Inside Plant Seven in High Point, North Carolina. Photography Keith Isaacs

High Point, North Carolina may be best known amongst the design circles for its biannual High Point Market, where designers and buyers look for the latest fancies to wow their clients, but this month, it becomes home to another creative entity – Plant Seven, a centre for culture and innovation that is set to breathe new life into the city.

Occupying a 90-year old former textile mill, Plant Seven is a 100,000 sq ft redevelopment project spearheaded by developer Tim Branscome, who recruited the Raleigh-based architecture firm Louis Cherry Architecture and the Brooklyn-based design agency Standard Issue to oversee its direction. The goal is to transform the building into a creative hub, not only through the co-working space that resides within it, but also the bevy of design resources, photo studios, exhibition galleries and public café and retail spaces that it will soon encompass. Home to the HP365 initiative, a non-profit organisation that has backed the creation of experiences and programs on premises, Plant Seven is a welcome new addition that is set to speak to the 75,000 visitors who travel to the city for the trade fair.

Stacked leather chair by Fort Standard as part of the ‘This is Not A Chair’ exhibition at Plant Seven

Although the overhaul of the space will be unveiled in phases, Plant Seven is currently celebrating its soft opening with an exhibition in its newly renovated project space, ‘This is Not A Chair’. Bringing together seating from over 40 designers from around the world, including Philippe Malouin, Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, Gabriel Tan, Fort Standard, MOS Architects and Kim Markel, the exhibition surveys the chair as a means of creative expression with examples that bend the ideas of function and aesthetics.

The exhibition, which is on view until January, is accompanied by the unveiling of several permanent fixtures in the complex, including a materials library from Material Connexion, a design book shop and a curated design shop. §

Installation view of ‘This Is Not A Chair’ at Plant Seven. Photography Keith Isaacs

The co-working space in Plant Seven that is furnished with Arper and Buzzispace furniture.

Ladies & Gentlemen woven stool

Poolside chair by New York studio Visibility