Atlanta-based architecture and interior design firm tvsdesign has launched Spacelab, a pop-up workplace experiment where designers can test products, understand the intricacies and nuances of a neighborhood and get inspired by working in a place meant for innovation and trial.

Version 1.0 of Spacelab is open in Constellations, a co-working space on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta’s Martin Luther King Jr. Historic District, birthplace of Dr. King, and Sweet Auburn, the historic center of business for Atlanta’s African-American community. Constellations is Gene Kansas Commercial Real Estate’s adaptive reuse of the historic Neel Reid building, which is right on the Atlanta Streetcar line and just steps from Georgia State.

Spacelab will serve as a creative testing grounds for tvsdesign architects and designers to try different products and configurations while gaining firsthand experience of life in the Old Fourth Ward. Spacelab not only functions as a satellite office environment but is a flex space that can also hold design charrettes, after-hours events and client meetings.

“Our goal is to be experts in the products we recommend to our clients – not because we read about it – but because we invested the time to use them ourselves,” says tvsdesign Principal Richard Macri. “By being detached from a corporate environment, Spacelab allows our designers to focus on understanding the neighborhoods we work in, the furniture we work with and the people and communities we want our work to benefit.”

Spacelab is partnering with leading product vendors to test the latest in workplace furniture, lighting, finishes and technology. Initially, furniture and lighting from Corporate Environments/Knoll, Illuminations Lighting and InterfaceFLOR carpeting are rotating through Spacelab.

“We’re deeply familiar with tvsdesign’s talent and quality projects, so we were excited to bring our decorative lighting to Spacelab,” says Elaine Elder of Illuminations Lighting. “In their line of work, sometimes designers specify products they haven’t had a chance to see and touch in person. Spacelab is a great remedy for that and we look forward to being involved in future Spacelab locations.”

Kelli Burns of Corporate Environments added, “Consistent with our core values at Corporate Environments, we strive to enhance the relationship with our architecture and design partners by supporting their progressive endeavors. We were honored to support tvsdesign in creating Spacelab by providing all furniture components and installation services. We know this bold Spacelab initiative will help tvsdesign’s designers get better at their craft, and we’re glad to be a part of that as it will benefit all of our clients.”

For tvsdesign, the Sweet Auburn experiment is just the beginning – the firm plans to open Spacelabs in other Atlanta neighborhoods overtime. For each Spacelab location, tvsdesign will select a local charitable cause for a pro-bono project. The firm is currently working with Old Fourth Ward nonprofits to reimagine underutilized spaces in the area “with the goal of leaving the neighborhood better than we found it,” Macri says.