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    Design Brut: Philia & Kids showcases sculptural furniture designed by “rather wise” children

    Designers Antoine Behaghel and Alexis Foiny have created sculptural olive wood furniture based solely on drawings by children for a Galerie Philia exhibition.

    Design Brut: Philia & Kids is the inaugural programme of a non-profit initiative conceived by international art gallery Galerie Philia that aims to engage children in design.
    Design Brut: Philia & Kids was an exhibition on display in ParisThe project’s first edition invited 19 kids from a primary school in the Breil-sur-Roya village in France to design sculptural furniture that was exhibited at Espace Meyer Zafra in Paris from November until last week.
    Informed by the late French painter Jean Dubuffet, the initiative is named after art brut – or “raw art” – Dubuffet’s name for art created outside of academic limitations, such as art made by children.
    The furniture was constructed using children’s drawingsParticipants aged six to seven took part in a workshop over five months, where they were asked to draw their own interpretations of sculptural design under the supervision of BehaghelFoiny Studio founders Antoine Behaghel and Alexis Foiny and their teacher Virgile Ganne.

    The drawings range from a crocodile-like bench to colourful dining chairs and spikier, more abstract forms.
    “Several shepherds’ children drew hooves on the legs of the furniture, or horns on the backs of the chairs,” noticed Behaghel and Foiny.
    “Others, living near olive groves and the surrounding forest, drew leaves and branches on their furniture,” they told Dezeen.
    Nineteen children took part in the projectThe designers explained that they encouraged the kids to “assert their own creativity” as well as observe their classmates’ drawings and borrow forms from each other to make the design experience collaborative.
    “Against all odds, we realised that, when faced with furniture design, the children’s first intentions were rather wise, and copied the shapes of furniture they saw every day,” they said.
    Antoine Behaghel and Alexis Foiny constructed the furniture from olive woodAfter this, Behaghel and Foiny sorted the drawings into different furniture typologies including tables, chairs, stools, coat racks and pedestal tables, as well as categorising the creations by “spirits and styles”.
    The pair then worked with a cabinetmaker in Breil-sur-Roya to bring the drawings to life by making physical furniture out of local olive wood.
    “In some places, we shrank or enlarged the silhouettes drawn by the children, to better distribute the weight,” noted the designers.

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    During this process, the children were taken on a tour of a local sawmill and shown every stage of the production process in order to familiarise them with carpentry.
    Behaghel and Foiny explained that olive wood was chosen for its cultural significance to Breil-sur-Roya, which is known as the “pays des oliviers” (olive tree country).
    The designers painted the material in various colourful shades that aimed to subtly tint, rather than conceal, its veiny surface.
    “It seemed to us very relevant to associate the intervention of very young children wiht a thousand-year-old wood!” noted the designers.
    The pieces range from recognisable silhouettes to more abstract formsThe pair hopes that the workshop will have taught the children about the importance of furniture design while showcasing their personal creativity without limitations.
    “In the end, the children’s drawings showed a real spontaneity,” reflected Behaghel and Foiny.
    “They are both free from technical reflexes and therefore led us to take risks and at the same time detached from the aesthetic automatisms that we impose on ourselves more or less consciously as professional designers,” they added.
    “They led us to extract ourselves from standardisation of tastes and beauty, to play more with imbalances and proportions.”
    Subtle colour was used to brighten each wooden pieceThis is not the first time that children have tried their hand at chair design. Third and fourth graders at a school in New York have designed a number of seating collections under the supervision of art instructor Bruce Edelstein, including chairs with horns and other wooden seats.
    The photography is by Maison Mouton Noir. 
    Design Brut: Philia & Kids was on display at Espace Meyer Zafra from 10 November to 8 December 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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    Dezeen's top 10 restaurant and bar interiors of 2022

    For the latest roundup in Dezeen’s review of 2022, we have selected 10 restaurant and bar interiors published this year, including a coastal cocktail bar in Italy and a space-themed cafe in South Korea.

    This year’s roundup 0f restaurant and bar interiors also features a European-influenced eatery in a palatial hotel in Salt Lake City, a bar with floors that were designed to look like the flooded streets of Venice and a monochromatic Chinese restaurant.
    Read on for 10 restaurants and bars we covered in 2022:
    Photo by Edmund DabneySketch, UK, by Yinka Shonibare and India Mahdavi
    Artist Yinka Shonibare and architect India Mahdavi replaced the famous pale pink interior of London restaurant Sketch with warm, golden yellows and textured materials.

    “I didn’t want everybody to ask me what the new colour at the gallery is and therefore, I really worked on textures and materials that are evocative of the richness of Africa,” said Mahdavi. “Warmth is the new colour at Sketch.”
    Find out more about Sketch ›
    Photo by Brian W FerryLaurel Brasserie and Bar, US, by Home Studios
    Designed by Brooklyn-based architecture and interiors practice Home Studios, the Laurel Brasserie and Bar is a restaurant inside Salt Lake City’s The Grand America Hotel.
    The hotel was built in a palatial style and includes interiors based on classic European designs. Home Studios retained the brasserie’s European influences but added a contemporary look, incorporating bold and colourful areas to suit family-style dining.
    Find out more about Laurel Brasserie and Bar ›
    Photo by Gregory AbbatePiada, France, by Masquespacio
    Spanish interior design studio Masquespacio used design elements from traditional Italian restaurants to inform the interior of this Italian eatery in the French city of Lyon.
    Booth seating in hues of lilac and nude line the restaurant between wooden tables, chairs and tiled mint-green walls and floors.
    Find out more about Piada ›
    Photo by Peter Paul de Meijer/Eline WillaertBlueness, Belgium, by Space Copenhagen
    In Antwerp, interior design studio Space Copenhagen combined original carved sandstone and marble columns with contemporary Scandinavian furniture to decorate Blueness, a French and Japanese-influenced restaurant.
    A custom bar crafted from red walnut wood by Brussels and Antwerp-based design studio Destroyers Builders was inserted into the space and paired with brushed steel surfaces, dark wooden barstools and a cast aluminium waiter’s station.
    Find out more about Blueness ›
    Photo by Carlo OrienteCivico 29, Italy, by Gae Avitabile
    Ocean blues, wave-like forms and nautical materials fill the interior of Civico 29, a coastal cocktail bar by architect Gae Avitabile in the seafront town of Sperlonga in Italy.
    An aluminium mesh curtain that moves as wind blows through the bar lines two walls of the space and complements a waving, blue-to-white gradient bar that references the nearby ocean and sits at the centre of the space on top of dark red-and-white floor tiles.
    Find out more about Civico 29 ›
    Photo by Jeremie Warshafsky PhotographyBao, China, by StuidoAC
    Canadian design firm StudioAC used a skewed perspective to draw visitors’ eyes to the open kitchen at the rear of this micro-cement-lined Chinese restaurant.
    Cubic and rectilinear tables and benches were similarly clad in micro-cement and line the walls of the restaurant beneath rows of vertical vinyl blinds that were concealed within bulkheads but visible enough to provide a shimmering, sequin-like look.
    Find out more about Bao ›
    Photo by PION studioSyrena Irena, Poland, by Projekt Praga
    Set within a 1950s building in the centre of Warsaw, Syrene Irena bistro designed by Polish architecture firm Projekt Praga combines contemporary and mid-century features.
    The self-serve restaurant uses mid-century design references such as terrazzo-style tables, neon signs and frosted glass sconces to nod to the building’s history as well as the restaurant’s nostalgic menu.
    Find out more about Syrena Irena ›
    Photo by Piotr MaciaszekVa Bene Cicchetti, Poland, by Noke Architects
    Designed by Polish architecture and design studio Noke Architects, Va Bene Cicchetti is an Italian bar in Warsaw informed by Venice that serves drinks and small plates.
    The bar is accessed via an arched doorway that is lined with antique mirrors. Inside a monolithic, red travertine bar is surrounded by hues of red and gold in a nod to the colours of the Venetian flag. The floors of the bar and the bases of chairs were coloured in a sea-like shade of turquoise that aimed to recreate the look of the flooded streets of the Italian archipelago.
    Find out more about Va Bene Cicchetti ›
    Photo by Yevhenii AvramenkoTerra, Ukraine, by YOD Group
    Glass bricks, large columns, terracotta tiles and coppery hues define this restaurant interior in Vynnyky, Ukraine, designed by YOD Group. Named Terra, the restaurant borrows its colour and material palette from the surrounding rolling hills and lake.
    “We aimed to extract colours, textures and impressions from the landscape to translate them into the interior design language,” said the studio. “Like the eyedropper tool in Photoshop, but on a real-life scale, we designed the space to mirror its surroundings.”
    Find out more about Terra ›
    Photo by Yongjoon ChoiSik Mul Sung, South Korea, by Unseenbird
    Sik Mul Sung is a space-age-themed cafe in downtown Seoul, South Korea. Designed by South Korean studio Unseenbird, it incorporates sheets of stainless steel wrapped across the walls, countertops and fixtures.
    The metallic surfaces are contrasted against a red pebble floor and spacey decorative rocks, while a glass-fronted vitrine is a focal point at the cafe and is used to grow vegetables in a vertical farming system.
    Find out more about Sik Mul Sung ›

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    Oak-lined boxes delineate living spaces at Bureau Fraai's Panorama Penthouse

    Architecture office Bureau Fraai used freestanding wooden volumes to organise the interior of this penthouse in the Netherlands, preserving panoramic views of the surroundings from within the living areas.

    The 300-square-metre Panorama Penthouse occupies the upper floor of a former office building in the South Holland region that was converted into a high-end residential development.
    The penthouse has large open-plan living spacesBureau Fraai was asked to develop a proposal for the apartment’s interior that would optimise views through its glazed facades towards the sea on one side and the city on another.
    “We believe the only way to experience the panoramic views at the fullest was by getting rid of walls obstructing the facades and therefore decided to introduce an open floor plan concept,” Bureau Fraai cofounder Daniel Aw told Dezeen.
    Oak-lined boxes separate spacesInstead of compartmentalising the penthouse into a series of cellular rooms, the architects introduced freestanding oak structures that are removed from the facade to maintain views throughout the interior.

    “This way, the surroundings are always present in every part of the penthouse, making you fully aware of the changing colours of the seasons, the tides and of the sunrise and sunset that are never the same,” the studio added.
    The apartment layout optimises panoramic viewsThe four timber-clad volumes contain private functions including a study and a sauna, as well as the main bedroom’s bathroom and walk-in closet.
    The sequence of wooden boxes are arranged along one side of a hallway leading from the entrance to the main communal areas. This configuration helps create a semi-porous partition between the corridor and the two bedrooms.
    A private study is located in one of the timber-clad boxesFully glazed steel sliding doors integrated into the oak volumes can be closed if physical separation from the hall is required. Curtains and solid pocket doors allow the bedrooms to be visually closed off from the rest of the apartment at nighttime.
    The penthouse’s interior features a neutral palette with white or light-grey floors, ceilings and walls chosen to enhance the connection with the surroundings.

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    The pale oak wood used for the freestanding joinery aims to provide a warm and natural complement to the dunes and beaches that are visible through the adjacent glazed facades.
    Cabinetry in the kitchen and dining room at the far end of the property has a muted, grey finish intended to echo the distant city skyline.
    A library ladder provides access to upper level storage spaceThe common areas are configured as a trio of separate but linked spaces comprising the raised living area, a media and lounge room, and the dining area and kitchen.
    Sliding doors incorporated into the glazed walls provide direct access from each of these spaces to the large decked terraces.
    At the centre of the apartment is a long, rectangular volume containing storage, technical equipment, a toilet and a second bathroom.
    Glazed facades provide views of the sea and the cityThe ceiling height at one end of this volume reaches 4.75 metres, allowing space for a mezzanine level that provides additional storage and a lookout point for observing the rest of the apartment.
    The high ceilings extend through to the media room, which contains full-height bookshelves with a library ladder providing access to the upper storage areas.
    The apartment has a neutral colour paletteBureau Fraai was founded in 2014 by architects Rikjan Scholten and Daniel Aw. The Amsterdam-based studio aims to produce timeless, one-of-a-kind architectural projects inspired by their context and the client’s unique requirements.
    The firm’s previous work includes the conversion of a building in central Amsterdam into high-end apartments featuring a strong contrast of light and dark colours. The project was longlisted in the apartment interior category of Dezeen Awards 2022.

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    Patricia Urquiola creates lofty showroom for Moroso in Manhattan

    Moroso has opened a new showroom in Manhattan designed by Patricia Urquiola, marking the 70th anniversary of the Italian brand.

    The 4,300 square-foot showroom (400 square metres) has a double-height space that was previously occupied by an art gallery.
    There are spaces for meetings and officesDespite its scale, Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola sought to replicate the feeling of a home, by setting up the furniture in smaller configurations that could be seen in a living room or another intimate setting.
    The space is located at 105 Madison Avenue, in central Manhattan. It replaces the brand’s previous showroom in the SoHo neighbourhood, which opened in 2007.
    The showroom is located in New York City”The new Moroso showroom in New York transcends the concept of the exhibition space,” said the Italian brand founded in 1952 by Agostino and Diana Moroso.

    “[The showroom] introduces visitors to the company through a series of appealing domestic settings in which interiors in restrained colours heighten the appeal of the furniture on display,” Moroso added.
    Large columns were finished with handmade terracotta tilesThe team refinished the interiors with colourful pink finishes, new wooden floors and curved surfaces rather than corners.
    “The interiors are reinterpreted with an emphasis on their gently curved contours and lack of sharp angles, while particular attention is paid to colour,” said Moroso.
    The inaugural collection includes a sofa that is meant to look like moss-covered rocksLarge columns within the space were finished with shiny, handmade terracotta tiles, complementing the prevailing colour palette.
    Along the walls at the periphery of the space, Studio Urquiola created plant-filled alcoves, which help break up the space into smaller sections.
    Plant-filled alcoves line the walls of the space”Everything is studied in detail, and even the lighting is designed to make the space elegant and welcoming, while plants and niches create focal points in the different rooms,” said Moroso.
    In addition to the main exhibition space, the showroom includes a smaller mezzanine at the back, where the brand can host architects or other design professionals for meetings.

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    The mezzanine space is divided into a lounge area, workstations and a glass structure with meeting rooms and a private office.
    A blue staircase connects this level to the ground floor and to the cellar, which has larger pieces.
    “Studio Urquiola’s architectural design alters the existing structure while maintaining its spatial characteristics, perfecting and emphasizing their soft, enveloping language with warm tones of terracotta and wood,” said Moroso.
    Patricia Urquiola also created furniture for the inaugural connectionThe inaugural collection on display at the showroom includes a sofa that is meant to look like moss-covered rocks by Sofia Lagerkvist and Anna Lindgren of Swedish design studio Front, and a series of colourful furniture that was designed by Patricia Urquiola called Pacific, which is finished in wool upholstery.
    Patricia Urquiola founded her eponymous studio in 2001, with her partner Alberto Zontone. The studio takes on architectural commissions, as well as designing furniture, products, and exhibitions.
    Other projects by the Spanish designer include the Haworth Hotel in Michigan, which was revamped to become a “design showcase” and a table with mix-matched legs for Cassina.
    The photography is by Alex Kroke unless otherwise indicated.

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    Dezeen's top 10 home interiors of 2022

    As part of our review of the year, we look at 10 home interiors that our readers admired in 2022, including a home with a mirror-cube bathroom and a concrete apartment in a brutalist tower block.

    Natural materials took centre stage in homes this year, with many projects using wood to create calm, peaceful interiors. Also popular were exposed concrete walls, colourful glazed tiles, and minimalist interiors with plenty of green plants.
    Read on for Dezeen’s top 10 home interiors of 2022:
    Photo by German SáizConde Duque apartment, Spain, by Sierra + De La Higuera
    Traditional Moroccan zellige tiles in vibrant colours were used to define the different spaces inside this Madrid apartment by Spanish studio Sierra + De La Higuera.

    The interior design was informed by the owners’ Mexican and Galician heritage and features timber and terracotta walls, as well as a Mexico-influenced kitchen and dining area finished with emerald green tiles.
    Find out more about Conde Duque apartment ›
    Photo by Lorenzo Zandri and Christian BraileyEnergy-saving home, UK, by Architecture for London
    British studio Architecture for London designed this home in Muswell Hill, north London, for its founder Ben Ridley. The minimalist interior of the three-floor Edwardian house is clad in natural materials including wood, stone and lime plaster.
    The home was designed to be energy-saving, with the lime plaster used to form an airtight layer throughout, mitigating any heat loss.
    Find out more about the energy-saving home ›
    Photo by Joe FletcherTwentieth, US, by Woods + Dangaran
    The winner of this year’s Dezeen Award for House interior of the year, Twentieth by Los Angeles studio Woods + Dangaran was designed with its living spaces organised around a decades-old olive tree.
    The interior of the three-storey house features exposed white bricks, as well as floor-to-ceiling glazing and a large travertine fireplace, while wood-panelling gives the home a mid-century modern feel.
    Find out more about Twentieth ›
    Photo by Serena EllerDiplomat’s Home, Italy, by 02A
    This Italian apartment, designed for a diplomat who goes on frequent work trips, was left intentionally unfinished. In the bedroom, mirrored screens enclose a small bathroom to create what interior studio 02A describes as an “immaterial cubic volume”.
    The whole flat is filled with antique and mid-century furnishings, which have been combined with contemporary cabinetry. A vibrant colour palette contrasts with the building’s original tiled flooring.
    Find out more about Diplomat’s Home ›
    Photo by Fran ParenteGale Apartment, Brazil, by Memola Estudio
    The concrete structure of the building was left exposed for local studio Memola Estudio’s renovation of this São Paulo apartment, with dark, polished wooden floors contrasting against the industrial-looking walls.
    A mosaic stone wall and a picture wall that showcases the owners’ artworks also feature in the home, which was opened up to create better sightlines.
    Find out more about Gale Apartment ›
    Photo by Jonas Bjerre-PoulsenForest retreat, Sweden, by Norm Architects
    This traditional timber cabin was turned into a pared-back holiday home, which Danish studio Norm Architects described as “designed for a simple life.”
    The studio used a minimalist colour palette for the house, with walls covered in beige dolomite plaster. Oakwood was used for the flooring and cabinetry in the cabin, in which Norm Architects also inserted a raised daybed-cum-window seat where residents can sit to take in the view of the forest.
    Find out more about the forest retreat ›
    Photo by Nicole FranzenEast Village apartment, US, by GRT Architects
    Warm colours, oak wood and glistening ceramic tiles create a welcoming feel in this New York flat, which was renovated by GRT Architects.
    The studio added metallic details such as brass bars to the interior, creating a stylish contrast against the wood. Herringbone parquet flooring adds to the cosy feel of the home inside Onyx Court, a six-storey corner Beaux-Arts structure in the city’s East Village.
    Find out more about the East Village apartment ›
    Photo by Olmo PeetersRiverside Tower apartment, Belgium, by Studio Okami Architecten
    Located inside a 20-storey brutalist tower in Antwerp, the duplex Riverside Tower apartment was renovated by Bram Van Cauter, founding partner of Studio Okami Architecten, for himself and his partner.
    The result is a thoroughly modern flat that combines exposed concrete walls with bright colours and contemporary furniture, as well as plenty of green plants that give life to the grey interior.
    Find out more about Riverside Tower apartment ›
    Photo by Michinori AokiTokyo apartment, Japan, by OEO Studio
    Copenhagen-based OEO Studio drew on both Scandinavian and Japanese design to create this Japandi-style apartment in Tokyo’s Opus Arisugawa housing complex.
    It features striking details such as a rammed-earth wall and built-in concrete seating in the entryway (pictured). Furniture finished in smoked oak and oiled pinewood nods to Scandinavia, while Japanese Ōya stone was used for the columns that divide the living area and kitchen.
    Find out more about Tokyo apartment ›
    Photo by Peter BennettsWest Bend House, Australia, by Brave New Eco
    Shortlisted for the House interior of the year category at Dezeen Awards 2022, West Bend House was designed by Australian studio Brave New Eco as a “forever home” filled with timber, terracotta and other eco-friendly materials.
    The home also features saturated colour details such as a bathroom clad in sapphire tiles and a khaki green sofa and purple curtains in the living room.
    Find out more about West Bend House ›

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    London apartment features fish and chip shop-informed kitchen

    A steel kitchen that references London’s many fast food shops takes centre stage in this apartment designed by local studio Holloway Li for its co-founder Alex Holloway, which also has a bathtub in the living room.

    Located in north London’s Highbury, the apartment is set in a converted Victorian house and was renovated to create a home-cum-photography-studio for Holloway and his partner Elle Parmar Jenkins, founder of vintage furniture store Goods In.
    The apartment includes a custom-built stainless steel kitchenHolloway Li sought to update the single-storey space while also maintaining many of its original features.
    Part of this process included removing the master bedroom entirely to create an open-plan living space from what were originally separate rooms, and adding two extra windows to illuminate this interior.
    Holloway Li looked to local fast-food shops to create this design”We exposed and retained the original timber verge beam keeping all the screws and not cleaning it up at all,” said Holloway, who founded the studio with Na Li in 2018.

    “We wanted to express the formation of the external butterfly roof internally by opening up the ceilings to show the vaulted geometry internally,” he told Dezeen.
    This triple-aspect living space contains a striking kitchen clad in circle-brushed stainless steel with a curved splashback that takes cues from the kebab and fish and chip shops that Holloway grew up surrounded by in London, according to the designer.
    Pink and orange accents feature throughout”A lot of our studio work often fuses aspects of what people might consider ‘low culture’ with a more high-brow aesthetic,” said Holloway, who explained that the kitchen was not created as a parody, but rather intends to honour the materials found in fast food outlets.
    “This is what London is – a mix of high and low always across the road from one another. It’s part of what makes it interesting, and having grown up here it was important to add those vernacular visual flavours into the space,” he added.
    “Also, I hadn’t seen that material [circle-brushed steel] used in a domestic setting before so I knew it would be unique.”
    A bathtub was inserted into the living spaceThe studio chose a neutral colour palette interrupted with pops of vibrant colours such as orange and blue, which was led by the rosy-hued exposed plaster walls that frame the space.
    Breaking with tradition, Holloway decided to insert a bathtub into the living space where the master bedroom used to be to make use of its panoramic natural light and to add an alternative touch to the apartment.
    The same resin used to create the dining table top is found in the bathroomIt is positioned next to a bespoke timber Holloway Li desk and a vintage Eames office chair that Parmar Jenkins uses when she works from home, while light-hued Douglas fir flooring and chunky geometric sconce lights add to the warm interior.
    Other furniture pieces by the studio include a chubby orange armchair that Holloway Li launched at this year’s London Design Festival in collaboration with Uma Objects as well as the dining table and a shower screen that were both formed from a gridded resin off-cut salvaged from a previous project.

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    Holloway’s favourite element of the apartment is “the windows and reflections,” he said. “It is very rare to have a room in a Victorian terrace that has windows on three out of four of its sides.”
    “The kitchen in turn – on the old side that doesn’t have a window – reflects the opposite windows so it actually feels like you are surrounded by light,” he added.
    Colours in the living space are also hinted at in the apartment’s one bedroomThis apartment is not the first of Holloway Li’s interior designs that intend to directly respond to their contexts.
    Previously, the studio dressed the Wunderlocke hotel in Munich in hues that nod to the paintings of the late Munich-based painter Wassily Kandinsky, while it designed bathroom brand Coalbrook’s showroom with industrial materials that echo the building’s original function as a tobacco-pipe factory.
    The photography is by Edmund Dabney. 

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    Self-Portrait wraps London store in mint-hued Cornish clay and tonal surfaces

    Luxury fashion brand Self-Portrait has opened a store in London with mirrored surfaces and Cornish clay walls that combines “minimalism, materiality and colour.”

    Located on the corner of Kings Road and Duke of York Square in Chelsea, London, the 200-square-metre store was designed by Self-Portrait founder and creative director Han Chong in collaboration with New York-based architect Andreas Kostopoulos.
    The store was designed by Self-Portrait founder Han Chong and architect Andreas Kostopoulos”Inspired by spatial design and the idea of self-reflection, features in a myriad of textures including chrome and mirror dominate the interior walls and reflect tonal surfaces in mint green,” Self-Portrait said of the interior.
    “By leveraging on minimalism, materiality, and colour, we wanted to create an intimate, sensory and focused experience, free from any interferences or visually distracting architectural qualities and functions that can typically overwhelm retail environments,” said Kostopoulos.
    Tonal surfaces were added to the interior of the storeThe store interior is characterised by natural materials. Mint-pigmented Cornish clay covers its walls and provides a textural quality through its visible markings, which are reminiscent of limewash.

    Custom terrazzo flooring in hues of white, grey and mint blankets the majority of the floors while some areas, including fitting rooms, were decorated with plush carpets in matching colours to add a softer touch to the space.
    Mirrors visually extended the space and blurred the boundaries of the storeBetween the textural clay walls, expanses of mirrored panels adorn the vertical surfaces and surround street-facing windows from floor to ceiling to visually extend and blur the boundaries of the retail space.
    “I love the idea of spatial perception, blurring the lines between the interior and exterior, vertical and horizontal,” explained Chong.

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    While using rich and textural materials, Chong and Kostopoulos also looked to create a space that was minimalist and free from distracting architectural elements by reducing the store to its bare essentials.
    Overhead lighting throughout was subtlety concealed behind a gridded, drop ceiling that creates a contemporary and modernist look while also adding a contrasting textural quality.
    Cornish clay was applied to the walls to create a textural finish”I am so proud of the space we have created – it’s the perfect blend of art and architecture, which provides a serene and minimalist home for our collections,” Chong continued.
    “For me, this store has become the perfect physical manifestation of our brand – it’s a contrast of the effortless and the studied, with a focus on quality, materials and craft.”
    Custom terrazzo covers the floor of the storeSelf-Portrait’s ready-to-wear collections were displayed on chrome-finished clothes rails in front of windows while accessories were organised across chrome display tables.
    Antique furniture was combined with contemporary pieces throughout the store. A Max Lamb chair was neatly placed in a mirrored corner of the retail space, while wooden chairs were scattered throughout.
    Antique furniture was combined with contemporary piecesSelf-Portrait is a contemporary luxury brand that was founded by Chong in 2013 after he graduated from womenswear design at Central Saint Martins.
    Elsewhere in London, AMO created a terracruda-clad shop-in-shop at Selfridges that featured curving display areas and brutalist-style furniture for French fashion brand Jacquemus.
    Design studio Perron-Roettinger recently unveiled its design for a pop-up store for Kim Kardashian’s homeware brand SKKN, which the studio clad in raw plaster and cement.

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    Butterfly House renovation contrasts traditional features with modern materials

    British studio Will Gamble Architects has modernised a heritage-listed terraced house in south London, adding a series of bespoke joinery elements that help to repurpose the existing living spaces.

    Known under the nickname Butterfly House, the project involved the refurbishment and reconfiguration of a Grade II-listed home in Lambeth for a couple of lawyers and their two young children.
    Will Gamble Architects has renovated the interior of Butterfly House in LondonThe building, which dates back to the 1840s, was originally conceived as a four-storey family home. But it had previously been knocked through to a neighbouring property and separated vertically into flats before being returned to a single dwelling.
    Will Gamble Architects was asked to create a contemporary home that makes the most of the available space while retaining the features and character of the existing architecture.
    Micro-cement covers the chimney breast in the dining room”Despite its heritage listing, the building had been messed around with and many of the original features were ripped out,” project architect Miles Kelsey told Dezeen.

    “We were required to preserve the proportions of any rooms that hadn’t changed too much and focused on identifying the minimal permissible alterations that could have the biggest spatial impact.”
    A built-in bench provides seating in the dining areaThe scheme returns Butterfly House to its original interior layout, with the kitchen and dining area on the ground floor, living spaces on the first floor and the bedrooms above.
    In order to adapt the existing floor plan to meet the clients’ needs, the architects repositioned some of the internal openings and introduced joinery elements with built-in doorways and storage.
    The original fireplace in the kitchen was retained”Because we were restricted in what we could do with a listed building, the bespoke joinery allowed us to maximise the potential of each space,” Kelsey added.
    “The joinery also enabled us to create a really clear and coherent design aesthetic throughout the project that responds to the clients’ request for natural and honest materials.”
    A white-painted stairway leads to the upper floorsA restrained, pared-back material palette is applied throughout the interior, with the oak joinery complemented by surfaces of micro-cement and stone.
    The neighbouring property was used as a reference for reinstating original features including the architraves and skirting, which stand out thanks to the sober treatment of the modern additions.

    Will Gamble Architects adds glass-walled extension to Pergola House in Leicestershire

    “Our idea was that the traditional decorative details should sit alongside more contemporary elements like the joinery to create a strong contrast between old and new,” said Kelsey.
    “We didn’t want to overly embellish the contemporary elements in order to maintain a sense of coherence across the whole project.”
    Light permeates the living room via its refurbished French doorsThe kitchen and dining room on the ground floor are linked by a large oak-framed opening that allows a view through the house towards the windows on the other side.
    A chimney breast in the dining room was reinstated and covered with a pale-grey micro-cement finish that is echoed in the dining table.
    Built-in storage on the other side of the room conceals a new doorBuilt-in cabinetry on either side of the chimney provides practical storage while a bench positioned along the opposite wall offers seating for the dining table.
    The living room on the first floor contains large refurbished French doors on one side and a newly instated door on the other side, set within a full-height storage element.
    The home’s custom joinery is made from warm oak woodThe pared-back material palette extends to the bedrooms on the two upper floors, where the oak joinery is used to create storage, headboards and partition walls such as the one separating the main bedroom from its en suite bathroom.
    Butterfly House takes its name from the typical roof form that tops the terraced property. It also references the bowed floors and ceilings uncovered during the renovation, which were remediated as part of the project.
    Wood also features in the bathrooms of Butterfly HouseWill Gamble founded his eponymous architecture and interiors studio in 2018. Based in Barnes, London, the firms works on commercial and residential projects, often involving the adaptation of historic structures for modern use.
    The practice was longlisted for emerging architecture studio of the year at the 2022 Dezeen Awards.
    Its previously completed projects include a glass-walled extension to a Georgian red-brick house and the transformation of a ruined 17-century parchment factory into a contemporary residence.
    The photography is by Nick Dearden.

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