Project: Batesville Casket Company

Business Type: Corporate Office Showroom

Location: Batesville, IN

Square Footage: 20,473

Services: Space planning, interior design, lighting/ceiling design, furniture selection and specification, and millwork design.

Architect of Record: Architectural Alliance Inc.

Project Scenario: Batesville Casket Company, one of the nation’s largest fabricator of wood and metal caskets, presented the team of Lehner Designs and Architectural Alliance Inc. with designing a corporate showroom in a modern cutting-edge theme. Their desire was to bring in the customers from around the world and”wow” them with a great presentation. Taking the existing lower level of the Customer Business Center and gutting it of all existing training, storage, and small display/option rooms it gave the space we needed to work with. A central “lake” was concepted to become the showroom space. This space would be very flexible, curvilinear in nature, and open so that future exhibits could be added or removed and the overall space was never changing. The structure was exposed above and a curved flowing design element was established in the ceiling and lighting treatments. The flooring and walls became a neutral backdrop to the exhibits, but accented with color as needed. The curved nature of the design was continued in the exhibits and the traffic flow through the space. The tour begins at a curved monolith wall at the base of the stairs which leads them to a cutting edge theater experience. The tour continues through the showroom with stops at exhibits, a coffee café area, and a casual conference area themed after a grand hotel lobby lush with plants and complete with a waterfall feature. All rooms were kept to the perimeter including training rooms, conference rooms, and storage. The result is a contemporary showroom for a traditional product and a company with an innovative way of thinking which made for a hugely successful project.

*Photography by Dale Pickett