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      Century-old Japanese dwelling transformed into minimalist guesthouse

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      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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      Old gymnasium transformed into lofty apartment in Amsterdam

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      Wooden detailing and black-painted steel fill the lofty interiors of The Gymnasium apartment that Robbert De Goede has built within an old sports hall in the Netherlands.Located near the centre of Amsterdam, the adaptive reuse project was developed by local studio Robbert De Goede as an unconventional yet homely dwelling for a family of four.
      The Gymnasium is shortlisted for apartment interior of the year at the Dezeen Awards and was the winner of the Dezeen Awards 2020 public vote for the same category.

      The Gymnasium is built within an old sports hall

      “The objective was to design an intimate, liveable home,” said Robbert De Goede.
      “This resulted in a minimal, industrial approach towards the architecture and a very personal approach towards the finishes, which reflects the clients as well – the owner of a fashion brand and a paediatrician,” the studio explained.
      “They are a very down to earth family, which resulted in a very spacious and luxurious home, but definitely not a showroom for design props.”

      The apartment’s living spaces are at ground level
      The Gymnasium’s main living areas are contained on the ground floor, while a new mezzanine level inserted around the gymnasium’s perimeter hosts the bedrooms and bathrooms.
      A basement, which formed part of the original building, contains a gym and a sauna, alongside the dwelling’s technical equipment.

      Steel window frames have been added to complement the existing structure
      The basement was originally only 1.2 metres in height, so to ensure its usability, the studio raised its ceiling – creating a cosy, elevated living room above it at ground level.
      This living area is accessed by a bleacher-like staircase and is intended to offer the family a secluded, intimate seating area, reading space or home cinema.

      An elevated sitting area is positioned above an existing basement
      The only original element of The Gymansium that was retained was its existing steel structure, which was initially hidden behind a flat ceiling.
      This ceiling was removed as part of the construction process to create the apartment’s loft-like atmosphere and also introduce 10 skylights that maximise the light inside.

      Old Spanish workshop converted into tactile family home by Nomos

      To complement The Gymansium’s existing structure, Robbert De Goede designed the new mezzanine level with a matching black-painted steel structure.
      This is left exposed throughout, and paired with a black staircase and window frames.

      Wooden details and furnishings are used to warm the apartment
      Another key addition of the apartment is its new foundation, which features 18-metre-long piles that contain a heat-exchanging system to help heat and cool the dwelling.
      Teamed with 44 rooftop solar panels that provide electricity, this heat-exchanging system is designed to reduce the dwelling’s carbon footprint.

      A black-painted staircase leads up to a new mezzanine level
      The interior finishes of The Gymnasium are characterised by a combination of different wood finishes and tactile furnishings.
      According to Robbert De Goede, this was to warm its industrial structure and create a “building you can touch, maybe even smell sometimes”.

      The mezzanine level contains the bedrooms and bathrooms
      Among the wooden details are chunky central columns, the rough countertop made from larch in the kitchen and unfinished oak on the underside of the mezzanine level.
      The smooth stair railings, which are made from yellow cedar, are modelled on the work of Japanese sculptor Shimpei Arima who uses cedar to create tactile sculptures that offer comfort to users.
      Each space is complete with sculptural lighting by the likes of Delta Light, Bocci and Tom Dixon, alongside furnishings ranging from one-off vintage pieces to statement furniture by Stella Works, Flexform and Lucie Koldova.

      A bathroom on The Gymnasium’s mezzanine level
      The Gymnasium is one of five dwellings shortlisted for apartment interior of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2020. This includes the La Nave apartment in Madrid that Nomos built within a former print shop and Coffey Architects’ overhaul of a Grade II-listed school classroom.
      Other recent adaptive reuse projects on Dezeen include Richard Parr Associates’ self-designed studio in a 19th-century barn in the Cotswolds and an old nylon factory that was converted into “cathedral-like” office space by HofmanDujardin and Schipper Bosch.
      Photography is by Marcel van der Burg.

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      Richard Parr Associates expands own office by converting 19th-century barn in the Cotswolds

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      A run-down barn that was once used for storing grain now houses additional office space for the Cotswolds-based staff of architecture practice Richard Parr Associates.The 95-square-metre workspace, which Richard Parr Associates has monikered Grain Loft Studio, is shortlisted in the small workspace interior of the year category in the 2020 Dezeen Awards.
      It’s situated amongst the green fields of Easter Park Farm in the Cotswolds, which was created as part of the Woodchester Park Estate in the middle of the 19th century.

      Top image: the Grain Loft Studio includes a wood burner. Above: Richard Parr’s office features a pitched Douglas fir roof
      An old hayloft, cowshed, bullpen and dairy barn on the farm had already been converted into office space for the practice, but as the number of employees has begun to steadily increase, they realised they were in need of extra room.

      The practice’s eponymous founder, Richard Parr, decided to make use of an abandoned barn.

      Parr’s office looks through to a laidback workroom for staff
      Parr’s office is up on the barn’s first floor in what was formerly a loft store for grain.
      After years of dilapidation, the practice could only save one of the room’s original Cotswold stone walls – the rest have been replaced with expansive panels of glazing that offer views of a nearby National Trust park and Parr’s own family home, which is also on the farm.

      The workroom boasts rubber flooring and black leather furnishings
      “It’s been a joy to extend our studio space, providing much needed flexible workspace for our team,” explained Parr, who has found using the Grain Loft Studio particularly handy during the coronavirus pandemic when many have been forced to work from home.
      “With views out onto the surrounding valleys, the new studio has provided solace whilst working remotely from the team.”

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      The room is topped by a pitched roof constructed from lime-washed beams of Douglas fir.
      Directly beneath is a 2.5-metre-wide glass table surrounded by aluminium-frame chairs, where team members can sit and work with Parr throughout the day.

      At the back of the workroom is a timber volume that houses a kitchenette
      A doorway looks through to an informal workroom that’s meant to have a darker, cosier feel.
      The floor is clad with black recycled-rubber tiles, while the ceiling is clad with textured wood-wool panels.
      One wall has been panelled with timber salvaged from a farmhouse in a neighbouring village that was once occupied by Soviet architect Berthold Lubetkin, which Parr hopes will act as a small homage to “the pioneer of British modernism”.
      In the corner of the room is a wood burner, in front of which a black leather sofa and armchairs have been placed. A kitchenette and small shower room are contained within a grooved timber volume towards the rear of the room.

      There’s a meeting area downstairs in the barn
      An industrial steel staircase leads down to the barn’s ground floor, which was previously just used as a cart bay but can now serve as a meeting room or breakout area.
      It’s simply dressed with a couple of curved bench seats that were carved from a single tree, and a white version of Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen’s signature Tulip table.
      The practice preserved the space’s existing cobbled walls but has covered the floor in stable-block pavers rescued from another building on the farm.

      The exterior of the converted barn
      Richard Parr Associates was established in 2012 and works between offices in the Cotswolds and west London.
      The practice’s Grain Loft Studio will go head-to-head in the Dezeen Awards against projects such as 12 by Ortraum Architects, a music and ceramics studio that’s nestled in the back garden of a house in Helsinki.
      Photography is by Gilbert McCarragher.
      Project credits:
      Architect: Richard Parr AssociatesInteriors: Richard Parr AssociatesContractor: JM WestonFire engineer: Oculus

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      Atelier L2 creates modular wooden interiors for Ateliers des Capucins

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      Rennes studio Atelier L2 has installed 20 wooden boxes as modular units for shops, exhibitions and hospitality businesses inside Ateliers des Capucins, a covered square in a 19th-century arsenal in Brest, France.The Ateliers des Capucins has been shortlisted for a Dezeen Awards 2020 in the large workspace interior category.
      The studio’s brief was to design a number of shells in order to create an interior street with two floors inside the historical arsenal building, covering 5,000 square metres.

      Top: the project is located inside the 10,000 square-metres former arsenal. Above: Units with gabled roofs are slotted into the ceiling
      Atelier L2 used laminated veneer lumber (LVL) for the shells, which were designed to stand out against the metal structure and pitched glass roof of the 10,000 square-metres Ateliers des Capucins.

      Each wooden shell measures between 150 and 400 square metres, with some of the concept stores in the space using more than one.

      Some facades are as tall as 13 metres
      “In this way, the client would be able to find buyers who could convert each ‘box’ to complete the cultural and service offer,” Atelier L2 co-founder Pierre Lelièvre told Dezeen.
      The boxes are a permanent fixture of the Ateliers des Capucins – which functions as a large, covered market space – and can’t be moved.
      “Even though their appearance suggests it, the ‘boxes’ are absolutely fixed and cannot be moved under any circumstances,” Lelièvre said.
      “Their technical and structural complexity does not allow such flexibility. They are indeed equipped with all the necessary networks to host any kind of activity: exhibitions, restaurants, offices, breweries, co-working.”

      Laminated veneer lumber was used for the facades and floors
      The studio chose to use LVL made of spruce veneers for the structure of the facades and the floors, which span 10 to 14 metres, as it allowed them to create the units with as little impact on the existing building as possible.

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      “The entire design of the project was thought out with respect for natural resources,” Lelièvre explained.
      “The facing of the facades is made of spruce, the internal bracing uses gypsum boards and the insulation is made of wood wool. The floor boxes are ballasted with aggregates.”

      The wood stands out against the 19th-century building
      Windows were inserted into the facades of the wooden shells, to make them resemble many smaller houses inside the bigger building.
      The ceiling height of the huge hall space means some of the boxes have facades that reach as high as 13 metres, and gabled roofs that have been slotted into the ceiling.

      The units are used for retail spaces, offices and more
      “The use of wood was a way for us to stand out against the existing building, which is entirely made of stone and metal, while also giving an ephemeral side to our layout,” Lelièvre said.
      “We wanted to give the feeling that our project was simply set down in this historical and remarkable setting.”
      Atelier L2 is based in Rennes and was founded by Julie de Legge and Pierre Lelièvre.
      Also on the shortlist for the large workspace interior category are the monochrome interiors for KCC Office in a former factory, and The Audo hotel in Copenhagen that doubles as a showroom.

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      Old Spanish workshop converted into tactile family home by Nomos

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      Tactile bricks and pinewood partitions decorate the La Nave apartment, which Nomos has slotted into the concrete shell of a disused workshop in Madrid, Spain.La Nave was developed by Nomos as a family home for two of its partners, Ophélie Herranz and Paul Galindo, who head up its Spanish office.
      The project has since been shortlisted for apartment interior of the year at Dezeen Awards 2020.

      Wood and brick partitions divide the old workshop’s concrete shell
      La Nave was originally used as a large, open-plan printshop arranged around a structural concrete grid measuring 34 metres in length and 10 metres in depth.

      Nomos’ intervention retains this structure but converts its open layout into a continuous loop of living areas, arranged around enclosed private rooms.

      The new partitions are positioned at angles to the outer walls
      “La Nave is the transformation of an industrial space into a place for life, which takes place as a continuous sequence, with very little difference between work and family leisure,” said the studio, which also has offices in Geneva and Lisbon.
      “La Nave’s plan escapes any typological definition. It results from the search for new spatialities required by existing constraints.”

      Bricks and wood were used to warm the existing concrete structure
      Nomos’ initial plan for the apartment was to position the enclosed spaces and wet areas on the rear wall – opposite to the only facade with windows.
      However, La Nave’s existing plumbing is attached to the central concrete columns, meaning the wet areas had to be placed centrally too.

      The bedrooms and bathrooms are enclosed by the new partitions
      To achieve this while ensuring natural light could enter the depths of the apartment, Nomos positioned the wet areas and enclosed rooms in line with the central columns, but at a 45-degree angle to the outer walls.
      They are divided into two parts and set back from windows, making space either side and in between to ensuring light from the windows can pass through.

      Glazed bricks line the wet areas and bathrooms
      “The typological strategy started from the search for the optimal location of the service spaces,” Herranz told Dezeen.
      “The wet cores had to reach the downspouts, attached to the central pillars, but we wanted to move them towards the back of the space, to offer more light to the living spaces. We rotated them 45 degrees and explored the potential of the diagonal.”

      Original beams and brickwork add warmth to pared-back Madrid apartment

      The layout creates a continuous loop of shared living spaces around the perimeter of the apartment, which are used for work, play and dining.
      “We never thought of creating a large, open, loft-like space, but rather a sequence of well-defined spaces, which would give rise to multiple situations,” Herranz added.

      Bedrooms are positioned through the centre of the apartment
      By setting the private living spaces away from the windows, Nomos also made space for a “winter garden” along the window wall.
      This area doubles as a thermal buffer – a space that separates living areas from the outside to reduce dependence on artificial heating and cooling.

      The “winter garden” doubles as a thermal buffer
      The predominant material throughout the renovation is glazed brick, finished in white and cobalt blue, teamed with a pinewood framework and MDF panels.
      The materials were chosen by Nomos to complement the existing concrete structure while providing the space with a warmer and more homely atmosphere.

      Patterns are made with glazed and unglazed bricks
      “The qualities of traditional materials provide comfort and reinforce the idea of home, of domesticity, in contrast to the surrounding industrial space,” said Herranz.
      “The glazed bricks provide a note of brightness and colour typical of a more ornamental language.”

      A loop of living spaces wraps the central rooms
      The bricks were used to build most of the partitions, with their glazed sides lining bathrooms and kitchen and the unglazed faces exposed in the living rooms.
      Their glazed and unglazed sides are also alternated in places to create patterns.

      A kitchen aligns with old workshop’s existing plumbing
      The majority of furniture in the space is bespoke, designed by Nomos from pine wood specifically for La Nave.
      This includes a low-lying, circular table and coffee table made from pine, and terrazzo detailing made with old flooring that was removed from the workshop.
      Other projects that are shortlisted for apartment interior of the year at Dezeen Awards 2020 a sea-facing residence in Jaffa by Pitsou Kedem and a two-storey dwelling by Coffey Architects that is covered in thousands of wooden blocks.
      Photography is by Luis Asin.

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      Ritz & Ghougassian uses bricks and Australian wood inside Melbourne's Prior cafe

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      The rustic materiality of this Melbourne cafe designed by architecture studio Ritz & Ghougassian is meant to reflect the fuss-free dishes on the menu.Prior is situated along the lively high street of Melbourne’s Thornbury suburb, taking over a building that once served as an industrial printing house.

      Prior cafe occupies a building that was once a printing house
      When Ritz & Ghougassian were brought on board to develop the interiors of the cafe, it stripped back any decorative elements left behind from the old fit-out, only preserving the brick walls and eight-metre-high truss ceiling.

      “It was clear to us that we had to honour the original space by proposing an intervention that sat apart from the original framework of the building,” the studio’s co-founder, Jean-Paul Ghougassian, told Dezeen.

      Bricks cover the cafe’s floor and the base of the service bar
      The space now features just a handful of elements made from unfussy materials that reflect the simple “paddock-to-plate” ethos that Prior applies to its menu.
      Bricks run across the floor and form the base of the service bar that lies on one side of the room.

      Concrete and terrazzo furniture feature in Ritz&Ghougassian’s minimal cafe interior

      Apricot-hued concrete forms the upper half of the bar and the chunky ledge that runs around its outer side, providing a place for customers to rest beverages or snacks.
      The hot drinks menu is presented on a mirrored panel behind the bar. It stands beside a single shelf that displays a curated selection of wine or bags of coffee which are available to buy.

      Apricot-hued concrete forms the top of the service bar
      “Honest, elegant and refined flavours informed the built environment; by taking a reductive approach to the design both in materiality and form ultimately allowed the food to be the hero,” Ghougassian explained.
      “Rather than simply creating a slick new eatery, there’s a warmth and richness to the space, celebrating the unevenness and rough textures of the walls and floors.”

      Seating throughout the cafe is crafted from Australian Blackbutt wood
      Customers can alternatively dine at the black-steel counters that have been built into the cafe’s front windows or along the seating banquette that runs along the far side of the room, upholstered in chestnut-brown leather.
      The banquette faces onto a row of dining tables which, along with the cafe’s bench-style seats and stools, have been crafted from Australian Blackbutt wood.
      “Like much of our work, using materials that are locally sourced and manufactured is important to us – this brings about an authenticity and specificity to the design that isn’t easily replicated,” added Ghougassian.

      There’s also a brown-leather seating banquette
      At the centre of the floor plan is a box filled with timber logs and a wood burner that the studio hopes will serve as a comforting focal point of the cafe, especially during the chilly winter months.
      Surrounding walls and the ceiling were freshened up with a coat of white paint.

      A wood burner sits at the centre of the cafe
      Ritz & Ghougassian was founded in 2016 by Jean-Paul Ghougassian and Gilad Ritz. Prior isn’t the only cafe that the studio has designed in its home city of Melbourne – back in 2018 it completed Bentwood, which boasts brick-red interiors.
      In 2017, the studio also created Penta, a minimal cafe that features concrete, terrazzo and silver-metal surfaces.
      Photography is by Tom Ross.

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

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      KCC Design has completed the interior design for its own office in Shanghai, which features an exhibition space and 21 enclosed boxes for individual work in a subdued colour palette.The studio, which works in architecture and interior design as well as wayfinding, regional planning and lighting design, created the office in an old factory building that has been converted into office space.
      KCC Design designed its new office, which has been shortlisted for the Dezeen Awards 2020 in the large workspace interior category, to make a move away from open-plan working.

      Top: the KCC Office reception area. Above: the ground floor is taken up by an exhibition space
      “The most important thing is that we have been working in an open office working environment so far,” KCC Design principal and design director Marco De La Torre told Dezeen.

      “We thought it is problematic because more and more people no longer want this kind of working environment but a living environment,” he added.
      “After all, as a design company, we spend a longer time at the office, so we need to re-think how an office should be.”

      The studio wanted the office to be a “living environment”
      Though the studio was working from home in February due to the coronavirus pandemic, life in Shanghai returned to a sense of normalcy after March, De La Torre said, enabling it to come back to the office.
      “We are wearing masks for public transportation and public venues like cinemas, all other activities have returned to normality,” De La Torre said.

      On the first floor, 21 boxes function as more private workspaces
      The studio discussed how to combine ideas of “individual and independent thinking” with “collective and cooperation creating” for the design of its office.
      The solution was to divide the space into separate uses for separate floors. The ground floor of the office is the studio’s public area, which it calls its “living space”.
      This floor has meeting rooms and tea rooms for client meetings, as well as an exhibition space that can also host events.

      White and grey were the only colours used for the interior
      Upstairs on the first floor, the core office area has 21 enclosed boxes that are used as the studio’s main workspaces. They are designed to function as private work areas where team members can also feel at home.
      “This office design is for the people to feel ‘living’ here, not only as work display,” De La Torre said.

      Old nylon factory converted into “cathedral-like” office space

      KCC Design worked with a limited material and colour palette when designing the space. When it came to colour, the studio kept its office mainly white and grey, and said the reason behind its colour and material choices was simple.
      “Concrete and paint are the only two materials,” said De La Torre. “The reason for choosing such materials is their extreme plasticity. These inert materials also symbolise human wisdom and technology.”

      The office entrance features geometric shapes
      “They have no personality,” De La Torre explained. “As dead as an inorganic substance. This extreme quietness is what we need most in a noisy urban environment and an impetuous work environment.”
      “Of course, the white of the whole wall also has the meaning of white paper to the designer,” he added. “It represents the birth can be anything.”
      Describing interior and architectural design as a poetic, logical system, De La Torre said artificial space should be respected as an artefact.
      “Therefore, the space poetry of this office space is ‘we living here instead of working here now’,” he said. “And the logical principle of our interior is a ‘fluid and continuous public space’ and a ‘solid and independent private space’.”
      Many former factory spaces and warehouses have been turned into offices, including an old nylon factory in Arnhem that is now a “cathedral-like office space and a heritage building in Mumbai.

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      Old nylon factory converted into “cathedral-like” office space

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      HofmanDujardin and Schipper Bosch have inserted a steel frame into the expansive production hall of an old nylon factory in Arnhem to create the KB Building offices. The office is housed within one of several 1940s factories on a 90-hectare chemical-industry plant in the Netherlands, which local developer Schipper Bosch is transforming into a campus
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