Newsworthy

It’s been four years since Gregorius|Pineo’s Handcrafted by Atelier took the design world by surprise with its wallcoverings of distinctive textures. It was then, George Massar, the co-owner and creative director of Gregorius|Pineo, was introduced to a handmade gesso-based product, which he felt had the potential to be transformed to a super-star status wallcovering. Figuring into his confidence was the background and expertise of the maker, Nadine Weatherstone, who was wanting to transition from the world of hand-applied surfaces for residential and commercial properties to developing wallcoverings.

George drew from his keen sense of architectural line, organic textures, and nuanced, sophisticated colors, he’d been channeling into the design of Gregorius|Pineo’s furniture and lighting over the last decade, to guide his approach to Handcrafted by Atelier. He found a kindred spirit in Nadine, who had similar passions and could play forward ancient treatments of plasterwork in modern formats. Together with G|P’s new product wallcovering development team, three patterns were introduced in 2014 after two years of development and testing.

Four years later, the line has ten qualities and is on the short list of the world’s top designers for a one-of-a-kind bespoke wall surface treatment. Each Handcrafted by Atelier quality is constructed in panels of plasterwork. Customized color glazes are worked by hand with the plaster, and then nudged with special tools designed by the maker to showcase a mastery in textures. These include qualities such as Rake: a vertical relief inspired by Zen gardens, Glint: hand-laid metallic leaf in irregular harmonies, Strata: drawing on nature’s force in textures of unrehearsed fractures, and Tribal: the line’s first foray into pattern with a nod to the power of primitive artistry and assertion of community.

We invite you into the studio to tour the making of Handcrafted by Atelier and appreciate its beauty and uniqueness to lend a three-dimensional character and organic quality to any interior space. There’s no doubt when you touch this wallcovering that it’s a labor of artisanal love.

For over ten years, George Massar has been at the helm of creative leadership for all of our product collections. We believe it makes good sense for us to present a unified story of all of these offerings. We’re excited to present designers with a broader narrative of his vision and on the practical side the ease of one-stop-shopping. Here are some handy Q&A’s to provide more details.

Where is Kneedler|Fauchère in all of this?

We are making “who we are” simpler. George Massar and Doug Kinzley own Kneedler|Fauchère Group, which includes our showrooms and G|P product groups. Kneedler|Fauchère is our showroom side with locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Denver. Our product side is Gregorius|Pineo, and includes furniture, lighting, wallcoverings, textiles and accessories.

What’s a quick history of G|P?

Rene Gregorius and Stephanie Pineo founded G|P in 1984. After building a furniture resource beloved by designers, they asked George Massar to take the reins as its creative force in 2004. George had come on board to Kneedler|Fauchère in 1994 as its President, where his leadership ushered in a renaissance of the showrooms and was ready for a new challenge. George asked Doug Kinzley, a seasoned businessman, to join the company in the role of President, thus letting George exercise his passion as G|P’s creative director, as well to KFI wall coverings.

Why now?

Today we’re blessed with enormous growth of G|P’s furniture and lighting collections, and our wallcoverings are poised for expansion. We felt the timing was right to showcase our product groups together in a more meaningful, holistic presentation.

Will this rebranding affect showroom representation of products?

Day-to-day transactions for inquires, quotes and orders for G|P branded wallcoverings, textiles, and accessories remain the same. There are no infrastructure changes – product managers and staff remain the same. If your showroom only represents G|P furniture and lighting, don’t expect to see any differences. For showrooms that represent ALL G|P products, you can expect to see our rebranded G|P label in the textile bays and on memos samples and brochures. Also, be sure to take advantage of our new Generation II G|P website to shop wallcoverings, furniture, lighting and accessories under one roof.