveal a spacious, light-drenched open plan. Within this, several individual displays showcase Zenith furniture in use and funnel circulation throughout the space.

At the centre of the showroom, garlanded by lush hanging plants, is the heart of the space, a social hub that brings together designers, clients, and staff to mingle and share ideas. The backdrop of this hub are twin features: the event space and the primary display area. Here, new and signature Zenith chairs take pride of place atop a staggered timber podium aptly named ‘The Mountain’. The varied step heights, together with the bright overhead lights, create a stunning play of light and shadow, and throw the sumptuous textures and design details of Zenith chairs into sharp relief.

From ‘The Mountain’, visitors descend toward a presentation space and meeting area, the latter of which is illuminated with a minimalist luminaire and generous floor-to-ceiling glazing. This breakout space counterbalances the area on the opposite end of the floorplan, where workstations and collaborative areas combine to create a flexible staff work zone. Throughout the showroom, the different spaces are demarcated by subtle changes in ceiling heights and floor finishes, and united by a neutral colour palette offset by natural timber and deep shades of green.

“The whorling floral form of the Victorian Heath is a central visual feature that locates the heart of the showroom around people, hospitality and experience, from which the layers of Zenith’s products and experience radiates,” said Lornie.

On Thursday 5 March, more than 200 guests from Melbourne’s architecture and design community gathered to celebrate the launch of the new space. Following Stan Yarramunua’s introduction and yidaki (didgeridoo) playing, guests were treated to four food stations including a toastie bar, Bistecca grazing table, and dessert station, all set to the tune of an in-house DJ. With drinks from Archie Rose and organic South Australian winery Temple Bruer in hand, they were then free to explore the showroom and discover the many treasures the space has to offer.

Interested in experiencing the Melbourne showroom for yourself? Get in touch today to book an appointment with a friendly member of our team.