Markus Andrews

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    Cun Panda designs escape room with tree at its centre for Chinese game company

    Chinese studio Cun Panda has created a flexible space for immersive game company Qian Hu Zhi Wu in Xiamen, China, that features a silver-foil-clad tree, acrylic seats and mirror installations.

    The local game company runs 14 escape rooms in China. Cun Panda’s design for its latest space measures 330 square metres and was designed with a focus on flexibility to enable a number of gaming narrations to take place.
    “We aim to create a space that can tell stories,” the studio said. “The design injects extraordinary imagination and creativity into the space that integrates art and immersive experience.”
    A series of rock-like formations surround the central tree installationAt the entrance of the space, a giant tree made of resin and covered in silver foil stretches through the ceiling to form the centre piece of the space. Added light installations were designed to look like satellites and planets circling the tree, giving the piece a futuristic feel.
    The tree is surrounded by a series of rock-like formations, which were informed by Stonehenge.

    “Stonehenge is taken as the prototype to open the interlaced space leading to the new world and build a dimension door of virtual and real,” explained the studio.
    Light installations have been added to the silver treeThe rock-like sculptures in the space have round holes to create clear sightlines inside the escape room, where the lit-up floor is the main light source and creates a variation of shadows.
    Next to the entrance space, a narrow corridor connects the game room with a storage room, dressing room, and makeup areas. Stripes of lights and a mirrors installation on the wall and ceiling were designed to create an infinite sense of space.
    Green moss and black sand add a sense of nature inside a white roomIn another room, sand-dune shaped seats are supported by transparent acrylic to create a floating effect, revealing green moss and black sand in the otherwise completely white space.
    Here, another tree breaks through the wall into the space and connects to the main tree installation. The white wall is lit up by LED lights and printed with shapes of sand dunes.
    Stripes of lights and mirrors create a visual illusionCun Panda was founded by Xuanna Cai and Jiacheng Lin in 2019 and has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming and Xiamen.
    Other recent interiors from China include timber and travertine reading room by Atelier Tao+C and Fatface Coffee shop by Baicai, both shortlisted in this year’s Dezeen Awards.
    The photography is by Xinghao Liu.

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    Five key exhibitions at Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2022

    Lisbon Architecture Triennale has returned for its sixth edition, with exhibitions, installations and contributions by the likes of Dutch studio MVRDV and Japanese studio Tomoaki Uno Architects.

    Titled Terra, the Latin word for earth, this year’s Lisbon Architecture Triennale is a call to action centring on sustainability and forging a balance between communities, resources and processes.
    The 14-week-long event was curated by Portuguese architects and educators Cristina Veríssimo and Diogo Burnay. It takes place until 5 December 2022 and includes a number of exhibitions, book launches, conferences and fringe events across the city of Lisbon.
    Each of the exhibitions and events highlights climate change, human reliance on resources as well as social, economic and environmental injustices and how these issues are connected.
    Read on for five key exhibitions at the 2022 edition of Lisbon Architecture Triennale:

    Multiplicity
    Curated by Cityscapes Magazine co-founder Tau Tavengwa and anthropologist and writer Vyjayanthi Rao, Multiplicity is an exhibition that looks at ways architecture and design can respond better to global challenges such as inequality, climate change and conflict.
    The exhibition is organised across several of the National Museum of Contemporary Art’s minimally decorated rooms, with books, posters and other exhibits arranged on folio cabinets and plywood tables to encourage visitors to engage with them.
    It also includes case studies of architecture projects, such as Wiki House by Architecture 00, BookWorm pavilion by Nudes and Plugin House by People’s Architecture Office, which highlight architectural and design-led initiatives and solutions to social and global issues.

    Retroactive
    Retroactive is an exhibition at Lisbon’s Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT), curated by design studio Taller Capital founders Loreta Castro Reguera and José Pablo Ambrosi.
    It identifies ways to help communities living in “vulnerable places due to overcrowding, lack of resources and basic service infrastructure” through the use of architectural initiatives.
    “Retroactive explores the suturing tools of communities in urgent need of architectural solutions that may reconcile their sense of belonging and spatial dignity,” explained Lisbon Architecture Triennale organisers.

    Cycles
    At the Garagem Sul museum, Cycles highlights the circular economy of materials, presenting ways in which designers, architects and creatives can reuse waste. The exhibition was designed by local office Rar.Studio and curated by architect Pedro Ignacia Alonso with art curator Pamela Prado.
    “Cycles addresses the role of architecture within the endless processes of transformation and redistribution of matter, and showcases the possible encounter between architecture and sustainability, economy, heritage and memory,” said organisers of Lisbon Architecture Triennale.
    A focal point of the exhibition is Falca, a mound of cork piled in the rear corner of the gallery by artist Lara Almarcegui.

    Visionaries 
    Visionaries is described by its curator Anastassia Smirnova as an “invitation for action”. It is arranged within the Culturgest centre across a collection of rooms, which each shed light on radical ideas spanning different categories or themes.
    Among the visionary projects is Dutch architecture studio MVRDV’s proposal to raise Eindhoven’s cathedral by 55 metres to insert social and public functions below it, alongside an exploration into French architect Roger Anger’s utopian city Auroville in India. Other contributors include Japanese studio Tomoaki Uno Architects, Spanish architect Andrés Jaque and Spanish office Ensamble Studio.
    “Their projects, more than mere physical and spatial structures, are ambitious and controversial prescriptions for planetary strategies,” said Lisbon Architecture Triennale.
    “In many different forms, from the bedroom scale to city models, these radical prototypes are open to being productively interpreted, not just replicated, by future generations.”

    Independent Projects
    Alongside the main exhibitions, a total of 16 projects have been developed in response to the triennale’s theme of Terra. Twelve of these are exhibited at the event’s headquarters at Palacio Sinel de Cordes, while the other four are dotted across the city of Lisbon.
    Among them is After Plastics, a project by KALA.studio that imagines a landscape where microplastics play a vital role in a new plant growth. Meanwhile, designers Zhicheng Xu, Mengqi Moon He, Stratton Coffman, Calvin Zhong and Wuyahuang Li, are presenting Lodgers, a proposal for temporary housing for different life forms in Nevada, built from local materials.
    Lisbon Architecture Triennale takes place from 1 October to 5 December 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
    The photography is by Sara Constança.

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    Muhhe Studio inserts “wooden box” into old factory to create light-filled photographer's studio

    A white-painted steel and timber volume that contains an office, dressing room, reception and studio space sits at the centre of this photographer’s studio in an old factory building.

    Located in a former factory building that looks out onto a busy T-junction near a park in Nanjing, China, HNS Studio was designed by architects Muhhe Studio for local photographer Huai Nianshu.
    The studio began by removing all partitions and ceilings in the space to reveal a pitched timber roof structure.
    HNS Studio is a photography studio that was renovated by Muhhe Studio”In the early summer before the reconstruction, we went to the site, after the old partition was removed, the high-rise space of the old plant was warm and transparent in the sunlight of the afternoon,” recalled Muhhe Studio.
    “The photographer himself is extremely sensitive to light. His only expectation for the new space of the studio is a ‘transparent’ space.”

    In order to capture the light, the studio used BIM software to simulate the movement of daylight across the space throughout the course of the day. In response to this study, the studio created several different-sized openings along the building’s west gable end and roof to ensure that the space would be evenly lit at all times.
    It sits within a former factoryIn addition, the architects inserted three large windows that function like a storefront for the studio and increase its connection to the street outside.
    A two-storey structure that resembles two stacked boxes and contains all of the studio’s amenties was built in the centre of the space. At ground floor level, an office, dressing room and toilet are clad in marine-grade plywood.

    Guy Hollaway creates photography studio with concrete pyramid for X-ray apparatus

    A set of stairs at the back of the plywood volume leads up to a floor wrapped in white-painted steel. This open top floor overhangs the space below and will be used as a large photostudio space with a reception and open-plan office.
    The architects left the original factory space with its brick and plaster walls largely untouched to function as a “continuous and rhythmic open space”.
    The interior was painted white and decorated with wooden furnitureThe original street-facing entrance on the south side was moved to the back so that before entering the office, you now have to pass through a semi-enclosed courtyard.
    “We pay attention not only to the indoor space, but also to the outdoor space, and even the relationship of the entire park, as well as the relationship between the history and the present of this space,” the architects told Dezeen.
    “We designed the space very delicately to allow users and visitors to enjoy it. [To be] people-oriented is our ultimate goal.”
    Windows were inserted to function as storefront-style glazingThis project has been shortlisted in the small workspace interiors category of Dezeen Awards 2022.
    Other projects in the category include a part-workspace and part-community hub in a sleepy fishing village in Taiwan, and a wine-bar workspace for a consultancy company in Sweden.
    Photography is by Xiaowen Jin unless stated otherwise.

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    Life House transforms motor lodge in the Berkshires into hotel

    A former motel in rural Massachusetts has been transformed by American hospitality brand Life House into a hotel decorated with objects influenced by 1970s hospitality.

    Life House converted an existing, two-storey motel property with its in-house design team. While the 64 guest rooms maintain the same layout, a new extension was added for the lobby, restaurant and lounge.
    Life House, Berkshires is a reimagined 1970s-era lodge”Set in the middle of the mountains, Life House, Berkshires is a reimagined 1970s-era lodge that culls inspiration from the lodge styles of the past century and reinterprets the architecture via modern materiality and forms,” said Life House.
    The property is located in the Berkshires mountains, between the towns of Pittsfield and Lenox.
    Its design “culls inspiration from the lodge styles of the past century”Visitors access rooms via exterior walkways, a feature that Life House has reinterpreted for a more contemporary hotel set-up.

    “The exterior is rendered in oat-colored wood shingles juxtaposed with dark gray trims that give the building a cozy and luxurious appearance,” said Life House.
    The main communal space is called the Club RoomThe most important addition to the property was the communal space, which is nicknamed the Club Room.
    In addition to being the first space visitors see as they enter the hotel, this is the main gathering space, as it contains a fireplace, the bar, lobby and a restaurant.
    A custom mural covers the wallsThis double-height room features cathedral ceilings, exposed wooden beams and ornamental chandeliers that give the space a warm light and a sense of scale.
    “The gargantuan, 28-foot ceilings house custom Murano glass chandeliers handmade in Venice by Sogni di Cristallo and hang high above the bar millwork that showcases a marble countertop and leather upholstered panels,” said Life House.
    The terrace provides a space to loungeA custom mural painted by artist Lei Xing covers the walls of the Club Room. Vitage prints and found objects – as well as other electric accents – cover the walls.
    This indoor space is connected to a terrace via sliding glass doors, where guests can lounge on several large couches surrounding fire pits.

    Tourists hotel in The Berkshires takes cues from classic American motor lodges

    “The design of the outdoor spaces exudes the nonchalance of its environs telegraphed via a color palette inspired by the striking sunrises and sunsets of the Berkshires,” said Life House.
    Throughout the property, the team selected furniture and decor pieces that create a sense of nostalgia.
    Life House selected furniture that intends to evoke nostalgiaWithin the guest rooms, there are custom wardrobes created by the Life House team, alongside lamps and armchairs with a vintage aesthetic.
    “Collage artwork by Annie Lynch, whose pieces present black and white portraits of female figures with superimposed aerial photographs of local landscapes, are hung alongside framed poetry by artist Russell Markus who used an antique typewriter and vintage paper to produce each art piece,” said Life House.
    Custom wardrobes by Life House feature in the guest roomsOther hotel properties that can be found in the region include Hotel McKinsley, which was designed to avoid the typical aesthetic of “antlers or plaid and reclaimed wood” and a property in Armenia, NY that is set within an English-style country home.
    The photography is by Sophie Fabbri for Life House.

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    Snarkitecture uses recycled materials for Pharrell Williams' streetwear brand store in Miami

    New York design studio Snarkitecture has designed a flagship store for the streetwear clothing brand Billionaire Boys Club, created by American musician Pharrell Williams and Japanese graphic designer Nigo.

    Located in a former warehouse on a corner in Miami’s Wynwood neighbourhood, the store is a flagship for Billionaire Boys Club (BBC), which was founded in 2003 and includes sub-brands Icecream, Bee Line and Billionaire Girls Club.
    Snarkitecture designed a flagship for Billionaire Boys Club in Miami”I’m very grateful that we have the opportunity to bring our flagship store to Miami,” said Williams. “It’s going to be a place where people can come in to get inspired by the mix of fashion, culture, art and design.”
    The 5,000-square-foot (465 metres) store includes retail space as well as art installations created for the store by Snarkitecture.
    The space used to be a warehouseIn order to light up the warehouse space, the studio added windows to the side of the structure and created a domed entryway, also with panelled windows.

    The exterior of the store is clad in a light plaster material and the walls feature decorative murals.
    Recycled materials were used throughoutInside, the designers used influences from Florida’s Everglades National Park as well as brand imagery from BBC to create an open space for the retail experience.
    “The space is a reimagination of the traditional retail model, taking the form of an art gallery, with the goal to drive social engagement and exploration,” the clothing brand said.
    Cages were designed to hold some of the goodsWooden panels with a beige hue clad the walls of the store, creating a solid base element to contrast the colourful retail elements – such as the white and seafoam green cages that hold the merchandise.
    According to BBC, many of the elements used for the interiors were reused.
    Displays line the walls”The design makes use of environmentally-friendly materials, such as recycled plastics, glass and wood panels,” it said.
    The ceiling is covered with white slats that are top-lit between the exposed HVAC elements.
    An astronaut statue is the centrepiece”The store also features a spacious open-concept layout that was designed to meet BBC’s need for a flexible retail environment,” said the brand.
    “Now, more than ever, we believe that curating brand physical experiences via brick-and-mortar shopping locations and in-store experiences are imperative to connect on a deeper level with our customers,” said BBC chief sales officer Matt Kaden.
    Beige panels line the wallsGlass elements with stainless-steel accents line the walls of the store, creating space for smaller items to be displayed.
    In the centre is a large blue-painted astronaut statue – the symbol of the brand as well as a nod to Florida’s space-faring history.

    Snarkitecture fills New York gallery with lights that resemble “large lollipops”

    Miami’s Wynwood neighbourhood was chosen for the store as it has become the epicentre of the city’s art, fashion and design scenes.
    “The choice of Wynwood, Miami for the new storefront is a conscious move to be in the heart of the art community and within a cultural environment that speaks to the brand’s values and inspirations,” said BBC general manager Loic Villepontoux.
    Glass display cases hold smaller itemsOther stores in the area include a showroom for Mexican stone company Grupo Arca designed by Mexico-based Esrawe Studio in collaboration with art collective Superflex.
    Other projects by Snarkitecture – a studio founded by Alex Mustonen and Daniel Arsham – include a “self-care” club in Washington DC and a Parisian mansion-turned-streetwear-outlet that includes a Nike Air Max chandelier.
    The photography is by Billionaire Boys Club.

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    Beer-filled baths and straw beds feature in Brussels' Bath & Barley spa

    Set in a vaulted cellar in the old city centre of Brussels, Bath & Barley is an updated take on a traditional Czech beer spa from design studio WeWantMore.

    Beer spas offer beer-infused spa treatments, most notably beer baths where guests soak in water mixed with hops, malt and medicinal herbs.
    WeWantMore has designed the Bath & Barley spa in BrusselsBath & Barley is the “very first” beer spa in Belgium, according to local practice WeWantMore, offering a modern take on the traditional day spas.
    “Beer spas are a tradition in the Czech Republic but not in Belgium, despite our nation’s rich beer culture,” the studio explained.
    Privacy screens were designed to look like stained glass”We noticed that most Czech beer spas are more beer than spa – dark, lots of neon and an overall pub vibe,” the practice added. “This wasn’t our idea of a soothing wellness experience.”

    “Instead, we decided to create a sense of relaxation and intimacy, but with a link to what distinguishes Bath & Barley: beer, bathing and Belgium’s beer.”
    The spa’s reception is located on the ground floorTo realise this vision, the studio drew on a palette of raw natural materials such as lime stucco, wood and straw, alongside copper and stained glass to evoke Belgium’s medieval beer brewing culture.
    The spa is split across two floors, with the oak bathtubs nestled into the vaulted basement and framed by draft beer machines, where guests can pour themselves a pint.
    A stone tasting counter defines the entrance spaceAfter the bathing ritual, guests can use the spa’s sauna or rest on a staw-upholstered lounge that allows them to “connect with nature”, according to WeWantMore.
    “The design supports social wellbeing and creates a unique escape from the daily rush,” WeWantMore said.

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    The spa’s reception is located one level up on the ground floor and is wrapped in curved copper sheets to resemble the kettles used in traditional Belgian breweries.
    Dried barley hangs from the ceiling above a stone tasting counter, where guests can taste a variety of beers and select the hops they want to add to their bath. 
    Steel balustrades depict the different stages of brewing beer”The natural scent of the dried barley branches dangling from the ceiling adds to the sensory experience and sets the mood,” said the studio.
    Ecclesial illustrations from Bath & Barley’s visual identity are integrated throughout the interior in the form of privacy screens, which resemble stained-glass church windows, and steel balustrades that depict the different steps of the brewing process.
    Copper accents feature throughout the interiorBath & Barley has been shortlisted in the leisure and wellness interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.
    Other projects in the running include a hotel spa in the Maldives designed by Marcio Kogan of Studio MK27 and a Shenzhen cinema with a copper-lined lobby.
    All images are courtesy of WeWantMore.

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    Melanie Raines designs “weird and funky” interiors for Austin residence

    Interior designer Melanie Raines has applied her experience in hospitality design to ensure the large spaces of this Austin family home feel cosy, playful and “a bit irreverent”.

    Raines, who recently moved to the Texas capital from LA, was discovered by the clients after they visited the Soho Little Beach House in Malibu and researched the team behind its interiors.
    The home’s large living room features vertical elements including a concrete-block fireplace and a swingAfter connecting on LinkedIn and realising they are now based in the same city, the family asked her to design the interiors of a property they were building.
    The house, designed by local firm Ryan Street Architects, was originally conceived as a 12,500-square-foot (1,160-square-metre) California barn-inspired home with vast living spaces, six bedrooms and a guest house.
    Furniture is arranged to create zones, like a seating area framed by a brown leather sofaHowever, the music-loving homeowners decided that the interiors should better reflect their creative personalities, and provide a “weird and funky” environment for their four children and two dogs.

    “By the time we were brought onto the project, they were hoping to see more of themselves in the interior design: colorful, playful, and artful people who love music and don’t take things too seriously,” Raines told Dezeen.
    Above the bar, a section of mezzanine floor is replaced with a rope net”For this reason, the central design challenge was to marry the architecture of exposed steel and reclaimed wood with an interior that felt fresh, playful, and distinctive.”
    One of the biggest challenges was to make the huge open living room feel intimate and cosy.
    Walnut is used throughout the home and prominently in the kitchenThis was achieved by arranging furniture in different zones, a trick borrowed from Raines’ career in the boutique hospitality sector.
    A large wooden ping-pong table that doubles as a dining surface sits at the centre, accompanied by velvet-upholstered stools.
    The millwork echoes the exterior reclaimed timber cladding visible through large windowsOn the other side, a curve chocolate-brown leather sofa sits atop textured red rugs to create a nook in front of a bar area, which has a built-in pizza oven.
    Above the bar, a cut-out in the floor of a mezzanine balcony is replaced with a rope net to form a hammock.
    The primary bedroom is decorated in dark colours to create a relaxing atmosphereOther vertical elements help to draw the eye up, including the fireplace clad in split-face, industrial concrete blocks and a swing suspended on ropes from the 22-foot (6.7-metre) ceiling.
    To unite the various ground-floor spaces, walnut is repeated across several surfaces and details.
    Colour is used boldly in several of the smaller rooms”Occasionally we joked that it’s the ‘house that walnut built’ – the floors, millwork, and many of the furnishings are a beautiful American black walnut,” Raines said.
    This is especially true in the kitchen, where millwork on the island and built-in cabinetry are all crafted from the material – echoing the reclaimed timber ceilings and the exterior cladding visible through giant windows.
    A green sofa set the retro tone in the dark movie roomWhile colour is used sparingly as accents in the living area, a much bolder approach was taken in other rooms.
    “The clients came to develop a trust in some colour sensibilities that became the moods around the home,” explained Raines. “We landed on a creamy off-white in the main spaces, then got especially playful in the ancillary spaces.”

    Clayton Korte clads Hartford Residence in Austin with limestone and fibre cement

    Dark blues were chosen to create a relaxing atmosphere in the primary bedroom, where a corner is designated for the couple to enjoy tea together, while a retro aesthetic was guided by a green sofa in the near-black movie room.
    Smaller spaces like closets and bathrooms are decorated with a variety of patterned wallpapers, some of which Raines described as “PG-13”.
    Wallpaper chosen for closets and powder rooms includes a design that Raines described as “PG-13″In the guest house, wood panelling paired with tan and orange leathers offers a “1970s lakehouse feel”, and the primary powder bath has a black terrazzo stone ceiling.
    “The atmosphere needed to be creative, inspirational, artful, and un-precious,” said Raines. “Anything ‘fancy’ was immediately thrown out!”
    “It was a reaction on both my part and theirs to the age of over-design, and we were really able to throw some wild ideas out to see what stuck, then remix them to create an intentional – but a bit irreverent – final design,” she added.
    The ombre wallpaper in this powder room is another example of the designer’s playful approachAustin is one of the fastest-growing cities in the US and has seen a spike in residential architecture and interior projects as a result.
    Others that have been completed recently include a gabled family home clad in limestone and fibre cement by Clayton Korte and a residence with dark grey walls and a crisp silhouette by Side Angle Side.
    The photography is by Chase Daniel.

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    Ten homes with arched openings that add architectural interest

    In this lookbook, we’ve rounded up 10 home interiors that use archways to punctuate spaces and elevate the transition between rooms.

    An arch is a curved structure that spans over an opening, typically to distribute the weight above it. Because of their structural effectiveness, arches were used as early as Roman times for the construction of bridges and aqueducts.
    Arches have been reinterpreted throughout history and are often used to evoke classical or traditional architecture.
    They can add charm and architectural detail to doorways, entrances and passageways in residential spaces, and are often framed with ornate mouldings to create a sense of grandeur.
    Arched openings can also be used to mark transitions between rooms and punctuate otherwise plain walls in contemporary interiors.

    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring homes with statement balustrades, interiors that feature the Eames chair and living spaces with decorative use of tiles.
    Photo is by German SáizConde Duque Apartment, Spain, by Sierra + De La Higuera
    Spanish architecture studio Sierra + De La Higuera refurbished this Madrid apartment by organising open-plan living and dining areas on either side of a wood-panelled entrance hall.
    The studio added two arched openings in wooden frames central to the hall, creating an intimate buffer zone in the open apartment.
    Find out more about Conde Duque Apartment ›
    Photo is by Andrew SnowBroadview Loft, Canada, by StudioAC
    Canadian firm StudioAC inserted a millwork box with a large arched cutout into this open rectangular apartment in Toronto, separating the bedroom from the living space.
    The impactful entry and lowered wall height of the box help to mark the transition from the open living space to the cosy sleeping nook.
    Find out more about Broadview Loft ›
    Photo is by Serena EllerDiplomat’s Apartment, Italy, by 02A
    This one-bed flat in Rome was designed by architecture and interiors studio 02A to adequately display the owner’s extensive collection of antique furniture and objects.
    An arched passage with an integrated bookcase leads from the lounge to an intimate dining area. The change of space is also indicated by the change in pattern on the solid-oak parquet flooring.
    Find out more about the Diplomat’s Apartment ›
    Photo is by Darius PetrulaitisGreetings from Rome, Lithuania, by 2XJ
    Three arches punctuate a structural stone wall that separates social and private spaces in this family apartment in the old town of Vilnius, designed by local architecture firm 2XJ.
    The arches reminded the architects of the Colosseum in Rome, lending the project its tongue-in-cheek name – Greetings from Rome – and leading the studio to clad the wall in the material used for the landmark’s external walls, Italian travertine.
    Find out more about Greetings from Rome ›

    Casa Mille, Italy, by Fabio Fantolino
    For his own apartment, Italian architect Fabio Fantolino overhauled the 1930s extension of a 19th-century palatial building in Turin by introducing accents of bright green and blue colours.
    In the living room an opening with curved corners looks through to a dining area, which is complemented by the rounded corners of the taupe sofa.
    Find out more about Casa Mille ›
    Photo is by Ståle EriksenUpper Wimpole Street Apartment, UK, by Jonathan Tuckey Design
    Architecture studio Jonathan Tuckey Design introduced MDF storage walls with built-in cupboards and arched niches to this townhouse apartment in London.
    The studio also added tall arched openings into the joinery, which were informed by 15th-century oil paintings depicting biblical figures under soaring archways.
    Find out more about Upper Wimpole Street Apartment ›
    Photo is by Kazuhisa KotaHouse in Akishima, Japan, Office M-SA
    This house in Akishima, Tokyo, was arranged by Japanese architecture studio Office M-SA around a series of exposed concrete elements, including a staircase that runs over an archway that separates the kitchen and dining area from the study.
    The concrete elements were designed to be permanent anchor points for the home’s timber wall construction, which can be altered or extended in the future to suit the owner’s needs.
    Find out more about House in Akishima ›
    Photo is by Michael SinclairA Room for Two, UK, by Studio Ben Allen
    Built inside a flat in London’s Barbican Estate, this plywood structure designed by architecture firm Studio Ben Allen transforms the room into a pair of bedrooms and studies for two children.
    The cut-out arches, which mimic the barrel-vaulted shape of the housing estate’s terrace apartments, indicate the entrances to each child’s space.
    Find out more about A Room for Two ›
    Photo is by Adrià Goula SardàMaison à Colombages, France, by 05 AM Arquitectura
    Spanish studio 05 AM Arquitectura aimed to incorporate a contemporary aesthetic while maintaining the traditional features of this 19th-century house located near Paris.
    The studio removed partitions in the archways between the kitchen, dining and living spaces to connect the spaces and improve natural lighting while retaining the ornate wall mouldings that frame the openings.
    Find out more about Maison à Colombages ›
    Photo is by José HeviaPenthouse, Spain by PMAA
    Architecture studio PMAA divided the living space of this Barcelona apartment with partition walls punctuated by a series of arched openings.
    A large modular sofa dominates the living space and morphs around the columns of the archways. The geometric repetition of the arch was informed by the apartment’s vaulted ceiling and arched windows.
    Find out more about Penthouse ›
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring homes with statement balustrades, interiors that feature the Eames chair and living spaces with decorative use of tiles.

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