Denmark’s BoConcept and Montreal’s Jardin de Ville recently joined the slew of furniture showrooms in Toronto’s design district.
BoConcept‘s new Adelaide Street digs is the third Canadian location (joining Vancouver, Calgary, as well as 250 other cities worldwide) for the Danish brand.
The spacious shop amasses a diverse array of lines in a panoply of textures – from blocky walnut-finished tables, to curvaceous polished steel and leather chairs, to thick shag rugs. To help manage the challenge of co-ordinating colours across different displays, the palette hews to greys and browns for furniture, with accent pieces like rugs, pillows and throws in bright secondary colours.
For BoConcept, whose catalogue rivals that of Ikea, the focus is on reconfigurability and customization. Small tables flip open or expand effortlessly, and chairs unfold into chaises longues or sofa beds. Even the upholstery and hardware is interchangeable on a wide range of sofas and chairs – you can swap four legs for a stand, red fabric for orange leather. With all permutations considered, BoConcept boasts it can produce about 32,000 unique chair and sofa designs.
Just around the corner, Jardin de Ville on Sherboune showcases its proprietary top-of-the-line outdoor furniture and temporary structures in the large, bright, gallery-like space that used to be home to Biltmore Domicile. Featuring an array of upholstery and synthetic wicker, glass and acrylic, aluminum and steel, JdV’s outdoor furnishings have a decidedly elegant, indoor look.
With streamlined profiles and welcoming cushions, the seating stands out as several steps above your typical plastic dinette. Meanwhile, oversized sofas and lounges are countered by slim café tables, condo-sized chairs, and portable ethanol-fueled firepits that would be right at home in any outdoor area. But what really sets JdV apart is the terrace concept. Framed by spacious pavilions accommodating to electric lights, heaters, and stereo systems, and with retractable ceilings, the concept takes all the comforts of a living room and recreates them al fresco.
The Toronto location is just the most recent of many; founded in Quebec 55 years ago, Jardin de Ville has been growing steadily into an international presence ever since. They now boast showrooms across the US and Canada, and a few other countries besides.
