Markus Andrews

More stories

  • 163 Shares139 Views

    in Rooms

    Aspekt Office designs bright white store with “Nordic atmosphere” for Chinese lifestyle brand

    The minimalist, utilitarian interior of this store in Copenhagen by local studio Aspekt Office provides a neutral backdrop for the colourful clothing and homeware that it sells.Located on Niels Hemmingens Gade where it meets the city’s pedestrian shopping street Strøget, the OCE concept store occupies a building that dates back to 1736.

    Products are displayed across white and coral-coloured shelves in the home department
    OCE stands for objects, clothes and experiences, in reference to what’s on offer in the lifestyle brand’s roughly 50 Chinese stores and its growing number of European outposts.
    Terkel Skou Steffensen and Hans Toft Hornemann of Aspekt Office were asked to create an interior for the brand’s Copenhagen store that would help to attract Scandinavian customers.

    The steel storage units blend in with the white walls

    “The design requirements for the new store were clear and concise,” said the studio, which has provided creative direction for OCE for several years.
    “OCE wanted us to create a Nordic atmosphere and add a Scandinavian look, feel and expression to their brand, to be able to attract Scandinavian costumers. That was paramount.”

    An oak-panelled service counter provides visual warmth within the otherwise industrial space
    The studio decided to divide the store into different zones, one dedicated to fashion and the other to homeware.
    Upon entering at ground floor level, customers are greeted by an oak service counter that provides a warm counterpoint to the all-white interior while effectively splitting the area in two.

    Clothing is hung on simple white rails
    “In general, we have worked with as few colours as possible to make [OCE’s] colourful products stand out and take the primary focus,” said Steffensen and Hornemann.
    “To obtain the essential Scandinavian look and feel, we have worked with carefully selected materials. Scandinavian design is a design movement characterised by simplicity, minimalism, functionality and beauty, and we had to mirror that in OCE’s new store.”

    Snarkitecture creates billowing all-white pop-up store for Valextra in Milan

    In the home department to the right of the counter, the interior was kept “sterile and raw”, with products displayed on simple white and coral-coloured steel shelves.
    On the other side, the fashion department sees clothing hung on white steel rails and changing rooms concealed behind grey wool curtains. A grey linoleum floor, designed to resemble concrete, was used throughout to create a calm and relaxing atmosphere.

    Grey wool curtains separate the changing rooms
    Several of the shop’s display tables are topped with a speckled, terrazzo-like material that is created from recycled yoghurt pots by UK company Smile Plastics.
    “Since the store is very small and compact, we made it our mission to utilise even the tiniest little corner,” explained the studio, which has transformed the previously unused space under the stairs into an exhibition area with built-in shelving.
    “In this way, we highlight the stairs of the store and lead people to the first floor.”

    A staircase with traditional turned wood spindles was painted white
    The store’s minimal white interior was also designed to be respectful to the surrounding architecture.
    “The store is located in a pedestrian area, surrounded by historical buildings with bricks facades and stucco decorations,” the studio explained.
    “Another common feature of these buildings are the large, high windows that allow in as much light as possible, but also allow you to see the beautiful surrounding edifices,” it added.
    “We wanted the shop to have a look that blends in homogeneously, no dramatic pops of colour, no discontinuity with the neighbouring interiors that you can see through the windows. The soft palette blends in with the surrounding environment, the materiality chosen is simple and discreet, yet modern and fresh.”

    The oak counter separates the homeware from the fashion department
    Other designers who have attempted to capture a Scandinavian aesthetic in a retail setting include Ulrika Bernhardtz, the creative director of lifestyle brand Arket, who designed the brand’s Copenhagen store using an all-grey palette.
    In London, architecture firm Farrells conceptualised the interior of a mixed-use shopping and dining development to reflect Japanese and Nordic culture, while the Soho store of clothing brand Eytys references Swedish brutalism and postmodernism.

    Read more: More

  • 100 Shares119 Views

    in Rooms

    Masquespacio creates colour-blocked interiors for Bilbao student housing

    Valencia-based creative studio Masquespacio has completed an open-plan colour-blocked interior with a community feeling for the Resa San Mamés student accommodation in Spain.The interior design for the Bilbao student residence was commissioned by student accommodation company Resa with the aim of letting its occupants “share experiences as a community”.

    Above: Resa student accommodation by Masquespacio. Top: furniture on wheels allows users to define the space
    Masquespacio created an open-plan design for the 1,850 square-metre building, which has studios for 351 residents and provides spaces for studying, socialising, meeting and dining.
    “The client highlighted that they wanted to create a community and strong connection point between the residents of the new Resa,” Masquespacio co-founder and marketing director Christophe Penasse told Dezeen.

    Yellow zoning defines the lounge area

    The bold and colourful interior used vibrant greens paired with millennial pinks, lavender and hot pinks, while soft furnishings and partitions were used to define zones within the space.
    “Using the technique of colour blocking we obtained a strong visual impact for the space and at the same time we could create a clear distinction between each zone in this open space,” explained the studio.

    The kitchen features lavender tiling
    As well as accommodation, the building has a kitchen, a dining room, study rooms, leisure rooms, a gym and a terrace.
    Muted yellow covers the ceiling above the open kitchen, while lavender tiles are used as a backsplash.
    Wooden furniture with yellow accents surrounds the kitchen area, some of which is on wheels to allow users to reconfigure the space as they wish.

    Whittam Cox Architects creates colourful student housing for Sheffield’s Park Hill

    Millennial pink dining tables and chairs were placed against a green backdrop to define the dining space, which also features oversized steps that form amphitheatre-style seating to encourage group interaction.

    Pendant lighting is hung above millennial pink and green dining tables
    “We liked the idea of working with an open space and making a space specially focused on university students,” Penasse explained.
    “Offering them a lot of options to make their day at the residence a little bit more attractive, and at the same time help them to be more creative.”

    Oversized steps are used for seating
    The study areas of the residency employ acoustic glass walls to provide silence, but can be opened up to connect the study space with an adjacent lounge.
    Blue-painted brick adds texture to formal study spaces and red velvet curtains on circular tracks surround group study tables for additional privacy.
    Walls and services pipes were left unrendered and exposed to give the interior an industrial look.

    Blue-painted brick frames the study space and red curtains add privacy
    The studio explained that it envisioned the design for the Resa San Mamés as a free-flowing space that encourages the students themselves to determine how it is used.
    “A space where you don’t need to be in the study room to read a book, but just can sit into the launch area,” Penasse said. “A space where people share ideas, experiences and connect together.”

    Different coloured tables and chairs define areas for seating
    The colour-blocking theme was continued through to the outdoor terrace, where green picnic tables sit within a green-zoned area while different shades of blue signal other areas of seating.
    Masquespacio was founded in 2010 by Ana Milena Hernandez Palacios and Christophe Penasse who combined their disciplines in interior design and marketing to create a design agency that works across media, design, fashion and lifestyle.
    Dezeen has previously featured the studio’s colourful design for this co-working space in Valencia and also this colour-clashing interior for a phone-repair shop.
    Photography is by Masquespacio.

    Read more: More

  • 150 Shares109 Views

    in Rooms

    Alexander Owen Architecture wraps London house extension in two types of marble

    Alexander Owen Architecture has added a marble-clad extension and garden room to this Victorian mid-terrace in East Dulwich, London, to accommodate a home office and a well-stocked bar.The owners, a couple with three young sons, wanted a place to entertain and ample space to spend time together as a family.

    Top image: the garden room houses a bar and home office. Above: the kitchen extension looks out at the garden and annexe
    In response to the brief, the architects created a single-storey rear extension that adds 13.3 square metres and accommodates an open-plan kitchen, utility room and toilet, plus a 16-square-metre annexe that serves as a work and social space.
    Separated by a paved garden, the facade of the extension and garden room are clad in two types of precision-cut marble – a lighter version with hazier veining called Arabescato and a dark grey Bardiglio marble with a more structured finish.

    Alexander Owen Architecture clad the kitchen extension in different kinds of marble

    “We wanted to create a holistic flow to the house and garden and a certain mimicry between the extension and garden room as new interventions,” Richard Bridges and James Webster, founders of Alexander Owen Architecture, told Dezeen.
    “The marble cladding on the extension and garden room has been designed to have similar cut lines and panel formations but the arrangement of the two marble types is reversed.”

    The marble is cut so that it wraps seamlessly around the glazing frames
    The marble has been mitred around the doors and windows and digitally cut to create precise, 90-degree junctions between the individual slabs. This allows the cladding and the cut lines to seamlessly wrap themselves around the glazing frames.
    “The wider site context provides an abundance of trees and greenery, which as the day progresses cast an ever-changing array of light and shadow across the site,” said the architects, who both previously worked at Foster + Partners.
    “The final selection of marble was informed by this layering of dappled light on top of the veining, colouration and movement inherent to each type.”

    The kitchen is finished with stainless steel worktops
    A set of sliding doors with Accoya wood frames opens the kitchen and dining space up to the outside, while the garden room is glazed with a set of bi-folding windows and a pivoting door.
    Alexander Owen Architecture chose robust, low-maintenance surfaces for the kitchen extension, including a poured concrete floor, stainless steel island unit, shot-blasted pewter brick walls and a timber ceiling.

    Pewter brick walls are contrasted with timber ceilings
    “Each material was selected based on how it would sit against the other materials and its ability to sit in an almost ‘raw’ state – the very engineered precision and sheen of the stainless steel and geometric texture of the pewter blocks versus the natural, organic strength of the marble and warmth of the timber,” Bridges and Webster explained.
    “The palette tries to create a very calming balance between the organic and the engineered.”

    Dallas Pierce Quintero arranges small London home around four courtyards

    The steel island unit also incorporates a bench seat for the dining area while a linear skylight lets in sunshine from above.
    The same black, wire-cut bricks that pave the garden are used on the floor of the annexe to create a seamless connection between indoors and outdoors. In the garden room, walls are clad in yellow Valchromat MDF and birch ply, as are the built-in desk, bar and storage cupboards.

    The garden room offers a “grown-up” space for entertaining
    According to the architects, who established their studio in 2013, the home’s layout is carefully divided into various zones tailored to the family’s daily routine.
    The utility room and toilet are located in the mid-section of the property so that the kitchen and garden room at the back can function as a peaceful, “grown-up” area that can be kept tidy for dinners with friends.

    It also houses a home office
    “The rest of the house can effectively be shut off, with the utility space playing a key role in storage,” said Bridges and Webster. “The family snug in the front part of the house means the owners can read books and listen to music on their record player while their children can watch TV or play in the other end of the space.”
    The garden room serves as a home office during the week and helps the couple maintain a boundary between work and family life. It also has an expansive bar that can be used for small gatherings.

    Bar seating runs along the bi-folding windows
    According to Alexander Owen Architecture, there has been a marked increase in clients wanting to create an office space in their home.
    “We have had a lot of interest in garden rooms since the start of the pandemic, with some new clients even prioritising this ahead of developing the main house due to the need for home working, schooling and simply more space,” explained the architects.
    “It’s undeniable the impact that the last 12 months have had, not only on how much time we spend in our homes but on how we use them as live-work accommodation.”
    Covid-19 has forced companies around the world to embrace remote working, with many predicting that working from home will be here to stay long after the virus has been brought under control. Last month Dezeen rounded up 10 products to improve your home-office setup.
    Contractors for this project were Create Bespoke and photography is by French+Tye.

    Read more: More

  • 138 Shares169 Views

    in Rooms

    Cheng Chung Design creates restaurant within brick art installation in China

    Hong Kong architecture studio Cheng Chung Design has created a restaurant and exhibition space within the cavernous interiors of a brick art installation in Mile City, China.The restaurant, named 50% Cloud Artists Lounge, occupies one of several distinctive structures in Dongfengyun Town that evoke a giant cluster of termite mounds.
    Cheng Chung Design’s (CCD) interior is deliberately pared-back to retain focus on this unusual building, while also forming a backdrop to the artwork that is exhibited throughout it.

    Top image: the restaurant occupies a cavernous brick building. Above: it resembles a giant cluster of termite mounds

    “It was to be not only a restaurant but also an art space with an exhibition area,” said CCD’s founder, Joe Cheng.
    “It aims to serve as an exhibition hall for various cultures and arts, providing a space for the public to get close to and enjoy art,” he told Dezeen. “You can see original art throughout the entire space.”

    The entrance is marked by a curving steel doorway
    The brick structure within which the restaurant is located was created by local artist Luo Xu and made without any steel reinforcements or nails.
    The interiors of the other buildings in the cluster, also designed by CCD, have been transformed into a multi-functional hall, an art gallery and a hotel.

    Steel panels guide visitors inside
    CCD marked the entrance to the restaurant by a trail of curving steps that lead to an arched door and a series of curving steel panels.
    This is modelled on the nearby Honghe Hani Rice Terraces – a system of historic terraces used to grow rice – and designed to add an “artistic touch” that is complementary to the colours and sinuous form of the building.

    The restaurant layout responds to overhead skylights
    Inside, the layout of the restaurant’s bar, chairs and tables responds to the curves of the structure and the positions of round openings carved into its roof.
    As the walls of the building could not be decorated, this is intended to draw visitors’ attention to the light that filters in through the skylights and onto the bricks and creates patterns throughout the course of the day.

    Patterns of light across the brick walls are the focal point
    “Light is an essential element in the space,” said CCD. “Guests can experience the change of light in every minute.”
    “All design elements are arranged based on light and under skylights. Natural light tells the passage of time throughout the day, and creates diversified spatial experiences,” the studio added.

    Woven lampshades help softly filter light
    Furniture is kept simple throughout, with cool colours and curved bodies that complement the form of the building.

    Cavernous brick vaults define Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum in China

    These are teamed with large woven lampshades that softly light the room, alongside art-deco style partitions that were used to loosely divide the space.

    Furniture is kept simple throughout
    The artwork throughout the restaurant ranges from bespoke furniture to larger sculptures designed by CCD and produced by an artist called Qi Songtao.
    This includes an abstract, cloud-like piece and a metallic, woven artwork that mimics a human head.

    A cloud-like sculpture is among the featured artwork
    Elsewhere in China, Studio Zhu-Pei also created a series of sweeping, red-brick structures to house the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum.
    Located in the city of Jingdezhen, the museum’s cavernous buildings are all unique in size and are designed to recall the forms of traditional brick kilns.

    Read more: More

  • 175 Shares189 Views

    in Rooms

    Studio Anne Holtrop creates gypsum walls that look like fabric for Maison Margiela store

    Dutch architect Anne Holtrop has remodelled Maison Margiela’s concept store in London adding walls cast in textile moulds to reflect the brand’s garment construction techniques.Located at 22 Bruton Street, the boutique is laid out across 190-square-metres and displays Maison Margiela’s Co-Ed collections, with men’s and women’s ready-to-wear alongside accessories such as shoes, jewellery and eyewear.

    Gypsum partition walls separate the retail space
    The store features a pale, tonal colour palette in keeping with the Parisian label’s all-white studio, with the plaster walls and ceilings retained in their natural finish and floors and fixtures made from travertine.
    A number of the store’s walls and columns were individually hand-cast in textile moulds, leaving behind folds and dents to create the illusion of fabric billowing in the wind.

    Floors tables and shelving are made from carved travertine

    This unconventional casting method is intended to reflect a garment construction technique used by the fashion house that is designed to disrupt the “anonymity of the lining” and reveal the inner workings of a garment.

    Wooden curtain drapes around a lift inside Maison Margiela’s Milan store

    “The gypsum casts in textile formwork translate the ‘anonymity of the lining’ concept into an architectural element,” explained Maison Margiela.
    “After removing the textile formwork, the imprint of the textile remains visible on the surface of the walls and columns, together with the pleats of the textile and volume of the gypsum that pushed the formwork out. The walls and columns are turned inside out – we look at the lining, the interior of the wall.”

    The Bruton Street store houses clothing as well as accessories
    Holtrop, who founded Amsterdam-based Studio Anne Holtrop in 2009, installed items of “misfit” furniture throughout the space. Featuring familiar forms that have been warped and skewed, these were designed to lean and fold around the interior.
    To lighten the store’s travertine floor and carved fixtures – including shelves, display tables and seats – Anne Holstrop Studio developed a technique that involves filling the stone’s natural indentations with colour-contrasting epoxy resin in optical white.

    The gypsum walls are cast in fabric moulds
    “Normally the porosity of travertine is carefully filled with an epoxy in exactly the same colour as the stone,” explained the studio. “With an infill of white epoxy, the porosity of the stone adds an accurate drawing, a staining of the material itself.”
    The finish was inspired by another of Maison Margiela’s characteristic techniques called décortiqué, where haute couture technicians cut through the layers of a garment in order to reveal its construction.
    “All that remains is the skeleton, the core components, which enable you to recognise what the item once was,” explained Maison Margiela. “It entails cutting around the seams to emphasise the structure and detailing.”

    Indentations in the travertine were filled with white resin
    In contrast to the rest of the store, the walls and ceilings of the fitting rooms are coated in layers of hand-brushed, high gloss paint reminiscent of Japanese lacquer cabinets.
    According to Maison Margiela, the store reflects its “evolved visual language” which was developed by John Galliano after taking the helm as creative director in 2014.

    Changing room doors are finished with a high-gloss lacquer
    Holstrop’s gypsum-cast design was first introduced during the label’s Artisanal AW 2018 show, in which Galliano revealed the structures, interlinings and inner padding of clothes that would normally be concealed.
    Photography is by Henry Bourne.

    Read more: More

  • 100 Shares169 Views

    in Rooms

    Brazilian designers imagine relaxing interiors for Patagonian eco-lodge

    Designers from Brazil have created renderings that imagine the interiors of an eco-lodge in Patagonia for the design show Casa NaToca.The theme for this year’s Casa NaToca was “refuge” with participating designer asked to design rooms for Mapu, a sustainable house and guest lodges being built in the Chilean part of Patagonia by a couple named Pati Beck and Gustavo Zylbersztajn.
    Designers including Bel Lobo, Leila Bittencourt, Paula Neder and Paola Ribeiro each contributed digitally rendered interiors of the lodge.

    Top: living room by MRC Arq. Design. Above: dining room by Isabela Fraia Arquitetura

    Mapu is being built in the city of Futaleufú next to Lake Lonconao.
    Along with a home for the pair and their children, Mapu will include loft-style accommodation for guests, extra accommodation in the form of an Airstream trailer and a restaurant in a greenhouse.

    Reading room by Marcella Reynol Arquitetura
    Participating designers imagined all of these places with timber walls, natural textures and wide windows with sweeping views of the landscape.
    MRC Arq Design created a living room with a hanging swing and a built-in desk in front of giant windows with views of the mountains, while Isabela Fraia Arquitetura designed a timber-lined dining room filled with art and bookshelves.

    Playroom by Estudio Minca and Hauzz Estudio Criativo
    A kitchen by Rodrigo Ferreira Arquitetura features an island covered in a blackboard for the children to draw on.
    There are cute bedrooms for both of the children along with a room for their cousins, and an attic playroom by Estudio Minca and Hauzz Estudio Criativo with a diorama of the planets suspended from the ceiling and a net floor.

    Children’s bedroom by Quarto das Primas, Muito Mais Arquitetura and Nina Moraes Design
    Marcella Reynol Arquitetura’s reading room features cheerful framed prints on the walls.
    A deck for barbecues designed by Leila Bittencourt, Cynthia Bento, and Flávia-Lauzana features a sunken conversation pit overlooking the scenery.

    Airstream guest house by Cajoo Studio

    “The desire for escapism is at an all-time high” say visualisers creating fantasy renderings

    Cajoo Studio visualised a compact and cheerful guest apartment in a trailer, and there are a wide variety of guest lofts designed for couples or families.
    All of the renderings share a sunshine-saturated palette, with pale timber walls and plenty of houseplants and woven pendant lampshades.

    Barbeque spot by Leila Bittencourt, Cynthia Bento and Flávia-Lauzana
    Previously held in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, this year’s Casa NaToca show is being held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
    Visitors to the online show can explore a 360-degree virtual tour and listen to audio recordings from the designers.

    Guest studio by Ana Hygino and Cau Gonçalves
    More dreamy fictional interiors renderings by architects and designers include a rock-formation hotel in Russia, an idealised holiday villa by the sea, and a hotel with a spa in Ukraine.
    Casa NaToca is online until 11 April 2021. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

    Read more: More

  • 150 Shares169 Views

    in Rooms

    Ten living rooms with statement shelving that is both practical and beautiful

    For our latest lookbook, we’ve rounded up ten living rooms that have solved the storage dilemma with bespoke shelving that define the room. This is the latest roundup in our Dezeen Lookbook series providing visual inspiration for the home. Previous articles in the series showcased designer bathrooms, colourful kitchens and living rooms with calm interiors.
    Whether they’re used as room dividers, to show off the owners’ book collection or as a hiding place for shy pets, built-in or custom-made shelves create a design statement.
    Read on for our round up of the ten best from Dezeen’s archives (plus a bonus eleventh one, above, which features the spectacular floor-to-ceiling bookcases at Olson Kundig’s Wasatch House in Salt Lake City):

    Mermaid Beach Residence, Australia, by B.E. Architecture
    The living room of Mermaid Beach Residence in Queensland’s Gold Coast region is a study in clever material use, with its concrete surfaces and timber flooring.
    The monolithic built-in wooden shelving that fills one wall creates a decorative grid-effect on top of the concrete. It rests on a stone slab above wooden storage units at floor level.
    Find out more about Mermaid Beach Residence ›

    Artist’s studio, Russia, by Ruetemple
    Architecture studio Ruetemple looked to “drawing and architecture” when designing this artist’s studio in Moscow, which is dominated by a large plywood partition that incorporates both furniture and shelving.
    As well as separating the lounge area from a workspace, the partition works as both storage space and furniture. It has a built-in sofa, shelving, and a set of steps that lead up to a suspended sleeping platform.
    Find out more about Artist’s studio ›

    Spear Building Loft, US, by Ravi Raj and Evan Watts
    This former factory in New York was renovated to create a bright, open living space. In the living room, simple built-in shelves were painted in a creamy pastel-yellow hue that harmonises with the white storage units and the fireplace.
    Rather than building the shelves into a separate wall panel, they have been attached to the white wall on one side, which creates an airy feel and helps open up the room.
    Find out more about Spear Building Loft ›

    Sierra Negra, Mexico, by Hemaa
    Two built-in shelves with wooden panelling serve a decorative function in this Mexico City living room, which has matching wooden floorboards and wood-clad walls.
    Its minimalist interior and simple colour palette, which blends beige, brown and grey hues, means the books in the shelves stand out as a splash of colour. The shelves also hold speakers and picture frames, helping to keep the rest of the room free from clutter.
    Find out more about Sierra Negra ›

    Sausalito Outlook, USA, by Feldman Architecture
    In the living room of this hillside home in Sausalito, California, Feldman Architecture added plenty of storage space for the owners’ book collection, while the white panelling in the middle hides the TV from sight.
    The walls and kitchen space next to the storage wall have been painted a matching glossy white, complemented by more natural hues such as a beige rug and brown Ligne Roset Togo seating.
    Find out more about Sausalito Outlook ›

    Mayfair apartment, UK, by MWAI
    In small apartments, built-in shelving can be the perfect space-saving solution. For MWAI’s design of a 37-square-metre home in London’s Mayfair area, it covered one wall of the open-plan kitchen and living area in a pale-wood storage unit that also includes a desk.
    Colours were kept neutral to reinforce the studio’s idea to look at the design as that of a hotel room where “all functions are carefully and discreetly planned to provide a functional response.”
    Find out more about Mayfair apartment ›

    Kew Residence, Australia, by John Wardle
    Architect John Wardle renovated his own Kew Residence home to make its wood-lined first-floor study the focal point of the house. Built-in shelves hold books and bric-a-brac on one side of the room and the architect’s art collection on another.
    Neutral wood colours were used for the shelves and the built-in reading nook in the room, where the architect said he spends “just about all his daylight hours.”
    Find out more about Kew Residence ›

    House for Booklovers and Cats, USA, by BFDO Architects
    The built-in storage in this colourful home lives up to the project name – it doesn’t just have space for books and art, but also for the owners’ two cats to hide away from visitors.
    The custom-made shelf has dozens of cubby holes while projecting shelves form a staircase for the cats to ascend to the ledge at the top, where they can sit and observe the goings-on below.
    Find out more about House for Booklovers and Cats ›

    The Hide Out, US, by Dan Brunn Architecture
    Dan Brunn Architecture renovated The Hide Out, which was originally designed by Frank Gehry in the 1970s, to pay homage to its initial simple material palette.
    In this living room and bedroom overlooking a meditation garden, the lush walnut seating nook is complemented by a built-in white bookshelf that also hides a fold-out bed.
    Find out more about The Hide Out ›

    Fin House, UK, by RA Projects
    The blue steel staircase in the middle of the living space in this home designed for fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic was designed to look “like a sculpture in a gallery.”
    As well as a staircase, the piece functions as a shelving system with multiple shelves in different sizes. Its back wall is broken up rather than solid, which lets light pass through and stops the colourful piece from feeling too solid.
    Find out more about Fin House ›
    This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing peaceful bedrooms, calm living rooms and colourful kitchens.

    Read more: More

  • 175 Shares199 Views

    in Rooms

    Note Design Studio creates colourful interiors to “break the grid” of 1930s office building

    Stockholm-based Note Design Studio used neutral colours and contrasting bright hues to reinvigorate the interiors of the Douglas House office building in London.Note Design Studio designed the Douglas House office space, which has 700 desks spread over six floors, for office developer The Office Group (TOG). It had previously designed the Summit House property for the company.

    Note Design Studio used natural materials and bright colours for the interiors of Douglas House
    The Swedish studio aimed to “break the grid” of the 14,235-square-metre 1930s office building, which has a vertical layout and red brick-facade.
    “As a building, Douglas House is very ‘rational’ in its architecture,” designer Johannes Carlström told Dezeen. “Even though it stretches quite far horizontally, it was vertical in its structure and spatial program.”

    Pieces by contemporary design brands are used throughout the space

    “We realised early that we wanted to ‘break the grid’ of the building and deliver an interior less predictable than what is expected from the industrial appearance of the facade,” he added.
    “That also related to a more abstract idea about breaking the conformity of our everyday lives, to design a place that actually shakes you up a bit when entering for your workday.”

    The studio focused on how the space would make users feel
    While many office spaces are designed to enhance productivity, Note Design Studio said its focus for Douglas House was more on creating the right feeling and mood.
    To create a space that would, in the words of the studio, bring a “gentle punch” to office design, it used contrasting colours and materials throughout the space.
    “The palette ranges from deep ochres to brisk light blues, calm chalk tones, popping reds and vivid blues,” Carlström said.

    Meeting rooms are painted in calm blue nuances
    The studio aimed to keep as much of the original details as possible but had to replace a lot of materials that were in poor condition. The original wooden floors, however, were lifted, renovated and put back into place.
    “We have worked with giving the building a more defined character by using materials that will live long together with the building itself,” Carlström said.

    A curvilinear glass wall connects the main spaces and adds privacy to meeting rooms
    A curvilinear wall made from glass blocks has been added to the ground floor to connects its three main public spaces.

    Note Design Studio includes recharge room in central London co-working space for TOG

    “It stretches through the whole building giving spatial richness to the promenade between different functions of the ground floor as well as a vivid backdrop enhanced by the activity of the meeting rooms that are blurred through the glass blocks,” Carlström explained.
    “The curve also creates unique footprints for the meeting rooms and the three communal spaces, which with a straight wall would have been more or less identical to one another in terms of space.”

    Materials such as ceramic tiles were chosen for their durability
    Other materials used for the project were chosen for their durability, as office buildings experience extensive wear and tear, and their reusability. They include steel, glass and ceramic tiles, as well as 100 per cent recyclable Tarkett IQ plastic wall and floor coverings.
    Douglas House was also given solar panels and a green biodiverse roof to further enhance its sustainability credentials.

    The Douglas House reception features a desk clad in Ettore Sottsass’ veneer
    Note Design Studio also added a number of design touches to the interior, including a reception desk in Ettore Sottsass veneer for Alpi in a striking blue-grey colour, and pieces from brands including Artrex and Muller van Severen in bright hues.
    Newly commissioned pieces from artists and designers including Jenny Nordberg, Jochen Holz, Wang & Söderström, Philipp Schenk-Mischke, James Shaw, Mijo Studio and Studio Furthermore also fill the building.

    Pale blue chairs contrast beige tiles and dark wood
    Douglas House also includes an “oxygen room” – a plant-filled space where the idea is that workers can relax and connect with nature, the “recharge room”, gym, cafe and a mothers’ room which is dedicated to nursing mothers.
    “We have worked with the whole building and designed small or big things on every square metre basically,” Carlström said. “A lot of the office spaces are done in the same manner, but the public and communal spaces all have their unique design attributes.”

    Earthy, warm hues create a welcoming feel
    Douglas House has 700 desks for over 1,000 employees and opened in November 2020. Note Design Studio thinks the final design has succeeded in creating a different kind of office space.
    “From our point of view it differs on many levels – it has a lot more expression than you normally see in an office space, a diversity of tempos and functions allowing people to choose what suits them best that specific day,” Carlström said.
    Among the studio’s other recent projects are the pastel-coloured Mantelpiece Loft interiors in Stockholm and a reusable trade fair stand for Vestre.
    Photography is courtesy of The Office Group.

    Read more: More