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A pared-back concrete showroom with an arched glass-brick ceiling sits next to a historic salon filled with collectible design at fashion brand Acne Studios’ latest headquarters, designed together with Stockholm-based Halleroed. Located in an up-and-coming area of Paris’ 10th arrondissement, the Acne Studios headquarters is in a historic 18th-century hôtel particulier – a type of […] More
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A historic neo-gothic rectory in New York’s Harlem has been given new life by Brooklyn-based GRT Architects, through highlighting the building’s arched windows and lining spaces with reeded oak panelling. More
A 1969 school building in Singapore with “modern tropical” architecture has been converted into New Bahru, a shopping and dining location by local studios FARM and Nice Projects. More
A neutral colour palette unites the restaurant, bar and shop within a former interwar cinema and 19th century stables in Prague, which has been converted by local studio Neuhäusl Hunal.
Named Alma, after the cinema that used to occupy the site, the 800-square-metre space was renovated by Neuhäusl Hunal.
Understated lighting accentuates the original features of the cafe spaceThe ground floor was converted into a restaurant alongside a cafe, wine bar, wine shop and garden area, while the basement level contains a bar – which doubles as a nightclub – a function hall, a fermentation room and a room dedicated to wine tasting.
A colour palette dominated by sober, earthy tones was used to instil a laid-back yet refined atmosphere, which is the hallmark of all of operator Kro’s locations. As well as uniting various functions and purposes, the design scheme ties various architectural styles together, as the site contains a myriad of structures from a range of time periods.
A wine shop is found on the ground floor”The Alma project is housed in three buildings – the many-times-rebuilt classicistic house and the former stables in the courtyard date back to the 19th century,” Neuhäusl Hunal told Dezeen.
“The Alma cinema – which houses the restaurant today – was completed in 1924.”
“There was no significant interior work to react to – except, of course, for the original historic structures and vaults, which we wanted to let shine,” the studio continued.
The restaurant has both wooden and metallic furnishingsRepeated elements found throughout the interiors include unobtrusive lighting fixtures, which serve to provide task and ambient lighting as well as to highlight the space’s original features, and tiled walls, which gradually darken from a light beige in the cafe to a dark tone in the subterranean bar.
In contrast with the overall muted interiors, graphic designer Jan Horčík created a bold wayfinding system characterised by chunky uppercase lettering displayed on illuminated light boxes.
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“The sober interior is complemented by funky lightboxes, which illuminate it with their novel colours, formulations and graphic design,” said the studio.
“Alma works from morning to night: the day starts in the cafe, lunch and dinner can be sorted out in the restaurant, and then move on to the wine bar for a drink – this naturally corresponds to their designed character, colour, and atmosphere,” it continued.
“Logically, we treat brand-new constructions and historic ones differently – an interesting problem arises in the transitions between these spaces.”
The bar has an intimate atmosphere thanks to its vaulted ceilingNeuhäusl Hunal has completed a number of projects in the Prague, including an apartment for a sculptor that doubles as a workshop.
Other recent adaptive reuse projects published on Dezeen include a guesthouse in Transylvania that used to be a church and a city hall inside a former maritime structure in the Netherlands.
The photography is by Radek Úlehla.
Project credits:
Client: Alma PragueBuilding contractor: AversProject documentation: LZ atelierGraphic design: Jan HorčíkArt blacksmith: Peter Demek (DEMO Works)Lighting supplier: BulbCeramic tiling supplier: KeraservisGastro: Kitchen PlanPlants: Pokojovky
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Romanian studio Modul 28 has updated and extended the rectory of a church in Transylvania, transforming it into a guesthouse that “balances preservation with innovation”.
Located in the village of Curciu, the building was renovated as part of an initiative led by the Fortified Churches Foundation, which exists to preserve the region’s large number of fortified churches dating from the 13th to 16th centuries.
The converted chapel and rectory contains a guesthouseRather than turn these sites into museums, the programme looks to introduce “contemporary functions” that will reintegrate them with the surrounding communities, Modul 28 said.
At this site in Curciu, the studio has converted the adjacent rectory and chapel into a guesthouse, while the large church at the centre of the site remains open to the public.
The main living area is housed within the old chapel’s apse”The initiative is based on the belief that turning heritage buildings into museums does not serve their long-term wellbeing, especially in the case of secondary importance constructions such as annexes,” said architect Andra Nicoleanu.
“The design process for this project could be characterised by a meticulous approach that balances preservation with innovation, drawing inspiration from the historical and architectural context of the site,” she told Dezeen.
Doorways and window shutters have been updated with pale woodA series of minimal and reversible alterations were made to the existing rectory, creating space for a double bedroom alongside a kitchen and dining area.
Projecting out of the site’s boundary wall, the polygonal apse of the former chapel now houses the main living area. Three gothic windows surrounding this space, which had been partially destroyed, have been restored with thin-profile metal frames.
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The old rectory has been replastered and its doorways and window shutters have been updated with pale wood, contrasting the rough masonry exterior of the chapel and the gatehouse.
“Our proposal, especially for exterior interventions, emphasises reversibility and the temporary nature by utilising lightweight materials, namely wood and metal inserts,” explains Nicoleanu.
“Essentially, this approach serves as an exercise in contemporary materiality, contributing to the contrast between what already exists and what is currently being constructed,” she added.
A temporary timber structure sits beside the guesthouseA temporary, pavilion-like timber structure tucked between the guesthouse and the site’s external wall provides bathrooms, with a shower lined with yellow corrugated metal.
“The most significant gesture in the design was perhaps the decision to add a temporary construction to the exterior, that arises from the desire not to alter the volume of the interior spaces,” said Nicoleanu. “Although it fits contextually, in terms of plan resolution and resulting image, it stands out through contrast.”
A shower is lined with yellow corrugated metalAnother recent project involving renovations of historic church buildings include the repair of a 12th-century structure in Slovenia by local practice Medprostor, designed as a space “between a ruin and a reconstruction”.
In London, Tigg + Coll Architects converted an abandoned mission church into its own workspace and, on the Isle of Sheppey, Hugh Broughton Architects transformed a 19th-century church into a community hub.
The photography is by Vlad Pătru.
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