Finding the best seat in the house is an easy task when you have $6 million worth of furniture to choose from.
For that price, the university furnished all 283,000 square feet of Talley Student Union, including public lounge spaces, offices and conference rooms, according to Rhonda Barnes, NC State’s interior designer.
“I think we got a lot of furniture for $6 million,” Barnes said. “I know it seems like a lot, but we have a huge space to fill.”
All the furniture in Talley Student Union is available commercially, but because NC State is a university, it received discounts of 40 to 50 percent off retail price.
The red, rounded sofas in the main lobby were custom-made to be twice as big as the typical commercial size. Together, the four lounge sofas cost nearly $76,000 — about 47 percent off retail price, according to Barnes.
“Anything with a curve is more expensive than a straight line,” said Barnes, who has been working in interior design for 29 years.
Barnes works in the Purchasing Department and placed the orders for the Talley furniture. The university worked with Cooper Carry, a design firm based in Atlanta, to select the furniture. Barnes oversaw this process to ensure the university’s guidelines were followed.
The furniture selection process began three years ago. To help with the selection, the university asked for input from a committee of faculty, staff and students who met once a month to discuss what furniture would be most appropriate for Talley. Students were especially concerned about making cost-effective choices and wanted to make sure the university purchased high-quality pieces.
“[Students] wanted something comfortable, something that would last a very long time,” Barnes said. “They were very concerned about, because student fees were being used, they wanted to make sure that they got the best bang for their buck. They wanted something that was unique, but they didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something that wouldn’t hold up, and they wanted it to be different and stand out.”
A few students had the opportunity to help hand-pick a few items as well. Barnes, along with then-Student Body President Andy Walsh and then-student Kelsey Mills, attended NeoCon, a furniture show in Chicago, to begin pulling possible furnishings for Talley.
“It was nice to have them so they could give a student’s perspective of what they liked and didn’t like,” Barnes said. “And Andy would take pictures the whole time and put it up on his Facebook, and people would respond.”
In addition to looking for stylish and fun pieces, the university also wanted to make practical selections, according to TJ Willis, associate director of University Student Centers.
“We tried to emphasize pieces that were timeless and multifunctional,” Willis said.
Because Talley will be a venue for many events, such as its Grand Opening ceremonies throughout the next 10 days, Barnes and Willis felt it was important to choose flexible furniture that could be shifted around as needed.
“The character of the building changes throughout the day,” Willis said. “You’ll notice the character in the morning is different than it is at lunch time, which is different than it is in the evening time.”
With its bright patterns, colors and quirky shapes, some Talley furniture looks like it belongs in Hunt Library. But despite the apparent similarities, the two had little if any crossover of manufacturers and designers.
“I call Hunt the furniture museum,” Barnes said. “The pieces there are just designer pieces. We don’t have as many designer pieces [in Talley] as that, but Hunt had a bigger, probably, budget than we did, and a lot of theirs were private funds, compared to this is just State funds and student funds, so we couldn’t afford to buy the very, very expensive chairs like the ones that are in Hunt. It’s beautiful, though.”
Barnes attributed Hunt’s bigger furniture budget to its fundraising efforts through Friends of the Library.
Although Talley furniture may not be of the same design caliber as that of Hunt, the furniture in both buildings does have something in common: It won’t last forever. Under normal use, furniture can last seven to 10 years, but that lifespan decreases when you put the furniture in a high-traffic student union.
“The furniture is good quality furniture, so the furniture itself will probably last, but we’ll probably have to upholster it before then because it’s such heavy use in here,” Barnes said. “This is almost like 24/7.”
Warranties usually last one to five years, but they only cover damages from normal wear and tear —furniture that is vandalized or destroyed is not covered, according to Barnes. Willis noted that treating furniture with respect is important to keeping housekeeping and maintenance costs down. Fortunately, according to Barnes, vandalism has not historically been a problem.
“I don’t think we’ve had anything where it’s just been destroyed or damaged, thank goodness,” Barnes said. “I think the students, they love the place, and they want to take care of it; they’re proud of it. I hope they’ll keep it as nice as they can.”
The Hightower Group Shelter Lounge Chairs in Talley Student Union cost a total of $2,277.15 each after the university’s discount of 50 percent off retail price.
