A Conversation with Karen Harmelin of Allied Beverage Group
Introduction
At Allied Beverage, design is about more than aesthetics, it is about creating spaces that reflect the company’s values and support the people who work there every day. Few embody this philosophy more than Karen Harmelin, who brings a photographer’s eye and a deep understanding of space to her role. Trained in the visual arts, Karen has taken on the challenge of shaping Allied Beverage’s work environments with a focus on both beauty and functionality.
Rather than approaching design strictly from a managerial standpoint, Karen takes the time to connect with teams, listen to their needs, and understand how architecture and interiors impact their behavior and well-being. That sensitivity guided her recent work on Allied Beverage’s new headquarters, where acoustics became a central design tool. We sat down with Karen to learn more about her process and how MIO Culture’s acoustic solutions helped bring her vision to life.
[products ids="quad-feltforms-acoustic-tiles, edge-feltforms-acoustic-tiles"]
Q&A with Karen Harmelin
Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your role at Allied Beverage?
Karen: My background is in photography, which gave me a natural awareness of light, space, and how people move through environments. Over time, that evolved into a design role within the family business. For me, it is not about designing from the top down, it is about talking with our teams, listening to what they need, and then shaping spaces that truly work for them. At Allied Beverage, I have been deeply involved in creating a headquarters that reflects who we are as a company while supporting the people who come here every day.
Q: What led you to choose MIO Culture’s acoustic products?
Karen: When we started looking at acoustic panels for offices, what stood out about MIO was the design flexibility.. The ability to play with colors, patterns, and modular layouts allowed us to align the treatments with Allied Beverage’s brand identity and the overall aesthetic of our new headquarters. Beyond the product itself, working with the MIO team was seamless. They provided renders and complete proposals that helped us clearly visualize options and present them to our management team. That made the decision making process so much easier because leadership could immediately see the value acoustics would add, not just as a functional intervention, but as something that could elevate the space visually.
Q: From a design perspective, how did MIO’s products integrate into your vision for Allied Beverage?
Karen: The products gave us the freedom to treat acoustics almost like another design element, similar to choosing furniture or finishes. We could match the brand palette, explore tessellated patterns, and create feature moments in rooms that needed acoustic treatment. Instead of hiding the solution, we used it to beautify and enrich the space. That was important to us because this headquarters represents the company’s culture, and every element had to feel intentional.
Q: And from an acoustic perspective, what impact have you seen?
Karen: The results have been tangible. In our training rooms, we saw an immediate improvement in speech clarity, overall comfort, and office speech privacy.. Trainers and employees commented on how much easier it was to focus and hear, especially during longer sessions. After that success, we moved forward with a second intervention for our meeting rooms, where confidentiality was critical, particularly for human resources processes. The acoustic treatments made those spaces feel more private and professional, ensuring sensitive conversations stay in the room.
Q: Beyond function, how has improving acoustics influenced well-being and company culture?
Karen: Better acoustics have changed the way people experience our workplace. The training rooms no longer feel fatiguing, which improves engagement, and the meeting rooms now give people confidence that their conversations are secure. Employees notice the difference, and it sends a clear message: the company cares about their comfort and productivity. These modular office partitions and acoustic treatments became a way to reinforce Allied Beverage’s investment in people, making the headquarters not only a beautiful place to work but also one that supports focus, collaboration, and well-being.
Closing
For Karen Harmelin, design is about creating environments where people feel supported, inspired, and at ease. By integrating MIO Culture’s acoustic solutions, she demonstrated how sound management can be both a design statement and a cultural investment. At Allied Beverage, acoustics are not just a technical fix, they are a way to enhance well-being, strengthen company culture, and build spaces that truly work.
