“Timing is everything,” says AIA architect Dwight M. Herdrich – and he should know.

Herdrich is racing against the clock to complete his new Sarasota Design Center before the end of April when snowbirds and tourists begin heading home. 

So what exactly is the Sarasota Design Center? “Think of it as a tricked-out urban loft, not a showroom,” Herdrich says. Actually, it’s a 4,000-square-foot building at 1413 Blvd. of the Arts that will showcase and retail some of the most coveted lines in the international interior design scene – all perfect complements to the Sarasota School of Architecture.

It’s also a state-of-the-art video conferencing center business can rent out for big impressions, and an upscale party venue, also available on a rental basis. But wait: there’s more. Herdrich (who happens to be a keyboard musician in addition to his day job as an interior designer and architect), also has an AV studio (Angelfish AV) and his design studio on the premises. And a Beverly Hills-worthy home theater set up that will screen films on the same equipment Hollywood studios use to make and edit them. [A new opportunity for the Film Festival, perhaps?]

The furniture he and his employees will be using for work will double as showroom samples –of course, it’s from the office furniture lines he’ll be selling at the Sarasota Design Center. Just like big trade-only buildings (DCOTA in Dania; the Merchandise Mart in Chicago; the International Design Center in Estero), the Sarasota center is geared for designers -- who can bring their clients in to see samples and test out the furniture. Though the Center will sell directly to consumers who have no interior designer, there will be no price advantage. “We will not be competing with designers for sales – the idea behind the Sarasota Design Center is to give everyone in the community access to great modern product lines,” Herdrich says. 

According to its founder, the center is the new premier retail destination for the modern home. “It is a convergence of furniture, cabinetry, lighting, audio/video, art, music, and design, with the common thread being modern design,” Herdrich explains. Actually, it’s an immersion into the classic modern style of the Sarasota School of Architecture. “I’ve been a huge fan since I was a kid – it’s the reason I became an architect,” he continues. Herdrich’s family has vacationed in Sarasota long before he was born -- since his father wintered in Lido Beach to recuperate from pneumonia. “That’s why a lot of people came to Florida back then,” he says. 

The architecture Herdrich loved as a child needs the right classic modern furniture and architectural materials to complement its lines – but there was no one place in town to put the look together.   With lines like these, now we can.