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    Issey Miyake store in Osaka is splashed with water-themed details

    Seating that resembles bars of soap and pipe-like clothing rails appear inside this Issey Miyake store in Osaka’s Minamisemba neighbourhood, which was designed by Shingo Noma.The store, monikered Issey Miyake Semba, is shortlisted in the large retail interior category of the 2020 Dezeen Awards.
    Japanese designer Shingo Noma created the interiors to reference Osaka’s long history of maritime trade – the city’s port has been in operation since before the year 300 AD.

    The store’s exterior features a sculpture that looks like a tap

    “Linking the city of water, Osaka, with the continuous circulation of interesting ideas that bubble up from making things at Issey Miyake to the image of the store, I arrived at the design concept of a ‘fount of creativity’,” explained Noma, who is also art director of the gallery inside Issey Miyake’s Kyoto branch.
    “If you turn on the faucet, there will always be a gushing flow of interesting ideas.”
    Water-inspired decor details have therefore been introduced at every point in the store. A four-pronged silver sculpture that looks like the handle of a traditional tap has been mounted on the facade, just above the brand’s logo.

    Concrete covers most of the store’s interior
    Inside, on the store’s ground floor, garments are hung from bending metal rails that have been shaped to mimic water pipes.
    The same pipe-like tubing supports the display tables, which all feature white, glossy countertops – almost reminiscent of the inner lining of bathtubs or sinks.

    Naoto Fukasawa inserts Issey Miyake store into 132-year-old Kyoto townhouse

    Guests can relax on the white, blue and grey seating poufs that have been dotted across the room. Each one has a wide, rounded form and a raised lip running around its outer edge, emulating the shape of a bar of soap.

    The clothes rails and legs of the display tables are meant to look like water pipes
    The same fixtures can be seen down in the store’s basement, which also includes an exhibition space. At the time of opening, it showed a series of works by Japanese illustrator Seitaro Kuroda, including his various depictions of boats and ships.
    Surfaces throughout the store, including the floors, have been washed over with concrete. The ceiling and its network of exposed service ducts have been rendered in white.

    An exhibition area can be found in the store’s basement
    Issey Miyake Semba will go head-to-head against five other retail spaces in this year’s Dezeen Awards. Amongst them is high-end fashion store The Webster, which occupies a rotund, pink-concrete building in Los Angeles designed by architect David Adjaye.
    Also on the shortlist is the streetwear brand Supreme’s San Francisco store, where studio Brinkworth has installed a huge skateboarding bowl.
    Photography is by Masaya Yoshimura and Copist.

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    Nook Pod is a gabled workspace

    Dezeen Showroom: Nook has created a family of gabled private working pods that respond to changes in office environments after the coronavirus pandemic.The Nook Pod has a pitched frame enclosing chairs and benches for working.
    It comes in three arrangements including a Huddle Pod for two people, with a glass partition between them, an Open Shelter for one person, or as A Solo Booth, which involves splitting the structure in two.
    The brand envisions the pods helping companies provide extra space as people return to work.

    Nook Pods can create private workspaces within offices

    “Social distancing places pressure on the capacity of any space,” said Nook.
    “As the flow of employees gradually increases, businesses will be challenged to provide spaces that work both in terms of social distancing and everyday productivity.”

    Nook believes the pods are suitable for socially distant working
    The gabled structures are built on lockable wheels so they can be moved around easily. The modules can also be attached together in a variety of arrangements.
    “The fact that Nooks are built on lockable wheels becomes a very valuable proposition,” added the brand. “Unused and unloved corners of an office can be transformed into meeting spaces and breakout areas simply by wheeling a Nook into position.”

    Three different arrangements – Huddle Pod, Open Shelter and Solo Booth – suit different needs
    Nook Pods have a hard exterior and a textile interior for added comfort. Additional details can include added backdrops and lighting control.
    In addition to offices, Nook said the pods can be used for a variety of other spaces like in hospitals to provide doctors and nurses with a place to relax. They were also recently installed in the stadium of American football team the Las Vegas Raiders.
    “These Sensory Nooks are equipped with soothing lighting and tactile surfaces to provide neurodiverse fans with a place to relax and recharge if the atmosphere of the stadium ever becomes too much,” said the brand.
    Product: Nook PodBrand: Nook PodContact: hello@nookpod.com
    About Dezeen Showroom: Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.

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    Project #13 is an office for Studio Wills + Architects that doubles up as a home

    Studio Wills + Architects has reconfigured an apartment in Serangoon, Singapore so that it accommodates the studio’s own office and a snug home for its founder.The home and office, which Studio Wills + Architects has named Project #13, is shortlisted in the small interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards. It measures 64 square metres and takes over a 30-year-old apartment inside one of Singapore’s public housing blocks.
    Throughout the day it functions as a workspace, while in the evenings it serves as a home to the studio’s founder, William Ng.

    The office is on the left-hand side of the apartment

    “The design really started just as two distinct and autonomous spaces under one roof that can be used independently and/or interchangeably,” Ng told Dezeen.
    “One part eventually evolved as a home for me, as it minimises time spent commuting between work.”

    At the rear of the office is a tiled bathroom
    Although there wasn’t an abundance of space in the apartment, Ng and his studio first decided to section off part of the floor plan and turn it into a foyer.
    “It creates a ‘buffer zone’ between the public and private domains, and at the same time enables two separate entry points, allowing the spaces within to operate independently,” explained the studio.

    The foyer leads through into the right-hand side of the apartment, which includes a relaxed break-out area
    A door to the left of the foyer leads through the studio’s office, at the centre of which are two long work desks for staff.
    Set to the side of the room is a tall wooden volume that is integrated with storage and a tea-making station. There’s additionally a couple of shelving units for presenting architectural models.
    Towards the rear of the office is a kitchenette and a bathroom – complete with a shower – that is entirely clad with square blue-grey tiles.

    A wooden volume with in-built stairs leads to a mezzanine level
    During office hours, staff can spill over into the right-hand side of the apartment to work.
    It plays host to a relaxing lounge dressed with a plush, cream-coloured chaise longue and a lantern-style lamp that emits a warm glow.

    Up on the mezzanine, there is a contemplative tea room
    There’s another tall wooden volume, inbuilt with stairs that lead up to a mezzanine-level tea room where staff can escape for “quiet and contemplation”.
    They can also get a bird’s-eye-view of the office through an opening that has been inserted in the wall up here.
    Beyond the volume, there is an additional table and set of chairs which are used for meetings and another toilet.

    A wall opening by the tea room provides elevated views over the office
    These turn into domestic spaces for Ng after staff leave. Dinner can be enjoyed at the meeting table, the break-out area becomes a living room and the tea room serves as sleeping quarters once the seat cushions are replaced with a roll-out bed.
    Directly beneath the mezzanine there is also built-in storage for Ng’s clothes and dressing room.

    On the other side of the wooden volume is a meeting room, which can also serve as a dining area
    Ng told Dezeen that having work and home so closely interlinked has been particularly useful during the coronavirus pandemic when there have been national lockdowns, more commonly referred to as “circuit breakers” in Singapore.

    KCC Design creates monochrome office for own studio in former factory space

    “Before the circuit breaker, home was felt to be more within an office, but during the circuit breaker, it felt more like an office in the home; this was probably because the boundaries between the two shift and change with use,” he explained.
    “The dining/meeting room was a space for zoom meetings without interference from adjacent spaces; also, the foyer became a space where food deliveries and material samples could be left with no physical contact.”

    At night, the tea room transforms into a bedroom
    Studio Wills + Architects’ Project #13 is one of five small interiors shortlisted in the 2020 Dezeen Awards. Others include Single Person, a design gallery in Shanghai that’s designed to resemble a cave, and Smart Zendo, a family home in Hong Kong that’s fitted with voice-activated technology and space-saving furniture.
    Photography is by Khoo Guo Jie and Finbarr Fallon.
    Project credits:
    Architect: Studio Wills + ArchitectDesign team: Ng William, Kho KeguangC&S engineer: CAGA Consultants PteFitting-out contractor: Sin Hiap Chuan Wood WorksGeneral contractor: Wah Sheng Construction Pte

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    AHEAD Europe 2020 awards winners announced in video ceremony on Dezeen

    [embedded content]

    AHEAD is announcing the best new hotel designs in Europe today, in a video ceremony broadcast by Dezeen for the hospitality awards programme.

    The ceremony will be broadcast in two parts from 6:00pm UK time and can be viewed in order below. The most recent part of the ceremony is also included at the top of this story.
    The event is hosted by Sleeper Magazine’s editor-at-large Guy Dittrich and will feature exclusive video content from the AHEAD nominees, as well as from the judges and sponsors of the awards programme.

    AHEAD Middle East and Africa 2020 awards winners announced in video ceremony on Dezeen

    The AHEAD awards celebrate striking hospitality projects from across the world and is split into four different regions: Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia and the Americas.
    The 2020 Europe leg of the competition will review projects that have opened, reopened or launched in the continent between June 2019 and May this year.
    Last week, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD MEA awards 2020.
    Dezeen also broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Americas awards winners 2020 as part of Virtual Design Festival in June this year.
    [embedded content]

    AHEAD Europe 2020 – part one6:00pm UK time
    In the first part of the ceremony, the winners will be announced for categories including Bar, Club or Lounge, Guestrooms, Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces, Renovation & Restoration, Conversion, Resort, Spa & Wellness and Lobby & Public Spaces.
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    AHEAD Europe 2020 – part two7:00pm UK time
    The second part of the ceremony will see the winners of the Newbuild,  Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps, Restaurant, Suite, Visual Identity  and New Concept categories, and the AHEAD Europe Hotel of the Year will be revealed.

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    Frama creates ultra-minimal interiors for Juno the Bakery in Copenhagen

    Multidisciplinary studio Frama has finished this bakery in Copenhagen with off-white walls and terrazzo floors, allowing the bread loaves and pastries on offer to take centre stage.Juno the Bakery is situated in the city’s Østerbro neighbourhood, taking over the ground floor of a five-storey residential building.

    Top image: the bakery’s entryway. Above: a steel-framed counter features in the service area
    The popular bakery was originally located a couple of doors down in a shop unit that measured just 35 square metres, but staff had come to find it too difficult to work in such constricted conditions.
    This new location – which is a much more generous 120 square metres – has been designed by Frama with an open layout that fosters a “natural dialogue” between customer and staff areas, bringing the art of baking to the forefront.

    A glass box on top of the counter displays baked goods

    “The vision for the new Juno spaces was to create a seamless interlink between the traditional craft of baking and a contemporary culinary experience,” said Frama’s founder, Niels Støyer Christophersen.
    “Having more space to move is something that we’ve all looked forward to for a long time,” added Juno the Bakery’s co-founder, Emil Glaser.
    “Now, in the new space – which has a really thoughtful plan for production and movement – we can all be more efficient and more comfortable. It’s really amazing how much of a difference a few more square meters can make.”

    Customers can gather to eat around a cork and marble dining table
    Inside, the bakery is loosely split into three different zones. Beside the entryway is a service area where customers make their orders. It’s anchored by a steel-framed wooden counter, atop of which is a glass box where bread loaves, buns and Danish pastries are displayed.
    Adjacently lies a seating area, dressed with one of Frama’s Sintra dining tables – featuring a chunky cork base and a slim, round countertop crafted from yellow-tinged marble. Steel versions of the studio’s geometric Triangolo chairs have also been scattered around, along with a couple of strip lights.

    Oak doors inset with glass look through into the baking room
    Full-height oak doors inset with expansive panels of glass allow customers to peek through to the baking room, where goods headed for the oven are kept on silver-metal trolleys.
    The room’s large windows also mean passersby on the street will be able to get a glimpse of the bakers at work.

    Walls in the baking room are clad with limestone tiles
    Walls here have been clad with Mediterranean limestone tiles, unlike in the customer-dedicated areas of the bakery where surfaces have been painted a shade of eggshell white. Grey terrazzo flooring runs throughout.
    “When approaching the project we delved into an in-depth material case study, to understand what could coexist with the crafted baked goods and as well compliment them in tones and textures, according to the many artisanal processes they undergo,” added Christophersen.

    Frama uses neutral tones for Beirut concept store The Slow

    Outdoors, there’s an extra seating area. There are plans to eventually connect the old and new sites of Juno the Bakery, allowing even more room for customers to eat-in.

    The bakery also includes an outdoor dining area
    A minimalist aesthetic permeates all of the furniture pieces, skincare items and interiors created by Frama, which has been established since 2011.
    Other projects by the studio include The Slow, a pared-back concept store in Beirut that features lime-washed walls and concrete display fixtures.

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    Black dominates moody ELMNT spinning studio in Montreal

    Cycling shoes are tucked into all-black shelving in this boutique spinning studio in Montreal, Canada, designed by locally based Ivy Studio.Ivy Studio chose the material palette for the indoor cycling facility to reflect the monochrome branding of ELMNT, a boutique gym providing spaces for yoga, spin, barre and high intensity interval training (HIIT).

    Above image: Ivy Studio chose the palette to complement ELMNT’s brand. Top image: the spinning room
    Black runs heavily throughout the 1500-square-foot (139-square-metre) studio but is intended to provide a different atmosphere between the calming lobby area, with lockers and changing areas, and a spin room for “excitement and energy”.
    “Although both areas are united by the brand’s all-black colour palette, they each suggest opposing ambiances,” said Ivy Studio.

    Existing concrete beams are teamed with stained-black wood

    ELMNT’s space, which occupies the ground floor of a residential building in the city’s Griffintown neighbourhood, features exposed concrete columns and concrete floors in the lobby.
    This is teamed with built-in furniture made from black stained oak and reflective laminate.

    A curved black wall wraps around gender-neutral bathrooms
    Among these is a black wooden bench leading from the entrance door along a glazed wall and then around an existing column. A black plant pot filled with greenery is tucked into a nook on the other side of the column.

    Ivy Studio models Montreal dry cleaners on a Parisian apartment

    Facing the bench is a curved black wall that wraps around the studio’s gender-neutral changing rooms, including four showers covered in black tiles.

    Cycling shoes are stored in black shelves
    Before entering the studio, class attendees pick up their allotted spin-bike shoes – specially designed to click into the bike pedals – from black shelving. They can also store belongings in black lockers and fill up their water bottles from a cylindrical black fountain.
    The spinning room is intended to provide a more electric atmosphere.

    Red LEDs illuminate the spinning room
    “A series of color-changing LED lights span across the ceiling from one end to the other,” said Ivy Studio. “The walls are surfaced in acrylic mirrors that distort the reflections of their subjects.”
    Ivy Studio is led by architects Gabrielle Rousseau and Philip Staszeksi in Montreal.
    The firm has completed a number of interior projects in the city such as a dry cleaners that is modelled on a Parisian apartment, a grungy, tropical restaurant and a stark white boutique.
    Photography is by Alex Lesage.
    Project credits:
    Project team: Kyle A Goforth, David Kirouac, Guilaume B Riel, Gabrielle Roussea and Philip Staszeweski

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    Century-old Japanese dwelling transformed into minimalist guesthouse

    Japanese architect Uoya Shigenori stripped back and reconfigured this 100-year-old townhouse in Kyoto to create moody and tranquil interiors for Maana Kamo guesthouse.Located in the historic Higashiyama District, the hotel was designed by Shigenori for Maana Homes, the owner of a collection of luxury retreats hidden within some of the Japanese city’s old streets.

    The main living room inside Maana Kamo guesthouse
    The goal of the renovation was to preserve and expose the dwelling’s original structure while creating a minimalist retreat for quiet contemplation.
    It has been shortlisted for the hotel and short stay interior of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2020.

    Its guestroom can be adapted into a yoga space

    “Preserving and highlighting the house’s imperfectly aged beauty is the backbone of our design philosophy,” said Maana Homes.
    “The beauty and soul of a traditional Japanese townhome is in its structural elements.”

    The kitchen has a central island covered with layers of Urushi
    Prior to the renovation, Maana Kamo was in a poor condition with unsightly vinyl wall coverings, tile ceilings and broken floorboards.
    These finishes were all removed, exposing the old house’s rough, wooden structure and original walls that are made from clay.

    A double vanity features in the new moody bathroom
    These original details have been teamed with dark, moody furnishings and subdued lighting, alongside new timber walls and floors lined with traditional straw tatami mats.
    Ornament is kept to a minimum throughout, while storage spaces for the hotel staff are disguised within the walls.

    Events space opens inside revamped century-old machiya house in Kyoto

    The lack of ornament is to ensure Maana Kamo guesthouse is “visually quiet” and free from distraction, providing occupants with space to slow down and reflect.
    It also allows rooms to be easily adapted, for example, a guest room on the second floor can be quickly converted into a space for yoga and meditation.

    The decoration is limited to a few handcrafted ornaments
    One of the biggest changes Shigenori made to the dwelling was the repositioning of the kitchen from a narrow space at the rear of the dwelling to a larger area at the front.
    This made space for a large kitchen island that is covered with layers of Urushi – a traditional Japanese lacquer made of tree sap that is water-resistant –and a wall of wooden cabinetry and shelves filled with local, handcrafted kitchenware.

    The building’s original structure clay walls are exposed throughout
    Where the old kitchen once stood, Shigenori has inserted a double-vanity bathroom with a shower that overlooks a private garden at the rear of the dwelling.
    The guesthouse is complete with an oversized Japanese-style bathtub that is accessed from the living room. It has a view out to the private garden and is intended to evoke the feeling of bathing in an onsen – a Japanese bathing facility positioned around a hot spring.

    Its old and dark wooden structure has also been revealed throughout
    In 2016, Shigenori collaborated with Masashi Koyama on the restoration of a century-old machiya house in Kyoto to create an events space. Similarly to Maana Kamo, the goal of the design was to celebrate the architecture and history of the space.
    Other projects up for short stay interior of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2020 include the small Escondido Oaxaca Hotel in Mexico by Decada and Carlos Couturier and OHLAB’s extension of a rural hotel in Mallorca.
    Photos are courtesy of Maana Homes.

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    Home Studios fills 20 Bond apartment in New York with one-off decor details

    Design firm Home Studios used a medley of bespoke furniture and vintage finds to revamp this family apartment in New York’s NoHo neighbourhood.The 20 Bond apartment measures 2000 square feet (186 square metres) and is set within a building that dates back to 1925. Since the 1980s, it hasn’t undergone any significant renovations.

    Above: custom lights hang above the dining area. Top image: the apartment’s living room
    Brooklyn-based Home Studios was asked to carry out the much-needed overhaul of the dated apartment.
    Its owners – a couple with young kids – had grown to be a fan of the studio’s aesthetic after frequenting two New York restaurants it had designed, Elsa and Goat Town.
    This is, to date, only the second residential project that the studio has worked on, but founder Oliver Haslegrave says the creative process was much like developing a restaurant.

    A copper hood contrasts the kitchen’s blue-grey cabinetry

    “Like our hospitality projects, we envisioned an updated and modern space that defies the conformity of a typical residence,” Haslegrave told Dezeen.
    “20 Bond is a direct reflection of our practice in that the end product is both expressive and finely detailed, and marries contemporary and vintage influences.”

    Copper frames the apartment’s curved internal windows
    In the open-plan kitchen, a trio of ring-shaped pendant lamps made bespoke by Home Studios dangle above a walnut dining table. The nickel and brass spotlights that illuminate the central breakfast island were also crafted by the studio.
    Opposite the island is a series of cupboards painted a blue-grey hue called Pigeon by Farrow & Ball, accompanied by a custom extractor hood that’s clad in gleaming copper.

    Home Studios designs cinematic cocktail bar in West Hollywood

    Copper goes on to border the apartment’s rounded door frames and skirting boards. The metal also frames the guest bathroom’s internal window, which bows outwards to form a curved wall.

    Curved forms continue into the guest bathroom
    Curves continue throughout the rest of the bathroom, where a mosaic of tan-coloured tiles sinuously winds around the shower, tub and a seating nook which is inbuilt with a storage box for towels.
    Haslegrave says that these features are meant to act as a small homage to the shapely form of buildings created by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.

    Tan-coloured tiles serve as a backdrop to the shower and bathtub
    “The freeform curves found in [Aalto’s] work represent both a fluid motif and an engaging playfulness that we aim to incorporate in all Home Studios projects,” he explained.
    “We included images of Aalto’s Screen 100 and the Maison Louis Carré – the residential building in Bazoches-Sur-Guyonne, France designed by him and his wife, Elissa – in our initial project mood board.”

    The doorways and skirting in the apartment are also edged with copper
    More bespoke and vintage pieces can be found in the master bedroom, for which Home Studios has made a walnut and travertine headboard.
    A French floor lamp from the 1940s stands in the corner of the room, beside a boucle-upholstered armchair by LA brand Atelier de Troupe.

    A bespoke headboard and vintage French lamp feature in the master bedroom
    In the living room, two antique Danish chairs with woven leather seats have been contrastingly paired with a blocky side table by Sabine Marcelis, which is cast from candy-pink resin.
    An oak and brass shelving unit made by Home Studios dominates a peripheral wall.
    “The final product is a near-ideal extension of our process and values – a tailored place that offers its residents something special,” Haslegrave concluded.

    The nearby living area is dominated by a shelving unit made by the studio
    Home Studios was established by Haslegrave in 2009. Previous projects by the studio include the revamp of Bibo Ergo Sum, an eclectic bar in West Hollywood which takes visual cues from the early 20th-century Viennese architecture, French film posters and the 1967 film The Graduate.
    Photography is by Brian Ferry.
    Project credits:
    Architecture, interior design, furniture and lighting, styling: Home StudiosFabrication: Works Manufacturing, Shelton Studios, Zalla Studios, Anthony Hart, Anders RydstedtConstruction: Vertical Space

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