Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM)

Arcturis worked with CAM to redesign and relocate their main lobby desk. The lobby serves CAM in several different ways and the new desk had to meet those needs while being a special piece of modern design itself. Arcturis studied multiple locations within the lobby and mocked up various shapes of the desk. The location along the south concrete wall is ideal to welcome visitors, check guests in at events, and for staff to monitor various spaces from the desk. The canted shape allows for flow around the desk while evoking a sense of movement. Special attention was paid to the detailing of the desk, materials used, and how people would interact with the desk. The lighter wood tone brings warmth into the mostly grey space but is not so bold to take away from adjacent art. The team visited the millwork shop during fabrication to work out details and determine the orientation of the wood veneer on the canted faces.

In addition to our work involving the main lobby desk, Arcturis rebranded the CAM retail concept for the Contemporary Art Museum of Saint Louis. Each pop-up shop featured products related to the museum’s current exhibition. Located in an area commonly overlooked, the idea was to spill out the store into the commons space of the museum to draw in visitors. Walls and fixtures were united with graphics and a palette influenced by the Pop Art movement. The new brand resulted in a 365% sales growth in the first year.