VV's Cocktail Room Wraps 18-Seat Chelsea Space in USM Haller Modules

VV's Cocktail Room in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood seats 18 guests inside a space whose walls, shelving and storage are built almost entirely from USM Haller modular panels in Steel Blue.

The bar, named after restaurateur Josh Greenspan's daughter Vivienne, mimics the intimacy of an omakase cocktail experience, where bartenders lead a multi-course tasting menu. It follows other USM installations, including a 2023 retail space for fashion brand Coperni inside Paris department store Printemps Haussmann.

Why build a bar from furniture?

Greenspan had long wanted to push USM's product into new territory. He sketched the project with Ian Mutschelkanus, USM's director of architectural development, and the result treats the modular system as the room's architecture, not its outfitting.

"I started imagining something a little wild – a space built entirely from the USM system, pushing its modularity in unexpected ways," Greenspan told Dezeen. "I'm thrilled that the USM team embraced the idea and came along for the ride."

USM described the approach in equally direct terms. "Rather than furnishing the interiors, USM defines them," the company said. "Each composition of the modular system demonstrates its remarkable versatility beyond furniture and into the realm of spatial design."

What does the space look like?

Guests pass through a glass block wall partition to enter the room. Navy USM panels wrap the perimeter and extend behind the bar into cantilevered shelving.

A dark walnut bar top and matching tables sit beneath bar stools upholstered in burgundy fabric. Michael Greenspan, the restaurateur's father, built the banquette seating in a similar hue.

A wavy pendant light by New York studio Studio Kawabi spans the bar's length. A painting by Japanese artist Keita Morimoto hangs on the back wall.

The aesthetic drew from Tokyo and Hong Kong. Greenspan and the USM team cited the "visual language" of the two cities and aimed for a futuristic mood that spans the 1960s and 1990s.

Who is behind the cocktail program?

Greenspan partnered with James Beard Award-winning bartender Neal Bodenheimer and his longtime friend Vincent Favela to run the omakase cocktail service. His mother, Dorie Greenspan, a five-time James Beard Award winner, developed the bar snack menu.

Marco Galloway photographed the project. For USM, VV's adds another data point in the company's push to position the Haller system as architectural infrastructure, a move likely to shape future collaborations with hospitality operators willing to treat a furniture catalogue as a building kit.