Marguerite Rodgers Interior Design

Old City Fest 2014

We would like to thank the Old City District for allowing us to curate a space for the 1st annual Old City Fest. We transformed a raw space into an urban dwelling featuring actual room settings with an eclectic selection of furnishings, objects and art, exclusively from Old City shops and galleries. The event was a tremendous success and truly demonstrated the creativity and beauty found in Old City. We wish to thank all of the participants, without your help this event would not have been possible.

… View images of the completed space and download a PDF for a list of participating vendors and galleries.

The DesignPhiladelphia Festival

An annual event of the Philadelphia Center for Architecture, will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. Two programs will feature Marguerite V. Rodgers, President/Creative Director at Marguerite Rodgers Interior Design.

… Defining a Profession: Interior Design in Philadelphia — Moore College of Art + Design’s Jim Miller will moderate an insightful panel discussion with some of Philadelphia’s leading women interior designers who are major forces in the field.

…Looking at Interiors: Three Perspectives — Insights into individual ways of thinking about interior design by three distinguished panelists.

Philadelphia Style: That’s the Ticket

It’s (Volvér) one of the best-designed spaces in the city, at once intimate and airy. The square footage between tables is downright luxurious- the best ones line up against floor-to-ceiling etched-glass windows that overlook Spruce Street-and the studded leather, design-geek chairs are so money you’d swear they were upholstered in $100 bills.
… read PDF

Jose Garces’ new restaurant Volvér designed by Marguerite Rodgers to open April 2014

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is nearing completion of Iron Chef Jose Garces’ restaurant, Volvér, slated to open in April 2014. Anchoring Broad and Spruce Streets in the heart of Philadelphia’s cultural district, Volvér complements the international performing arts organization as a destination for the finest in culinary arts.

The Philadelphia architecture firm KieranTimberlake has designed the new space with interiors by Marguerite Rodgers, the designers of nationally-acclaimed restaurants including Lacroix at The Rittenhouse, XIX, Fork, Striped Bass and Rouge. The restaurant contributes to Philadelphia’s growth as a unique culinary destination, by merging, for the first time, a restaurant space within a regional performing arts center.

Entered directly from the street or from within the Kimmel Center, Volvér’s dining room and bar face Spruce Street, with fully glazed walls extending into the sidewalk to engage the streetscape and enliven the presence of the building. The interiors will be an inviting, urbane space that incorporates bespoke furnishings, custom cabinetry, and numerous crafts including fibers, metal, leather and glass hand crafted primarily by local craftspeople and fine art in various mediums to create the intricately detailed atmosphere for which Marguerite Rodgers is known.

Themes of craft, the arts, travel, and the art and culture of food and cooking are visible throughout the restaurant, and are reflected in exquisite details such as a woven bamboo pendant by David Trubridge, custom furnishings and cabinetry by Marguerite Rodgers Editions, and a rotating gallery of photographs from Jose Garces’ travels.

Central to the experience are works by artists and craftspeople which include a large installation by Jessica Drenk, a commissioned painting by Sabine Friesicke, a pair of sculptural wood painted panels by Darrell Copeland, a painting by Brooke Lanier, and a stitched leather bar face by Michelle Costello. Rodgers’ collaborations with local art and craftspeople include a textile art installation by Conrad Booker, curved glass bottle display by Greg Nangle, metal shelves and easels by Warren Holzman and woodworking by Mark Jewett and Mike Meline.

When asked about the inspiration and concept for the restaurant interior Marguerite Rodgers reflected. Volvér or “to Return” is a return to some of Chef Garces favorite meals from his world travels. For Rodgers it’s a return to her roots, the art and culture of craftsmanship. Rodgers, who studied woodworking in the Crafts Department at the Philadelphia College of Art, now the University of the Arts, had her woodworking studio within a block of the present Kimmel Center. Here her passion and practice of collaboration with craftspeople and artists to achieve richly detailed projects began. The restaurant is an opportunity to bring her work and the work of a variety of artists with unique visions and skills together to create the stage for an artistic meal.

…visit phillymag.com
…visit philly.com
…visit citypaper.net
…visit NBCphiladelphia.com
…visit newsworks.org
…visit philly.eater.com
…visit interiordesign.net