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      Kith creates “industrial ambiance” for its Williamsburg store

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      American clothing brand Kith has created a flagship store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that uses brick, wood and steel to reference the industrial history of the neighbourhood.

      Designed by Kith’s founder Ronnie Fieg and the brand’s in-house team of architects, the Williamsburg location is located in the Gensler-designed 25 Kent Plaza office building, where Kith also has its corporate offices.
      Kith designed a store for its apparel in WilliamsburgThe design takes elements that carry through some of the other Kith stores, such as marble finishes and metal fins, and adds details that situate it in the context of Williamsburg.
      These include a massive circular structure at the heart of the store that is covered with red brick on the outside and lined with white oak inside. The piece was custom-made at a nearby, undisclosed wood workshop.
      It features a central structure made of brick and woodThis central element has a domed wooden ceiling with a wooden column and circular light fixtures that radiate out towards the edges concentrically.

      A number of sloping arched voids in the structure have metal-lined undersides and provide an entryway on two sides and display cases for the brand’s collection of sneakers on another.
      “We constructed the central dome completely from scratch and created the exterior from the same exact bricks used on the outside of the main building so it feels very cohesive as you enter,” said Fieg.
      “Every inch of that dome is custom which meant our precision down to the last minute detail was crucial.”
      “Outfitting the interior with rounded wood panels, shaping the footwear shelves to sit flush within the windows, every detail was poured over.”
      It steps down from an outdoor plazaOutside the circular area, the lights radiate perpendicularly, like sun rays, towards the walls.
      The perimeter of the store is lined with metal fins that block the sun from the glass-lined eastern exposure while also creating a massive logo when viewed from outside.
      Also lining the perimeter of the store are custom wooden clothing racks.
      A custom mosaic was placed in the floorPolished concrete flooring runs through the space, which steps down from the public plaza at the centre of 25 Kent.
      The designers oriented the entrance towards the plaza and placed garden boxes in the corners of the store to better connect it with the public space outside.
      Marble clads the snack bar”The industrial ambiance is balanced with lush oak trees outside, and an abundance of greenery spread throughout the store,” the brand said.
      The Kith Treats Area at the entrance – where a combination of ice cream and cereal are served – was lined with Rosa Aurora marble and has a to-go window that opens up to the plaza.
      The wooden elements were custom made nearbyA wall of stainless steel panels separates the treats area from the retail space, while the walls opposite the street-facing glass are matte concrete with wooden insets for further display and service areas.
      On the floor, Kith installed a brand logo made of mosaic tiles.

      Snarkitecture adds Nike Air Max chandelier to Kith streetwear store in Parisian mansion

      It is the third store in New York City for the brand, which was founded in 2011, and creates apparel for men, women and children.
      To celebrate the opening, the brand launched a sneaker with footwear companies Clarks and Adidas.
      It is in a Gensler-designed building in WilliamsburgThis is the twelfth store opened by Fieg, who moved to Williamsburg himself with his family in 2017, and the Kith headquarters there in 2021.
      “The restaurants, the shops, the people, and the atmosphere make it a very special area in New York and were all factors in us moving our brand HQ there in 2021,” he said.
      “It’s my home, our team’s home, and it only made sense for us to make it a home for our community.”
      Many of Kith’s prior locations, in Miami and Los Angeles, for instance, were designed by designer Daniel Arsham and his studio Snarkitecture.
      In both the Paris and original downtown Brooklyn locations, Kith installed chandeliers made up completely of Nike Air Max sneakers.

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      Printed textiles are “not just an accessory but something that can create a space” says Marimekko creative director

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      Bold colours and prints can enhance interiors in the same way as architectural details, argues Rebekka Bay of lifestyle brand Marimekko in this interview.

      Bay was appointed creative director of the Finnish design firm in 2020 having previously held top roles at fashion brands including Everlane, Cos and Uniqlo.
      Founded in 1951, Marimekko is known for its bright and bold prints that are applied to clothing, ceramics and homeware.
      Bay talked to Dezeen about how printed textiles can add spatial design to interiors. Photo courtesy of MarimekkoMore than just decorative pieces, Bay believes Marimekko’s patterned surfaces can be used as features to define and create interior spaces.
      “Often printed textiles are confused with this idea of just being like a drape or a tablecloth, but really when we develop printed textiles at Marimekko we see them as architectural elements, something that can also add spatial design or architectural elements to your home,” she told Dezeen.

      “They are not just an accessory, but actually something that can create a space.”
      Marimekko collaborated with IKEA on a homeware collection informed by wellbeingIn the wake of coronavirus lockdowns, the ability of colourful prints to improve wellbeing and happiness in the home has become increasingly valuable, Bay added.
      “The role of the home is increasingly important because we have all been forced to relate to what our home environment is and how it supports our wellbeing,” she said.
      “There is a renewed understanding of the importance of creating a home environment that will allow you to both rest and re-energise.”
      “Being surrounded by bold beauty is something that evokes happiness or optimism,” Bay continued.
      References to Marimekko’s and IKEA’s Nordic heritage are seen throughout their collaborationPicking up on this trend, Marimekko recently collaborated with Swedish furniture retailer IKEA to create a homeware collection named Bastua, which includes furniture, glassware and textiles informed by nature and the self-care rituals of the Nordic sauna.
      Drawing on the brands’ Nordic heritage, the Bastua collection features practical home objects made from wood and glass.
      Bay said the collaboration aimed to focus on circularity and longevity.

      “I don’t end up with beautiful objects right away” says Jorge Penadés

      “What we share both at Marimekko and IKEA is that in the design process, we are concerned with how to design for circularity, how to design for longevity, how to design objects of timeless value and also multi-use objects,” she said.
      “Our intent in this collaboration was to design objects that will have this timeless value, both in terms of the design but also in terms of material.”
      “We have worked in very honest natural materials with glass and wood and other materials that improve over time and also focused on how the materials can be either recycled or upcycled.”
      The rhubarb leaf is a repeated motif in the Bastua collectionMarimekko developed brand new prints for the Bastua collection, including a large rhubarb-leaf design that references the plants often found growing beside sauna buildings in Finland.
      This print was applied to bath robes, seat cushions, shower curtains, trays and the iconic IKEA carrier bag.
      “Functionalism and pragmatism joins this idea of celebrating everyday objects, which is very much a product of Marimekko’s mission – to bring joy to people’s everyday lives,” said Bay.
      “I think for Nordic designers, we have strong design traditions in creating very beautiful but very functional, democratic design.”
      Bay believes bold, colourful prints can add happiness to the homeIn addition, she emphasised a desire to inject an element of humour into the designs.
      “At times it’s very subtle and very serious, but I think what is unique to both Marimekko and IKEA is this intent also to bring a smile or a wink,” she continued.
      “There’s something outside of the seriousness, wanting to develop truly high-quality, timeless design but also wanting to bring this little wink.”
      Bay enjoys creating collections that “bring a smile or a wink”Marimekko has accrued a large portfolio of prints over its seven decades of production and still reproduces archive designs.
      The brand’s historic prints are used to inform new print designs that it hopes will resonate with modern consumers.
      “I think there’s always this danger if you only look back that you end up being self-referential, or you end up being an archive or a museum piece,” said Bay.

      Sabine Marcelis and Marimekko product launches and talks feature today at IKEA Festival

      “I would hate to create something of only museum value and not create a proposal for the future,” she added.
      “There is this always looking back in order to look forward, always understanding what has resonated, what has broad relevance and then see if we can reposition or refocus that.”
      Other projects recognisable for their bold textile designs that have been featured on Dezeen include a collection of upholstery fabrics informed by Iranian culture and an exhibition that celebrates a 1940s print by using it to cover walls and seating.
      The photography is courtesy of Inter IKEA Systems BV unless otherwise stated.

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      Johannes Torpe Studio creates “hedonistic” restaurant in Copenhagen

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      Danish design studio Johannes Torpe Studio added natural materials and metallic accents to the interior of Copenhagen restaurant Levi, which was informed by Italian and Japanese cuisine.

      Designed by Johannes Torpe Studio in collaboration with restauranteur Copenhagen Consepts, The Levi restaurant was created as a tribute to Italian grappa distillery Romano Levi.
      Organically-shaped chrome wall lights create an accent wall”Romano Levi was the inspiration behind the concept of creating the hedonistic atmosphere, which the restaurant invites to enjoy,” studio founder Johannes Torpe told Dezeen.
      “We also used his drawings as a foundation and inspiration to create the logo, brand colours, menu and livery paper textures, as well as when choosing the tableware and cutlery.”
      The bar has a green marble countertopDescribed by the studio as “daring and lively”, the interior design aims to create an indulgent setting that reflects the restaurant’s fusion menu.

      Johannes Torpe Studio added a U-shaped bar at the entrance of the restaurant, which features a green marble counter topped with a polished stainless steel glass rack and conical uplights.
      “We are very much in love with the classic Milanese restaurants, where the whole atmosphere is hedonistic, and everything starts in the bar with an aperitif,” Torpe said.

      Elements inside Copenhagen restaurant Hverdagen are made from a single Douglas fir tree

      Custom-made chrome wall lights with organic shapes create an accent wall, designed to add a playful juxtaposition to the natural finish of the larch wood used for built-in furniture and to cover beams and columns.
      Terrazzo flooring in shades of cream, green and deep green was arranged in geometric patterns to help define seating areas.
      Larch wood clads the beams and columns”There is no doubt that the use of chrome elements on the bar, walls, tables, and chairs with wool fabrics is a sharp contrast to the plasterwork around the kitchen area, as well as the consecutively used deep brushed larch wood that is going through the whole restaurant,” said Torpe.
      “The combination of these materials adds a warm and soft element that has Japanese as well as Danish design roots,” he added.
      “We aspire to guests getting the feeling of being in a third space, a feeling of travelling, a break from everyday life and giving that immersive experience a great restaurant should do.”
      The bathroom was finished in peach coloursAlongside the restaurant, the bathrooms were finished in monochrome peach tones with strip lighting around the ceiling perimeter highlighting the ribbed surface of the walls.
      Other restaurants completed in Copenhagen include a cosy Michelin-starred restaurant finished in dark earthy tones and an eatery with furnishings and fixtures made from Douglas fir wood.
      The photography is by Alastair Philip Wiper.

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      Khaite flagship store designed as a “tribute to the cultural legacy of SoHo”

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      American fashion brand Khaite has opened its first flagship store in SoHo, New York City – a cement-trowelled and steel-lined interior with an evergreen tree planted into its shop floor.

      The store was designed by Khaite’s founder and creative director, Catherine Holstein and her husband New York-based architect, Griffin Frazen.
      The Khaite flagship store is located in SoHo, New York CityIt occupies a Corinthian column-fronted building in SoHo, capped with Italianate cast-iron modillion cornices, designed by German architect Henry Fernbach in 1871.
      Holstein and Frazen wanted to encapsulate the cultural legacy of the SoHo location with the area’s connection to the founding of the brand.
      It was designed by Khaite’s founder and her husband”Every element of KHAITE is shaped by New York, and we set out to make this space a tribute to the cultural legacy of SoHo,” said Holstein.

      “When I moved to New York twenty years ago, this block of Mercer was my entry point to the city, and SoHo is where KHAITE was born. Our first design studio was just down the street.”
      The couple looked to encapsulate the legacy of its locationThe entire 371 square metre ground floor of the store was dedicated to retail space while the building’s basement was reserved for back-of-house workings as well as a private meeting area.
      Holstein and Frazen’s approach saw the store clad in city-characterising materials such as steel, glass, poured concrete, troweled cement and plaster, which bring an industrial and monolithic look to the space.
      Cement, concrete and steel were used throughout the storeFour curving steel partition walls meander through the length of the retail space and are used to conceal and frame Khaite’s ready-to-wear collections that are displayed on curved display rails.
      The four steel walls are visually separated by a channel of light from one of two skylights at the rear of the store that was exposed during its renovation.

      Fabric arches divide Jonathan Simkhai store in SoHo by Aruliden

      A focal feature of the store is an evergreen Bucida Buceras tree, which was named the Shady Lady and planted into the floor beneath the rear skylight.
      As light enters and flows into the space from the skylights the rough and textural quality of the cement-trowelled walls is revealed.
      Skylights were uncovered during its renovation”The design was conceived in terms of material – choosing the right materials and working with them in the right way to satisfy the programmatic requirements,” said Frazen.
      “We leaned into elemental qualities like natural light, preserving the scale and openness while creating intimate spaces.”
      A tree was planted into the floor of the store”We embrace the change of materials like steel and concrete just as you would leather and cashmere, honoring them by allowing them to wear in gracefully,” said Frazen.
      “Each piece has unique textures, and rather than polishing away or painting over them, we preserved imperfection.”
      It has an industrial lookThree fitting rooms were designed to contrast the brutalist details of the store and were blanketed in a deep red, fitted with plush red carpeting and warm lighting.
      Minimal furniture was placed throughout, such as a Sing Sing chair by Japanese designer Shiro Kuramata that sits beside a twisted, low-lying shelf used to display the brand’s accessories.
      The basement contains back-of-house operationsBefore opening to the public, the store was used as the setting for Khaite’s Autumn Winter 2023 show which was presented in February.
      Nearby in SoHo, design agency Aruliden completed a store interior for fashion brand Jonathan Simkhai that incorporated cut-out shapes from Simkhai’s clothing into partitions and furniture.
      Design firm Crosby Studios teamed up with AR technology company Zero10 to create a pop-up store also in SoHo that allows people to try on virtual clothes.

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      Amsterdam apartment block features cupboard bedrooms

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      Dutch design studio Blom Interieurs has created playful interiors with cupboard bedrooms for Shift Architecture Urbanism’s Domūs Houthaven residential complex in Amsterdam.

      The complex, which contains 235 compact rental apartments, was created to provide high-density living, utilising space and materials effectively.
      The 235 apartments in Domūs Houthaven contain cupboard bedroomsEach apartment contains a bedroom cupboard with built-in shelves and under-bed drawers. The sleeping cupboard can be closed off from the living space with perforated steel folding doors.
      “Close the doors and your whole apartment becomes your living room; open them at night and you have a huge bedroom,” Shift Architecture Urbanism partner Oana Rades told Dezeen.
      Each apartment features a “smart-living core”Designed by Shift Architecture Urbanism, individual apartments range in size from 43 to 60 square metres, with colour-blocked modular units arranged according to the building’s floor plan. 

      At the heart of every apartment is a “smart-living core” – a central cell comprising a kitchen, box bedroom, bathroom and storage space. By incorporating floor-to-ceiling storage, the studio maximised the space.

      Shift Architecture Urbanism adapts historic Dutch monastery for ageing residents

      Blom Interieurs oversaw production and assembly of the “smart-living core” modules and the fixed furniture in the common areas.
      The bedroom cupboard doors were the most challenging aspect, the studio told Dezeen. “For such daily intensive use, the doors had to be sturdy and robust and at the same time easy to operate. Our solution was steel.”
      Domūs Houthaven residents have access to shared living spacesThe steel doors, pale laminate floors, untreated concrete ceilings and white walls were designed to contrast with the brightly coloured furnishings and modular units.
      As well as their individual apartments, residents have access to shared co-working, living, cooking, utility and garden spaces. Shift Architecture Urbanism designed the communal spaces to encourage interaction between residents and “prevent loneliness”.
      “The communal spaces are designed to feel homely, as an extension of one’s own private apartment,” said Rades.
      Built-in furniture can be seen throughout the communal areasBuilt-in furniture features throughout the multifunctional living area, including a wood-lined seating area that doubles as a bookcase. 
      Separating the living and the co-working spaces is a small kitchen unit lined in pastel-green ceramic tiles. A large television sits in a wooden cabinet that acts as a room partition while also providing further storage and open shelving. 
      “Four large pieces of furniture act as room dividers, differentiating the large open space into smaller ones that feel intimate,” Rades explained. 
      The internal layout is organised to maximise available spaceThroughout the project, the studio aimed to use a variety of colours, patterns and materials. Doors and window frames in pastel tones match the curtains in each of the apartments, while recessed window ledges provide informal seating areas. 
      “[We used] a rich complementing material palette with contrasting tactile and graphic appearance,” said Rades.
      “The material palette is very diverse: from bamboo and wood veneer to corrugated steel plates to ceramic tiles and terrazzo.” 
      The studio set out to use a bright, playful colour paletteA pavilion on the roof contains a communal kitchen that functions as a cooking studio, with a central island clad in turquoise tiles and a contrasting long red dining table. 
      A speckled grey seating ledge runs below the wraparound glazing, which provides views of the surrounding area and skyline beyond.
      Shift Architecture Urbanism used a range of materials throughout the projectOther recent projects by Shift Architecture Urbanism include an adaptation of a historic Dutch monastery for ageing residents and the renovation of a derelict four-storey home in Rotterdam, replacing brickwork with glazing to create two light-filled apartments.
      The photography is by Pim Top and Rob Lipsius. 

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      Studio Giancarlo Valle transforms historic Stockholm cinema into tactile rug showroom

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      Interior design firm Studio Giancarlo Valle has turned an early 20th-century cinema in Stockholm into a showroom for rug company Nordic Knots, restoring its original stone details and adding warm wood and brushed steel.

      Mottled green marble covers the walls of the 150-square-metre showroom, which is located in the central Östermalm area of Stockholm.
      As part of the revamp Studio Giancarlo Valle restored the existing marble – a traditional Swedish type of stone called Kolmårdsmarmor – as well as the building’s grand central staircase.
      The showroom is located in a former cinema in ÖstermalmThe studio also added more contemporary touches, such as brushed stainless-steel details and walnut and oak furniture.
      “The interior is historic and we wanted to preserve the architectural details, so we restored the terrazzo and plaster,” studio founder Giancarlo Valle told Dezeen.

      “The building is a 20th-century former movie theatre and it was critical to maintain a sense of grandness when entering the space,” he added.
      Green marble from Sweden clads the wallsNordic Knots’ co-founder Liza Laserow wanted the interior to feature as many of the original details in the 1918 building as possible.
      “During the demolition of some old closets, we discovered the original floor to the building from the early 1900s – a muted green terrazzo with a red and white checkerboard,” Laserow told Dezeen.
      “Discovering the original flooring made us realise that we wanted to use terrazzo throughout, as the green colour in the original terrazzo matched the green marble on the walls perfectly.”
      The brand managed to find a Swedish company that could replicate the original terrazzo to cover the entire floor area.
      Rugs designed by Giancarlo Valle decorate the spaceThe stone floors and walls are complemented by a variety of natural materials.
      “To balance out the existing stone and terrazzo, we brought in warmer, more tactile materials like pine, oak, and walnut,” Valle said.
      Oak and walnut shelves decorate the walls of the Sample Bar, a room where customers can see samples of different Nordic Knots rugs, and where Studio Giancarlo Valle introduced custom-made oak lounge chairs.
      The Sample Bar features wooden shelving and steel furnitureValle also added brushed-steel touches to the Nordic Knots showroom, including on its custom-made steel and walnut coffee bar in the main gallery area and a table in the Sample Bar.
      The furniture throughout is designed in reference to the building, such as the curved front of the coffee bar that reflects the shape of its doorposts.

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      Laserow and co-founder Fabian Berglund had previously worked with Valle on a series of rugs for the company, which resulted in four designs, including an all-beige rug with a pattern of open hands and a red rug with flower buds on it.
      These are used to decorate the walls and floors of the showroom.
      Meeting rooms are located in the back of the buildingAt the back of the building sit the company’s meeting rooms and office spaces, which feature wooden furniture and a colour palette of saturated blues and mustard yellows.
      “The new interiors very much honour the building’s history,” Valle said.
      “We were careful to preserve the historic architectural details, along with the feeling of entering a grand theatre, when designing the space.”
      The original terrazzo floor is replicated throughout the spaceThe showroom opened during this year’s edition of Stockholm Design Week, which also featured an exhibition of “functional art” by Danish studio Tableau and a virtual apartment.
      Studio Giancarlo Valle’s designs have previously been used for projects including a showroom in a Brooklyn warehouse and a co-working company founded by Yves Béhar.
      The photography is courtesy of Nordic Knots.

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      Westblom Krasse Arkitektkontor adds colour to 1980s Stockholm apartment

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      An all-lilac kitchen and bright geometric storage solutions feature in this colourful Stockholm apartment renovation by local studio Westblom Krasse Arkitektkontor.

      The two-bedroom apartment, which is housed within a 1980s prefabricated concrete building in southern Stockholm, was transformed by the architecture studio for a family with four-year-old twins.
      Westblom Krasse Arkitektkontor renovated the apartment for a family with twinsAs part of the renovation, Westblom Krasse Arkitektkontor created a number of space-saving storage solutions. For example, the original floor plan featured an enclosed storage space in the middle of the apartment.
      The studio converted this into a trio of smaller storage units for the living room, the kitchen and the pantry. This was achieved by decreasing the size of the hallway but maintaining a corridor to the open-plan living room and home office.
      A see-through bookshelf and the studio’s bespoke Elephant sideboard feature in the living space”The original floor plan was robust and quite deep, with a load-bearing wall separating the living room and bedrooms into two halves,” studio co-founder Jesper Westblom told Dezeen.

      “We didn’t want to close off the spaces by making tiny enclosed rooms, but rather make light additions. The aim was to use small adjustments to make the rooms more defined spatially.”
      Red, yellow and blue tones feature throughout the apartmentA palette of hues created from a mix of the three primary colours – red, blue and yellow – features throughout the home, with the colours offset by white-painted flooring.
      Westblom Krasse Arkitektkontor also chose a combination of pine wood and red medium-density fibreboard to create bespoke joinery and furniture.
      An all-lilac kitchen creates a statement accentThe kitchen was finished in a floor-to-ceiling shade of bluey lilac that also characterises a built-in geometric bench next to the dining table and a tall cupboard concealed behind a “secret door”.
      A large bookshelf divider decorated with organically shaped vases creates a partition between the open-plan living room and office area, with a burnt-orange shelving system providing extra storage.
      The office area can also be cordoned off with a curtain to create extra peace and quiet.
      Matching doors provide separate entrances to the twins’ shared bedroomThe architecture studio’s Elephant sideboard – a chunky blue table that owes its name to its sturdiness and colour – was also included in the living space.
      The family’s twins share one bedroom, which can be entered through two tall and narrow doors, adding a playful touch to the apartment.
      Small windows were also added above these doors to increase the natural light in the apartment.

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      Inside the twins’ bedroom is a sleeping zone and a play area, which are separated by a low wall to create a clear delineation between the two spaces.
      “One of the biggest – and most fun – challenges was to make every single space useful and effective and make room for both play and recovery,” reflected Westblom.
      Subtle storage solutions define the apartmentWestblom and Robin Krasse founded their eponymous Stockholm-based studio in January 2021.
      The firm previously completed the interiors for a local hair salon, which takes cues from architect Carlo Scarpa’s geometric designs and the muted colours of 1920s swimming baths.
      The photography is by Jesper Westblom.

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      Citizens Design Bureau adds “volcanic colours” to arts and circus space in former church

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      UK studio Citizens Design Bureau has given a colourful retrofit to Jacksons Lane, an arts and circus centre in an old church in London, with the aim of decluttering and simplifying its interior.

      The studio aimed to improve the functionality of the grade II-listed building, which used to be a church but has been a community hub and “leading centre in contemporary circus arts” since the 1980s, Citizens Design Bureau said.
      The Jacksons Lane building has a colourful interior”The previous layout was a real jumble of spaces that didn’t work from a functional perspective,” the studio’s director Katy Marks told Dezeen.
      “Our approach was to declutter the old church building, so that the original structure was more visible, giving a sense of the symmetrical cruciform of the original plan and using the drama of those spaces to full effect, improving acoustic separation, functionality as well as making the building fully accessible,” she added.
      Spaces were rearranged to create a more functional interiorThe venue in Highgate, London, had a dated interior with more than 20 different levels.

      While reconfiguring its spaces to make them more functional, Citizens Design Bureau added a cafe and hireable studios in the former church’s double-height transept.
      Red and teal colours brighten up the spaceNew details that make Jacksons Lane more functional include acoustic windows, as well as ramps and lifts that create easier access to the different spaces.
      It also restored some parts of the church that had been hidden under more recent interventions. This included reinstating the main entrance of the building to the original church porch, which had been boarded up.

      Citizens Design Bureau adds “delicately perforated” Corten extension to Manchester Jewish Museum

      “You would often see people still climbing the steps up to the original, boarded-up door, trying to push it open,” Marks said.
      “In a grade II-listed building, we had limited scope to make big changes to the exterior, so we felt that opening up the original and intuitively obvious entrance was the most impactful move we could make, to make the building much more legible and welcoming to everyone,” she added.
      Citizens Design Bureau retrofitted the arts centre in HighgateInside the centre, Citizens Design Bureau introduced a warm colour palette of deep reds and oranges with teal accents, which complements the existing brick, stone and dark-wood details.
      “The building has undergone many changes over decades of use, so the internal fabric in particular has a layered history,” Marks said.
      “We have used colour to express those layers – white for the church structure, a teal blue for elements that were added in the 70s, and then volcanic oranges, reds and purples for completely new insertions with pops of other colours in the lighting, reflecting the playfulness of its current function as a creative space, specialising in circus arts.”
      Whitewashed walls contrast dark-wood floorsThe studio clad some of Jacksons Lane’s ceilings with a pale-green concertina form that improves acoustics.
      Lamps with bright orange cables add another colourful touch to the space.
      The former church is now used as an arts and circus hubJacksons Lane is used by a lot of people in the local area and Marks said the feedback so far has been “wonderful”.
      “We hope that what we have done really expresses the ethos and character of Jacksons Lane with clarity and a bit of joy, raises a smile and is the kind of place that people really want to hang out in,” she said.
      Citizens Design Bureau has previously added a “delicately perforated” Corten extension to Manchester Jewish Museum, for which the studio was longlisted for a Dezeen Award in 2021.
      The photography is by Fred Howarth.

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