Alvin Lo Oriental Art

A staple industry description is “form follows function.” But in the case of Alvin Lo Oriental Art — a New York City gallery — form really followed form.

The gallery recently relocated from Hong Kong, and chose Clodagh Design International, New York City, to create an appropriate environment for the beautiful Chinese stoneware and other antiques.

Clodagh adhered to the principals of feng shui and used ancient alabaster to clad the walls. The result is an open, airy space that translates to the artifacts.

Pleasing contrasts can be found in the warm, bamboo-colored carpet and the “ox-blood red” veneered wood on the window ledges. A lacquer-red curved wall encloses a private office. And the windows are shrouded with natural-colored scrim, stenciled with an antique gold-colored lotus flower logo — another eastern exposure.

Design: Clodagh Design Intl. — Clodagh, designer; Robert Pierpont, architect; Laura Farrell, project director; Meg Garrison, job captain

General Contractor: Fortune General Construction Inc., Flushing, N.Y.

Suppliers: Brett Douglas, New York City (window treatments); DuPont Commercial Flooring, Kennesaw, Ga. (carpeting)

Photographs: Daniel Aubry, Daniel Aubry Studio, New York City