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    SODA offers model for office-to-residential conversions with Roca in Liverpool

    London studio SODA has converted a 1970s office block in Liverpool city centre into a residential building that  includes co-working and wellness facilities.

    The adaptive reuse project sees the 10-storey block, which spent decades as an office for HM Revenue and Customs, transformed into rental homes managed by operator Livingway.
    Communal spaces take up most of the ground floorRoca contains 120 one- and two-bedroom apartments, plus two floors of co-living-style amenities for residents. These include workspaces, a large kitchen, cinema room, gym and treatment rooms and a planted roof terrace.
    Russell Potter, co-founding director at SODA, believes the project can serve as a model for office-to-residential conversions in city-centre locations.
    The design includes mix of flexible lounge and workspaces”The leaps that office design has made over the past decade or two have meant that certain period properties from the 1960s and 70s are perhaps not the most desirable from a commercial point of view,” he told Dezeen.

    “But if they occupy prime city-centre locations, they can offer amazing opportunities to adapt and re-use, to reinvigorate city centres with genuinely flexible and crafted spaces.”
    A timber “activity wall” provides surfaces, seating and storageLivingway’s model is a version of co-living. By offering Roca residents access to communal spaces, in addition to their apartments, it aims to foster a sense of community.
    Many of these shared spaces can be found on the ground floor. Here, various work, lounge and dining spaces are organised around a timber “activity wall” that provides surfaces, storage and seating.
    A communal kitchen is often used for cooking classes and demonstrationsOther interior details, such as folding screens, curtains and fluted glass windows, allow the space to be casually divided into different activity zones when required.
    Sometimes these spaces host workshops or classes, allowing residents to engage with local businesses.

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    “We’re introducing an element of communal activity to act as a hub at ground floor, in a similar fashion to what’s been happening in other co-living arrangements,” said Potter.
    “It means you have the opportunity to create a genuine sense of community within a city centre.”
    The building was previously an office blockOn the apartment floors, the existing floorplates made it possible to create larger homes than typical co-living units, arranged on opposite sides of a central corridor.
    Apartments come fully furnished, with bedrooms and bathrooms separate from the living areas.
    The renovation provides 120 apartments in total”Office buildings typically have slim floor plates with decent floor spans and high proportions of glazing-to-floor area, so make ideal opportunities for residential conversion,” Potter explained.
    “Likewise, floor-to-ceiling heights don’t tend to pose an issue for residential,” he added. “Typically, commercial floor heights are higher than what you expect in residential, meaning that you get better aspects of light into the spaces.”
    The apartments are larger than is typical for co-livingLivingway offers five of these units as hotel rooms, available for short stay. But guests don’t have access to all of the communal facilities; most are reserved for residents.
    Technology plays an important role in the building management. An app allows residents to book certain rooms or sign up for workshops and classes, while digital locks allow access to be controlled.
    The communal spaces feature colours and patterns that reference the 1970sThe interior design approach reflects the building’s 1970s heritage, with furniture and finishes that don’t shy away from colour and pattern.
    Standout spaces include the cinema room, an all-red space featuring large upholstered chairs, tubular wall lights and art-deco-style mouldings.
    Across the rest of the ground floor, the exposed concrete waffle-slab overhead brings an industrial feel that contrasts with the warmth of the wood surfaces and soft furnishings.
    Standout spaces include a cinema screening roomThe homes feature a more subtle palette, with muted tones rather than white, to allow residents to bring their own personalities into the design.
    A similar level of care was brought to the outdoor spaces. These include an informal courtyard on the ground floor and the seventh-floor roof terrace, which incorporates a trio of hot tubs.
    A planted roof terrace includes three hot tubsThe project builds on SODA’s experience of designing shared spaces. The studio has designed various spaces for workplace provider The Office Group (TOG), including Liberty House and Thomas House.
    The collaboration with Livingway came about after the company reached out to the studio via Instagram.
    “It is amazing to see what a beautiful result has been produced and how much our residents truly enjoy calling Roco their home,” added Samantha Hay, CEO for Livingway.
    The photography is by Richard Chivers.

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    Uchronia founder designs own home as “love letter to French craft”

    Glossy walls, ruched curtains and oversized flower-shaped cushions characterise this eclectic 1970s-style Paris apartment, designed and owned by Uchronia founder Julien Sebban.

    Called Univers Uchronia, the apartment is in the city’s 18th arrondissement, close to the Uchronia office – a Parisian architecture and interiors studio known for its bold application of shape, colour and reflective surfaces.
    Julien Sebban designed Univers Uchronia as his homeSebban designed the dwelling as his home, which he shares with his husband and Maison Royère artistic director Jonathan Wray.
    The Uchronia founder created the apartment as an extension of his studio – “it’s truly a manifesto of our universe,” he told Dezeen.
    Colourful interiors anchor the apartmentSebban worked with local studio Atelier Roma to create all the walls and ceilings, which are either lacquered and glossy or made of matte pigmented concrete, respectively reflecting or absorbing light throughout the day.

    Finished in hues ranging from cloud-like pale blue to lemony yellow, the walls and ceilings complement the poured-in-place resin floor that spans the apartment and features a bold motif that “waves and moves in relation to the architecture”.
    A metallic island features in the open-plan kitchenThe home is anchored by a predominantly pink living space, which includes Uchronia-designed pieces such as low-slung interlocking coffee tables made from walnut burl and orange resin.
    Translucent and gathered pink curtains were paired with a geometric vintage bookshelf and a blocky but soft sofa finished in purple and orange.
    A bespoke onyx dining table was created for the home”The apartment is very colourful with ’60s and ’70s inspirations and a mix of our contemporary pieces and vintage objects,” said Sebban.
    In the open-plan kitchen and dining room, a veiny Van Gogh onyx table was positioned next to a metallic kitchen island, illuminated by a blobby seaweed-shaped table lamp.
    Ornamental jellyfish decorate the home officeA portion of the otherwise orange wall was clad with tiny, mirrored tiles. Reflected in the gleaming ceiling, the tiles have the same effect as a shimmering disco ball.
    Opposite the dining area is Sebban and Wray’s home office, characterised by a bright orange, built-in day bed topped with silk flower-like cushions and a wave-shaped backrest.
    The dwelling’s bathrooms follow a similar designAbove the bed, ornamental jellyfish were suspended like planets against a constellation of gold stars, which decorate the ombre orange and yellow wall that nods to the colour-drenched interior of the city’s Cafe Nuances – also designed by Uchronia.
    The dwelling’s bathrooms follow a similar design. Accents include dusty pink alcoves and ceramic tiles depicting underwater scenes, as well as a lily pad-shaped rug and a mirror resembling a cluster of clouds.

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    “The apartment defines the codes we have tried to develop at Uchronia over the last four years,” concluded Sebban.
    “It’s a play on colours, textures and materials, and a love letter to French craft.”
    Univers Uchronia is “a love letter to French craft”Uchronia was named emerging interior designer of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2023. The studio previously renovated a Haussmann-era apartment for a pair of jewellery designers with multifaceted furniture pieces created to mirror the appearance of precious stones.
    Various architects have designed their own homes, such as John Pawson, who created this minimalist second home in the Cotswolds in the UK.
    The photography is by Félix Dol Maillot. 

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    Galerie Patrick Seguin blends VR with physical installation to recreate Jean Prouvé house

    An exhibition at Galerie Patrick Seguin in Paris allows visitors to experience the Jean Prouvé-designed Maison Les Jours Meilleurs in both real life and virtual reality.

    The gallery is exhibiting the most significant element of the demountable prefabricated house, its load-bearing service core, in a full-scale installation that doubles as a virtual reality (VR) experience.
    The load-bearing service core is key to the design of the original Maison Les Jours Meilleurs (above and top image)Prouvé, the French architect best known for applying mass-production principles to both buildings and furniture, developed the design for the 57-square-metre house in 1956.
    Known as Maison Les Jours Meilleurs, or “better days house”, the house was designed to tackle a homelessness crisis in the French capital.
    This core is the centrepiece of the exhibition at Galerie Patrick SeguinIn the winter of 1954, temperatures dropped so low that a woman and child died from the cold.

    After being denied a request for funding to provide emergency housing, Abbé Pierre – a Catholic priest who was the founder of the Emmaüs movement against poverty – put out a plea on the radio for aid.

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    Prouvé responded immediately and, in a few weeks, had developed a design he felt could offer the solution.
    The design centres around the service core, a steel cylinder painted olive green. This provides all the kitchen and bathroom services and carries the weight of the building’s roof.
    It is installed on a full-scale sketch floor planProuvé first exhibited a prototype of the Maison Les Jours Meilleurs on Quai Alexandre-III in February 1956.
    This was described by fellow architect Le Corbusier as “the handsomest house I know of, the most perfect object for living in, the most sparkling thing ever constructed”.
    However, the model never made it to production and only a handful were ever built.
    A VR headset transforms the scene into a 3D visualisation of the houseGalerie Patrick Seguin owns the world’s largest collection of Prouvé houses, which it has installed in exhibitions around the world. In 2015, it commissioned architect Richard Rogers to put a new spin on one.
    This exhibition marks the first time the gallery has allowed a Prouvé house to be experienced in virtual reality.
    It shows the house installed on the banks of the Seine in ParisThe installation places the service core inside a full-scale sketch floor plan that reveals the house’s layout.
    A VR headset transforms the scene into a visualisation of the house, placing it back on the spot where it was installed in 1956, on the banks of the Seine.
    The photography is courtesy of Galerie Patrick Seguin.
    Jean Prouvé, Maison Les Jours Meilleurs is on show at Galerie Patrick Seguin from 14 March to 20 April 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.

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    Tigg + Coll Architects moves studio into converted Victorian mission church

    Tigg + Coll Architects has converted part of an abandoned mission church in west London into a flexible studio, with the rest of the building set to be turned into homes.

    The studio, led by architects David Tigg and Rachel Coll, has completed the first phase of a redevelopment project that will see all of the Victorian church building in Brook Green brought back into use.
    The Victorian building was previously a mission churchTaking up a third of the building volume, the two-storey Addison Studios features a first-floor workspace for the Tigg + Coll team and a ground-floor space that can be used for meetings or events.
    This ground floor has a flexible layout that can function as a single space or separate zones. It includes a kitchen with an island counter, a materials library on wheels, meeting tables and pin-up areas.
    A first-floor workspace features a restored rose window”We wanted to find a permanent home for our studio that could showcase our ethos and skill sets,” Tigg told Dezeen.

    “When we heard on the grapevine that this local landmark was up for sale and looking for someone to come in and bring it back to life, we were smitten.”
    Original steel trusses are now highlighted in turquoiseLocated in a residential area, the building is believed to be 125 years old. It had been adapted many times, with numerous extensions added, and had fallen into disrepair.
    “It had great bones but sadly had been slowly left to deteriorate, with ramshackle extensions and other alterations that took away from the simple and robust beauty of the existing building,” said Tigg.
    The ground floor is a flexible meeting and events spaceTigg + Coll’s approach was to strip the building back to its original structure and find clever ways of highlighting its history and architectural features.
    Glazing was replaced including a previously concealed rose window that is now the focal point of the building’s gabled end wall.
    It includes a kitchen with a terrazzo island counterBrickwork walls were exposed but only repaired where necessary, while decorative steel trusses were uncovered and painted turquoise to stand out against the white-washed timber ceiling boards.
    “We wanted to allow the reality of the existing building and its materiality to be central to the final finish,” said Tigg.

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    “The principle was to pair it back and make the accents very clear,” he continued. “Nothing was to be covered up if we could help it.”
    “Any existing features not being restored were either relocated to replace damaged or missing elements or left in place and infilled to create a visible collage or quasi memorial of the building’s history.”
    The new mezzanine is built from glulam timber, blockwork and steelA new mezzanine was installed to provide the first-floor workspace with an exposed structure formed of blockwork, glulam timber joists and steel I-beams coloured in a slightly paler shade of turquoise to the trusses above.
    The floor is set back from the windows, creating a clear divide between old and new while new skylights increase the overall level of daylight that enters.
    The first floor is set back from the windowsSeveral new materials are introduced on the ground floor. The pin-up wall is formed of cork, while the kitchen counter is a custom terrazzo made using some of the site’s demolition waste.
    This space allows the Tigg + Coll team to come together for group lunches, presentations or collaborative work. It also provides opportunities for both video calls and formal meetings and could be used for events.
    A cork wall provides a pin-up space”We wanted a calm office that was uplifting, inspirational and unlike a typical work environment,” said Tigg.
    “You can spend time conscientiously working on the mezzanine and then get away from the screen time with a break downstairs. It really helps with mental balance throughout the day.”
    The design aims to celebrate the building’s historyTigg and Coll founded their studio in 2008. They specialise in residential projects, across private homes, housing developments, student living and co-living.
    Past projects include House for Theo + Oskar, designed to support the needs of two children with a rare muscular disorder, and Chapter Living King’s Cross, an innovative student housing project.
    The rest of the building is set to be converted to residentialNow that they have moved into Addison Studios, the architects are set to move forward with the rest of the conversion.
    “We are in an age where it is more important than ever to showcase how the principle of retrofit can not only be a pragmatic and cost-effective choice, but also create immensely warm, characterful and beautiful spaces for working, living and just generally enjoying,” Tigg concluded.

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    Destudio inverts day and night zones at redesigned Casa Inversa apartment

    Architecture office Destudio has remodelled an apartment in Valencia for a couple of empty nesters, swapping the positions of the living and sleeping areas so they perform better for the owners’ lifestyles.

    The clients, who recently worked with Destudio to design their pharmacy in the Spanish city, invited the studio to oversee the renovation of the 150-square-metre apartment that had been their home for two decades.
    The couple’s grown-up children no longer live with them and Destudio saw this change in circumstances as an opportunity to create an entirely new and more appropriate layout.
    Destudio swapped the positions of living and sleeping areas in Casa Inversa”We worked with the owners to convince them to make a ‘tabula rasa’ of how they lived in this house for the last 20 years and find a better distribution for their actual needs,” Destudio creative director Gabi Ladaria told Dezeen.
    “It was tough for the family to recognise that every wall had to be demolished,” he added, “but when they saw the first plans and 3Ds they realised there were better ways to live in their house, being more honest with their needs in the coming years.”

    An initial survey of how the existing spaces were used informed the decision to switch the position of the private and communal areas so the main living space receives the best of the available sunlight. This act gave the project its name, Casa Inversa.
    The dining area was positioned in the corner of the living roomConversations with the clients revealed that they wanted the kitchen to be the heart of the house as this is where they spend a lot of time preparing and eating meals throughout the day.
    This informed the decision to reduce the size of the dedicated dining area by incorporating it into a corner of the living room.
    The kitchen was designed as the heart of the homeA cantilevered bench minimises the floor area used so the adjacent lounge feels more generous.
    “We use this strategy in our restaurant projects to maximise the number of diners,” Ladaria pointed out, “but here it is used to maximise the space in the other part of the corner bench where the living room is located.”

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    The studio added that the table is likely to be used infrequently, mostly when friends or family come to visit, so it was designed like a restaurant booth to make the dining experience feel like eating out.
    The kitchen opens onto a terrace with outdoor seating, while on the opposite wall a wine display backed with semi-opaque glass provides a visual connection with the adjoining utility space. Sliding glass doors can be closed to separate the kitchen and the adjacent sitting room if required.
    Sliding glass doors separate the living area and kitchenThe apartment’s three bedrooms were relocated to the opposite end of the floor plan, where they overlook the building’s internal courtyards.
    The principal bedroom and one of the guest rooms are accommodated in an angular corner that previously housed the living room. The main bedroom’s dressing area features cupboards that extend along one wall, making the most of the space.
    A material palette consisting of clay-rendered walls, oak joinery and porcelain tiles acts as a warm backdrop for the clients’ art collection.
    Clay render covers the wallsWhere possible, Destudio specified furniture from local brands, including the sofa, armchairs and the living room’s library shelving.
    Destudio was founded in 2014 by architects Gabi Ladaria and Nacho Díaz, who studied together at Valencia’s Polytechnic University.
    Other recent residential projects in Valencia include the renovation of a former fisherman’s house using geometric blue-and-white tiling and a copper-toned home in an olive grove.
    The photography is courtesy of Destudio.

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    Portal House by Svima features brass details and curved oak ribbons

    Brass ribbons line the asymmetric portals that connect the kitchen and dining room of this Toronto residence, renovated by local architecture and art studio Svima.

    The Portal House was designed for a couple who had wanted to refresh their home for 10 years, but have very different aesthetic tastes.
    Two portals connect the renovated kitchen and dining areas of this Toronto homeToronto-based studio Svima found a compromise by combining his desire for “tenebrous minimalism” and her love of “bright French country kitchens” into the design.
    The resulting “denlike cosiness” pairs dark oak across the lower half of the ground-floor spaces and clean white surfaces on the upper half.
    The curved, asymmetric portal over the deep counter acts as a pass-throughThe snaked kitchen layout is tight, so Svima curved the corners of cabinetry and counter surfaces to steal extra space for circulation.

    This theme continues to the living room millwork: a bookcase is filleted at the corner and meets the wall at an angle, while a built-in sofa beneath the window also softly angles inward.
    The other portal, mirrored in shape, forms a doorway between the two spaces”The design hinges on ‘ribbons’ flowing through the space, guiding the motion through the rooms,” said Svima.
    “The ribbons curve in areas where sharp corners would not fit, or would stop the flow of movement.”
    Brass edges around the portals were artfully installed to perfectly fit the curved drywallIn the kitchen, the curved oak doors were handmade by a cabinetmaker who created a special jig to kerf-bend the oak into a radius.
    Tiles that offer a contemporary take on Dutch Delft porcelain form the backsplash, adding small touches of blue to the otherwise neutral space.
    To add touches of colour to the dark oak and bright white palette, tiles influenced by Delft porcelain were added to the backsplashTwo portals provide connections between the kitchen and adjacent dining room, both with a mirrored asymmetric shape and edged in brass.
    One acts as a doorway, while the other over the deep counter is used as a pass-through for food, drinks and tableware.

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    “It was an artful process for the contractor to lay the brass into the wall, as it had to fit into the curved drywall perfectly with no tolerance for error,” the architects said.
    The living room, located at the front of the house, was furnished with mid-century pieces such as a chair, a coffee table and a media console.
    Dark oak flooring throughout the home’s ground floor matches the other millworkThe closed and open shelving unit organises the family’s books and possessions, and its shape allows more light to enter from a side window.
    Opposite, the built-in sofa helps to resolve an awkward space under a bay window and orients the sitter towards the TV to one side.
    In the living room, the curved kitchen cabinetry is translated as a storage unit with a filleted side”The custom sofa sweeps into the space to provide seating at precisely the right sideways angle for viewing the media unit, for lounge reading, and for gathering,” Svima said.
    The floors throughout the home match the other millwork, grounding the spaces with a rich dark hue.
    A built-in sofa under the living room’s bay window similarly features softly curved anglesSvima, founded by architects Anamarija Korolj and Leon Lai, is not the only studio that’s had to get creative with a tight Toronto floor plan.
    When Studio Vaaro overhauled a house in the city, the firm created a series of volumes with minimally detailed millwork to form kitchen cabinetry, the staircase and a feature bookcase in the living room.
    The photography is by Scott Norsworthy.

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    Eight chocolate-brown interiors that look good enough to eat

    In memoriam of the many chocolate eggs that will be consumed this Easter, our latest lookbook rounds up eight homes with tasteful cocoa-coloured interiors.

    Chocolatey brown might be the unofficial colour of Easter as the biggest driver of chocolate sales – second only to Christmas.
    But the rich, earthy hue is also proving increasingly popular among interior designers for its unique function as both a colour and a natural, able to bring a sense of warmth to otherwise minimalist spaces.
    Below are eight mouth-watering examples to feast your eyes on, including a rammed-earth house in Brazil and the renovation of a Shigeru Ban loft conversion in New York.
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring minimalist bathrooms, breakfast nooks and compact garden studios with neat storage solutions.

    Photo by Jack LovelShadow House, Australia, by Grotto Studio
    Almost all of the surfaces in this Perth cottage extension by Grotto Studio are lined in sumptuous brown timber, from the walls and floors in the bedroom to the entire bathroom counter.
    “The choice of dark timber for the interior was motivated by a desire to create a rich, intimate and immersive atmosphere,” studio founder Craig Nener told Dezeen.
    “The dark tones add depth and character to the spaces, creating a warm and inviting ambience.”
    Find out more about Shadow House ›
    Photo by Syam SreesylamChuzhi house, India, by Wallmakers
    Soil, waste and debris were used to form the spiralling walls of Chuzhi house in Shoolagiri, India, giving the interiors a rustic, earthy feeling.
    To keep the focus on the architecture, the rooms themselves are finished in matching colours with reclaimed timber floors complemented by woven and wooden furniture.
    Find out more about Chuzhi house ›
    Photo by Fabian MartinezColonia Condesa house, Mexico, by Chloé Mason Gray
    Interior designer Chloé Mason Gray sought to embrace the lack of natural light in this bachelor pad in Mexico City’s Condesa neighbourhood, shaded by large trees from the avenue outside.
    Embracing the dark and moody atmosphere, the designer chose colours and textures that would make the spaces feel “masculine, rich, and interesting” including leather, linen and textured chocolate-brown plaster.
    Find out more about Colonia Condesa house ›
    Photo by Felix SpellerMayfair pied-à-terre, UK, by Child Studio
    Adolf Loos’s modernist Villa Muller informed the dining area in this London mews house, where mahogany joinery is backed by veiny dark red marble.
    Soft light filters into the space from a glass-brick partition, blocking out the kitchen and rounding off the intimate atmosphere created by Child Studio.
    Find out more about this Mayfair pied-à-terre ›
    Photo by Gareth HackerHighbury House, UK, by Daytrip
    A more pared-back take on the theme comes in the form of this vintage 1970s Gilda sofa by Michel Ducaroy, composed of multiple segments reminiscent of a Chocolate Orange.
    It serves as a focal point in the otherwise muted living room of London’s Highbury House, paired with a blackened oak armchair by EBBA Architects founder Benni Allan and one of David Horan’s delicate Paper lights.
    Find out more about Highbury House ›
    Photo by Federico CairoliCasa em Cunha, Brazil, by Arquipélago Arquitetos
    The rammed-earth construction of this house in Brazil’s mountainous Cunha region is left exposed on the interior, creating an organic striped finish across the walls.
    Matching brown finishes feature heavily throughout the rest of the home, where ceilings are covered in wooden slats while the bathroom is defined by coppery hardware and tiles the colour of bitter chocolate.
    Find out more about Casa em Cunha ›
    Photo by César Béjar StudioCasa Los Tigres, Mexico, by César Béjar Studio and Fernando Sánchez Zepeda
    Dark wood panelling helps to hide doors and storage inside the Casa Los Tigres beach house on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, designed by César Béjar Studio and Fernando Sánchez Zepeda.
    It encircles the lower portion of the living spaces and develops the bedrooms almost entirely, paired with pale stone flooring and pared-back accessories to create a calm refuge.
    Find out more about Casa Los Tigres ›
    Photo by David MitchellTribeca loft renovation, USA, by Timothy Godbold
    New York interior designer Timothy Godbold was responsible for renovating this loft in a historic Tribeca textile factory, originally converted by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning Japanese architect Shigeru Ban in 2019.
    The former TV room now functions as a home office and bar, with a low-slung chestnut-brown sofa helping to warm up the otherwise neutral colour palette while wall reliefs informed by 1970s sci-fi spice up the walls.
    Find out more about this Tribeca loft renovation ›
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring minimalist bathrooms, breakfast nooks and compact garden studios with neat storage solutions.

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    Tigh Na Coille cottage receives “Scandi-Scot” makeover

    Hospitality company Wildland and Swiss designer Ruth Kramer have converted a former manse in the Scottish Highlands into a holiday cottage featuring a mix of classic Scandinavian furniture and traditional Caledonian details.

    Tigh Na Coille, which is Gaelic for “house in the forest”, is a four-bedroom property on a wooded hill overlooking Loch Ness in the Cairngorms National Park.
    Tigh Na Coille is a holiday home in a former manseThe 19th-century stone building was carefully restored and refurbished with help from Kramer, who has worked with Wildland on several of its historic properties.
    Kramer coined the term “Scandi-Scot” to describe the way these buildings seek to combine Scandinavian simplicity with a playful take on Scottish heritage.
    A Papa Bear armchair by Hans J. Wegner stands in the lounge”Scandi-Scot is about creating a clean and modern aesthetic that weaves in elements of Scottish craftsmanship,” she told Dezeen. “Everything is calm and natural, the colours don’t scream at you and the furniture is comfortable like you’re at home.”

    Tigh Na Coille was once a manse – a dwelling created for the Christian minister of a now-ruined church that stands on the grounds. The heritage-listed building was modernised by a previous owner and had lost much of its original character.
    Several fireplaces were uncovered during the renovationKramer preserved the layout of the rooms but the interiors were stripped back and redecorated, with original features reintroduced to bring an authentic feeling to the spaces.
    The house is located on the Aldourie Castle estate, which Wildland renovated at the same time.
    The interior scheme combines Scandinavian and Caledonian referencesThe refurbishment merges the Scandi-Scot aesthetic with nods to the castle’s more traditional decor. Modern carpets and softwood flooring were replaced with oak floorboards salvaged from the castle, which add warmth and tactility to the spaces.
    Several of the beds were also sourced from the castle and were refurbished by local joiners, who created new parts for the four-poster frames.

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    All of the bathrooms were completely remodelled and the kitchen was brought up to modern standards, with a new island unit providing an additional worktop in the centre of the room.
    Fireplaces uncovered during the renovation were carefully restored along with the property’s existing doors and windows, which were redressed to preserve their original appearance.
    The bedrooms feature dramatic four-poster bedsOver the years, various sections of the cornicing and architraves around the rooms had been replaced, so new parts were produced using mouldings taken from the original plasterwork.
    According to Kramer, roughly half of the furniture was sourced second-hand and given a new life through bespoke joinery or reupholstery. The majority of the remaining pieces are vintage designs that add to the timeless feel.
    “The ambition is that people walking into the house shouldn’t be able to tell what is new versus what is original,” she added. “We’re going for an ageless look that will also become better over time rather than being fashion-led.”
    Many of the furnishings were salvaged from the nearby castleThe centrepiece of the dining room is a vintage wooden table surrounded by midcentury chairs that were sourced at an auction and reupholstered using linen fabric and leather for the armrests.
    Every Wildland property features one of Kramer’s favourite furniture designs, the Papa Bear armchair created in 1951 by Hans J. Wegner and produced by PP Møbler.
    At Tigh Na Coille, the chair sits in a corner of the living room where it has a view of the fireplace. A wall-mounted lamp provides gentle illumination for reading.
    The cottage is set on a wooded hill overlooking Loch NessKramer collaborated closely on the project with Wildland co-owner Anne Holch Povlsen, the wife of Danish businessman Anders Holch Povlsen who made his fortune in the fashion industry with brands such as Bestseller.
    Wildland owns three large estates in Scotland on which it operates hotels and self-catering accommodation as part of its 200-year vision to preserve the landscape and contribute to local communities.
    The group’s other properties include a formerly derelict cottage that was transformed into a pared-back holiday home by Edinburgh-based GRAS architects, and another converted manse that was converted into an art-filled guesthouse.
    The photography is by Fran Mart.

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