Like a long nap, the afternoon light in a Tribeca loft has a way of settling the mind. On a recent windy Monday, Beni Rugs co-founder Robert Wright and artistic director Colin King are curled up in such a setting, accompanied by a pleasant spread of nuts and dried fruit, with the sun in the background making its descent toward the horizon. The apartment, once King’s home, has since been reimagined and repurposed as a pied-à-terre for Wright when he is in town, as well as a space to stage collections and host friends of the brand. The Beni Loft, as it’s now referred to, echoes the rich hospitality experienced in Morocco, where the rugs are born (and where Wright has just flown back from that same afternoon).
When King was tapped to design the loft’s next iteration, it kickstarted a process he describes as slow. “We really took our time,” he says sitting atop a custom cream-colored sofa, next to a Charlotte Perriand coffee table. “We both needed time to let the space reveal itself to us.” The partnership began back in 2018 when Wright and his co-founder Tiberio Lobo-Navia were photographing the first collection. “One of my closest friends who’s an art director said, ‘I think you guys really need to consider hiring a stylist for your first shoot’ and he suggested Colin,” Wright says. So, he sent a DM, they met at Ludlow House, and two weeks later they were in Marrakech. At present, King serves as the brand’s artistic director, helping to combine heritage craft with modern design sensibilities.
The Beni Loft benefits from three years of King living in the space, testing out orientations and objects. “I really got it right the second time,” King laughs. Because the space is intended to showcase the rugs, he crafted a clean base to build from. “The neutral palette acts as a cohesive uniform and allows us to be able to change the rugs a lot,” he says. His first idea was the (non-operational) fireplace, where his sofa once sat, which was created by adding a scene-setting bump-out and a mantle. “In my long-term dreams it will work one day,” Wright adds.
The 19th-century building (which was originally built for dried good storage) was later the home of abstract expressionist Barnett Newman. “He had this floor and the one below us because apparently he didn’t want to hear anyone walking around when he was working in his studio,” King says.
The pine floors lend a rich warmth to the space, and the towering 10-foot windows anchor the mood. “We wanted it to feel textural and romantic,” King says of the ceiling-to-floor drapes. “The light changes throughout the day and year round, and because we’re facing west, as it comes around it starts bouncing off these buildings and gives beautiful shadows to the space.”
All of the objects in the loft (mostly vintage) tap back to Beni’s broader mission. “Our hope is that people keep these rugs and live with them for a long time, so I think we wanted all of the furniture to reflect that love of craft and quality,” Wright explains. The magic of the handmade has always been at the heart of Beni. With its headquarters in the village of Tameslouht, the vertically integrated facility—led by women—designs, weaves, washes, and ships everything from one place, and has radically changed how rugs are produced in Morocco. “Our employees have free transport to and from work, they get paid childcare, they have access to government benefits, and their salary is two to four times the national average,” Wright shares.
Other nooks and vignettes in the Beni loft drive home this sense of warmth and craft. The bedroom, for example, has been painted in a rich cola hue and resembles a remote cabin in the Atlas Mountains. The office space (which also serves as the sample library) is centered around a gargantuan Noguchi suspended above a table like a planet. “The play and scale is just so fun,” Wright says.
“I think for us it boils down to there being something magical and different about an object that s made by human hands,” Wright says. “Ultimately, I hope Beni makes people feel more connected to creativity in their homes and to each other. Tapping into that shared humanity is at our core.”
