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  • Studio VDGA lines office in India with curving walls of honeycomb cardboard

    Architecture practice Studio VDGA has renovated an office in Pune, India, with partition walls made from cardboard and MDF.Located in the Pimpri Chinchwad district, the four-storey office for 100 people has been given a recyclable fit-out.

    Partition walls are made from cardboard and medium-density fibreboard (MDF)
    Called Office in Cardboard, the project has been shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020 in the large workspace interior category.

    “We devised an innovative concept to replace the solid partition walls with more functional and textured material,” said Studio VDGA.
    “It also serves as a low-cost material since it does not require polishing or painting as it is kept raw.”

    Honeycomb cardboard is light, strong and low cost
    Studio VDGA’s paper-based design was made for an electric-components manufacturing company that is in the process of moving away from its previous work of making petrol and diesel vehicle components.
    The cardboard’s recyclable properties are intended to symbolise this shift towards a more environmentally-friendly industry.

    Cuts in the cardboard create patterns of shadow
    Sheets of honeycomb cardboard – a kind of paper packaging with an internal hexagon structure for strength – form divider walls, doors and a backdrop for the reception area.
    “Honeycomb board was first introduced in the aeronautical industry in the form of aluminium honeycomb boards,” said Studio VDGA.
    “In paper form, it is used extensively in Japan since being a lightweight material, it does not cause harm to life in the case of earthquakes,” added the studio. “IKEA is using it in abundance to create light modular furniture.”

    The cardboard has been left raw rather than painted
    In some areas, the cardboard elements wrap around the external walls and connect to form dividers between different zones of the office floors.
    Curving elements formed from the cardboard make sections of wall that billow into the room or wrap around supporting columns.

    Curving cardboard elements wrap around columns
    Sections of the sheets’ exterior have been cut away to reveal the internal honeycomb in order to create an interesting texture.

    Nudes creates cafe in Mumbai entirely from cardboard

    “What interested us was the cross-section through the board rather than the material itself,” said the studio.
    “Transverse cuts through the nodes of the hexagon reveals sharper fins, whereas longitudinal cuts through the board reveals uneven wider bands. This combination of sharper fins and wider bands, used in combination with bands of MDF, creates interesting patterns and shadows.”

    Paint tins have been turned into a plant display
    Cardboard absorbs sound, so the portion walls double as baffles to keep the background noise of the office low and grant employees more privacy.
    Slim horizontal slots form windows to allow light through in some areas. An installation of plants and electrical components displayed in white paint tins left over from the refurbishment hangs from the ceiling.

    Tins filled with plants and electronic components hang from the ceiling
    Ceilings have been left open, with the air ducts visible, so as to create as much height as possible.
    The reception area’s floor is tiled with different kinds of dark stone, and black metal railings bracket the stairs, with brass rings designed to look like an abacus.

    Railings on the stairs are designed to look like an abacus
    Based in Pune, Studio VDGA was founded by husband and wife team Deepak and Varsha Guggar in 2004.
    Cardboard was also the material of choice for this school office in Melbourne, a collection of colourful and corrugated furniture, and the entirety of this cafe in Mumbai.
    Photography is by Hemant Patil.

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

    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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  • Four Pillars Laboratory in Sydney is a “sanctuary” for gin enthusiasts

    Juniper berry-blue furniture sits against blackened walls inside this cosy bar, laboratory and store that design studio YSG has created in Sydney for gin brand Four Pillars. Four Pillars Laboratory occupies a two-storey corner building in Sydney’s buzzing Surry Hills neighbourhood. It was originally built in 1939 as premises for a tea company, but has
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  • The Maker Hotel in Hudson channels “old-world bohemian glamour”

    Original decor features and vintage treasures helped Lev Glazman, Alina Roytberg and Damien Janowicz create an eclectic sense of old-world charm inside this boutique hotel in Hudson, New York.Host to just 11 rooms, The Maker Hotel is the brainchild of Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg, the co-founders of skincare brand Fresh, and hospitality specialist Damien Janowicz.

    The Maker Hotel takes over three historic buildings in Hudson
    This isn’t the first time that Glazman and Roytberg have ventured out of the beauty industry – back in 2016 they also worked with Janowicz to open the doors to Bartlett House, a bakery-cum-cafe serving seasonal dishes in the town of Ghent, New York.

    When it came to creating The Maker Hotel, Glazman wanted to focus on “celebrating the world of makers”, utilising different forms of craftsmanship to foster unique spaces for guests.

    A newly built conservatory houses the hotel’s restaurant
    “During my travels, I always felt there was an opportunity to expand the hospitality experience – one that inspires and allows you to dream,” he explained. “We knew we could execute The Maker concept in Hudson because the area was so rich with artisans, history and design, and it was the perfect location.”
    “Moving away from standardized design, The Maker fuses different periods, and builds a home where this eclectic design can exist harmoniously,” Glazman added.

    Inside The Maker Hotel are just 11 guest rooms
    Construction works were first carried out to connect the various rooms throughout the 14,000-square foot (1,300 square metres) hotel, which is composed of three different buildings – a Georgian mansion, a Greek revival-style property and a carriage house that dates back to the early 1800s.
    New structural additions were also made, including a central courtyard filled with lush greenery and a “jewel box”-like conservatory that now accommodates The Maker Hotel’s main restaurant.

    The design team worked to keep as many original features as possible throughout the rooms
    Attention was then turned to the interiors, which were largely designed by Glazman – Roytberg focused on the hotel’s branding, while Janowicz worked on refining guest experience.

    The Hoxton crosses the pond and opens hotel in Williamsburg

    Glazman and the design team sought to keep to as many original features as possible, preserving the ornate fireplaces, hand-painted ceilings, stained-glass windows and tiled mosaic flooring that already existed across the three buildings.

    One room includes bookshelves and an oak fireplace
    Over 70 per cent of the decorative pieces are antique or were made bespoke by combining salvaged objects. Some of the artworks even come from Glazman’s personal collection.
    “The result is unexpected; an old-world bohemian glamour that fuses a worldly design ethos shaped by decades of travel,” he concluded.

    Most of the decor elements are antiques
    This same eclectic style seeps through to the guest suites, of which there are five typologies: The Bedrooms, The Terrace Lofts, The Corner Studio and The Maker Studios.
    The Maker Studios are each inspired by four different creative figures – an architect, artist, gardener, writer – and have been styled accordingly. For example, The Artist room includes a vintage easel, while The Writer room sees book-lined shelves arranged around an oak fireplace.
    When not in their rooms, guests can then enjoy the hotel’s pool, cafe or intimate cocktail bar.

    The Maker Hotel also includes an intimate cocktail bar
    The Maker Hotel joins a growing number of getaway spots in New York that are situated away from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. Others include The Hoxton in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which sits on the site of an old water tower.
    Photography is by Francine Zaslow.

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  • Rattan yoga pods create “space of captivating calmness” for studio in Bangkok

    Thai architecture studio Enter Projects Asia has used rattan to enclose a series of studios for yoga brand Vikasa at its headquarters in Bangkok.Enter Projects Asia used rattan – a type of climbing plant with a flexible woody stem – as the main material to break up a 450-square-metre space in a triangular-shaped block in downtown Bangkok into a series of yoga studios.
    The studio is shortlisted for leisure and wellness interior of the year at Dezeen Awards 2020.

    Rattan was used to enclose private yoga studios
    Supported on a frame of Thai timber, the material was used to partition two public yoga studios and fully enclose two smaller, private studios.

    The architecture studio wrapped the spaces in the natural material to create “an urban oasis in the chaos of Bangkok – a retreat from the grind”.

    Rattan was chosen as it can be found on the island of Koh Samui of the east coast of the country, where yoga brand Vikasa had a retreat.
    “All elements of the project were made from natural, local materials to be a hub or a portal for their existing location, which is based on a hillside in Koh Samui: Thai hardwood, local black slate, bamboo and most notably, rattan,” said Enter Projects Asia design director Patrick Keane.
    “The result is a space of captivating calmness, cloaked in quiet contentment – an oasis of tranquillity amongst the chaos of Bangkok,” he told Dezeen.

    The studio’s reception has a rattan desk and light feature
    Along with the pods, rattan was used to create light fittings in the studios and a large, sinuous desk that dominates the reception area.
    The desk becomes a bench for those waiting for classes and turns into a light feature that winds its way above the reception area,  ending in a woven lampshade above the main staircase.

    The rattan light feature hangs above the stairs
    The three-dimensional rattan forms were created in collaboration with specialist furniture designer Project Rattan by combining traditional weaving techniques with digital design.

    CO-LAB Design Office creates bamboo yoga pavilion in Tulum

    “We facilitated the fusion of 3D technologies with local Thai craftsmanship to bring nature to an urban context,” explained Keane.
    “We worked using 3D software, special effects modelling namely Maya and Rhino. Frames and templates were all printed on giant templates for the craftspeople to use as guides for their weaving techniques.”

    The rattan desk turns into a bench
    Overall, Enter Projects Asia hopes that it has created a space that communicates a sense of spirituality
    “It embraces all five senses, with soft geometry to counter hard urban edges, tactile materials that are touchable and natural, the smell of nature, and the technical acoustics – as good as a radio station – and the food and beverage Vikasa provides,” said Keane.

    Rattan forms are visible from outside the building
    The studios occupy the first floor of Vikasa’s headquarters, which has a cafe area on the ground floor, with the rattan forms designed to be visible through large glass windows from the street.
    Previous yoga studios on Dezeen include a bamboo pavilion nestled in the jungle in Tulum designed by CO-Lab Design Office and a muted studio with a textured sisal ceiling in Melbourne.
    Photography by Edmund Sumner.
    Project credits:
    Interiors architecture and design: Enter Projects AsiaDesign director: Patrick KeaneDesign team: Tomas Guevara, Azul Paklaian, Archana Ramesh, Sergio LissoneLocal craftsmanship: Project RattanBuilders: Enter Projects, Ian SykesEngineer: Lincoln ScottConsultants: Ian Sykes BuilderCollaborators: Project Rattan

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  • Edinburgh College of Art's interior design students imagine cultural centres for their city

    In this school show, Edinburgh College of Art students are presenting 10 interiors projects for public and community spaces, from an archive chronicling Scotland’s black diaspora to a hybrid day and nightclub.Created by a mixture of graduate and undergraduate students, the concepts adapt existing and historical buildings in Edinburgh for new uses, in a bid to create interiors that are sensitive to their context.
    University: Edinburgh College of Art, University of EdinburghCourses: BA and MA Interior DesignTutors: Ed Hollis, Rachel Simmonds, Gillian Treacy and Andy Siddall
    School statement:
    “The interior design programmes at ECA use real buildings and spaces as testbeds for the adaption and evolution of interior, architectural and spatial design ideas. Under the Interior Lab initiative, staff and students share research knowledge to develop their own individual response to the discipline, benefitting from the international cohort’s varied experiences and approaches.
    “Further work of the students can be found at ECA’s digital exhibition Summer 2020.
    “Through self-generated briefs for their projects, our 10 graduates have proposed designs including an Astronomy Centre within a light-polluted city centre and a Black Cultural Archive and Legacy Centre for Scotland.”

    The Island of Knowledge by Alkistis Brountzou, MA

    “The Island of Knowledge is an open, public space inside the Freemasons Hall for sharing knowledge and learning, which explores the spatial intersections of the physical and the digital world.
    “Inside the main hall, or ‘nest’, new hybrid experiences are generated by utilising new technologies such as augmented reality inside of an expanded cinema, various multilayered exhibitions and lecture halls.
    “The intervention’s form emphatically symbolises the contradiction between the diachronic character of the space formations and the extremely changeable digital content, suggesting that the physical and digital, materiality and immateriality are interwoven by their contradictions.”
    Email: brountzoualk@gmail.com

    Freemasons Hall by Gillian Kavanagh, MA

    “My master’s thesis focuses on the intersection between interior architecture and conservation. The design briefs I devised for the Freemasons Hall in Edinburgh challenge the idea of a historic institution in the modern world and question how interiors can be ‘re-programmed’ to revitalise the institution’s appeal.
    “To represent these ideas, I explored experimental mixed media drawing methods including collage, watercolour sketching and video studies. Adaptive conservation aids the longevity of buildings, which is the principal ambition of my work. The layering of materials, decoration and human narratives significantly influences my approach to the conservation of interior architecture.”
    Email: gilliankavanagh54@gmail.comInstagram: @gk_trinsic

    Viaticus by Mari Nasif, MA
    “Inspired by the idea of Masonic degrees, the brief re-imagines the Freemasons’ journey towards knowledge and translates this into spatial settings based on the learning domains proposed by Benjamin Bloom.
    “The proposal, broadly defined as a philosophy library, occupies the voids inside of an existing staircase volume. Its verticality mirrors Bloom’s hierarchical learning model where higher levels house more complex learning. Each degree is uniquely designed to activate the senses and help individuals resolve the cognitive challenges along the journey to mastery.”
    Email: mari_nasif@outlook.comWebsite: marinasif.com

    Pixelbox by Sher Ming Foo, MA
    “Pixelbox is a site-specific, transitional intervention designed as part of the museum in the Freemason Hall, Edinburgh. The lattice layout is an extrapolation of the building’s existing design, with the addition of modern elements to create a new design language.
    “The white, stainless steel structure seamlessly integrates furniture design and interior architecture, reducing the boundaries between the insertion and the existing building. Its location allows for the existing use of the Grand Hall to continue while welcoming visitors to the building.”
    Email: sherming97@gmail.comWebsite: linkedin.com/in/shermingfoo

    The Ar/ba/Son Market by Sinead Russell, MA
    “Personality is a big driving force in my work. I believe in curating and invoking a unique soul within the core of every project. I draw a lot of inspiration from researching and conceptualising how these projects may look and feel if they were people. I focus on creating a story and with every detail hope to add to that narration.
    “Recently, my work has begun to focus its attention on artisans and craft, and specifically on the promotion of local makers. This project explores how their work can be incorporated within my designs to inspire a new appreciation for craft makers at a larger scale.”
    Email: sinrussdesign@gmail.comWebsite: sinruss.co.uk

    The Third Place by Hollie Middleton, BA
    “Like many UK cities, Edinburgh has seen soaring rents, an influx of Airbnbs and the perennial construction of student accommodation in the past decade. A little-known casualty of these private developments is Edinburgh’s post-war architecture, which is overlooked in favour of maintaining the city’s Georgian heritage.
    “The Third Place is a Scottish architecture archive dedicated to preserving the history of undervalued post-war buildings and supporting local communities in challenging the homogenisation of Edinburgh’s urban landscape. Black steel frames demarcate contemporary insertions while complimenting the existing lines of the 1960s building. Sculptural concrete forms echo iconic Scottish post-war structures.”
    Email: holliemiddletondesign@gmail.comInstagram: @byholliemiddleton

    Black Cultural Archive and Legacy Centre of Scotland by Aaliyah Oshodi, BA
    “This project establishes a Black Cultural Archive and Legacy Centre of Scotland. Archives are necessary to preserve the work of marginalised people but they are often overly clinical. That’s why I wanted to create a space which is colourful and warm and where the lives and stories of the Black diaspora across Scotland can be collected and preserved.
    “I created a series of interior spaces that facilitate oral storytelling. Inspired by the Adinkra stamped cloths of Ghana and the kanga garments of Kenya, I was able to design textiles and wallcoverings that can act as catalysts for conversation.”
    Email: hello@aaliodesigns.co.ukWebsite: aaliodesigns.co.uk

    Scottish Literature Centre by Jiawen Zhang, BA
    “This project aims to create a new literature centre for the city of Edinburgh. It hopes to connect and provide a central hub for all of the existing architectural spaces on the literary trail in Edinburgh Old Town.
    “This interior proposal for the Tron Kirk church provides a central, easily accessible location for promoting local literature by providing spaces for interaction between local writers and literary tourists.”
    Email: jiawenz@umich.eduWebsite: 924370879.wixsite.com/website

    Wax Lyrical by Bethany Harle, BA
    “I am interested in how interior spaces can shape our wellbeing and behaviour. Alongside the alarming rate at which UK nightclubs are closing, this guided my graduate project. Called Wax Lyrical, this day and nightclub consists of five venues that focus on different aspects of nightlife culture: drinking, drugs, sex, dance and music.
    “The design concept aims to reduce the risks to the physical and mental health of visitors, which are usually heightened within these environments. Informed by the experimental interiors of 1970s disco clubs, the spaces hope to create a healthy escape.”
    Email: bethany.harle@hotmail.comWebsite: bethharle.com

    The Astronomy Culture Centre by Echo Zhu, BA
    “The Astronomy Culture Centre is designed as an interior ‘station’, where the public can engage with sky events and explore the world above with interactive galleries and simulation technology, despite the light-polluted skies of Edinburgh. It helps visitors to investigate and understand our role in the universe and ultimately care about the future of humanity.
    “The design strategy revolves around gravity, the dominant force in the universe, which is closely related to the birth of life on earth. This theoretical underpinning is integrated into the design in the form of flow routes to encourage experiencing and pursuing activities within the designed interior environment.”
    Email: echoecho0716@gmail.comPortfolio: linkedin.com/in/echo-zhu-67091a184

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  • Apartment on the Belgian coast balances natural and industrial materials

    A steel staircase offsets seaweed-coloured joinery and marble surfaces inside this Belgian apartment designed by local architects Carmine Van Der Linden and Thomas Geldof.Van Der Linden and Geldof thought using natural materials and colours would reflect the calming coastal location of the two-floor apartment, which is encircled by sand dunes and grassy banks.

    The kitchen in the apartment features seaweed-coloured cabinetry
    In the apartment’s kitchen, the splashback, shelving and panelled birch-wood cabinets have been stained a murky shade of green.

    “The colour choice of the wood subtly brings in the seaweed colour from the adjacent sea and the marram grasses in the surrounding dunes,” said the architects.

    The same green stain has been applied across the apartment’s wood-panelled walls
    This green hue continues across a handful of wood-lined walls in the apartment and into the guest toilet, which is fitted with a Gris Violet marble basin.
    Alga Marina marble has then been used to craft the kitchen countertops and the surface of a central prep table. It’s supported underneath by interlocking silver-metal poles.

    The guest toilet includes a marble sink
    The architects blanketed the remaining surfaces throughout the apartment in white paint that leaves a clay-like textural finish, in hopes of fostering an “unconscious sense of silence and serenity”.
    Dark-grey terrazzo also runs across the floor.

    Atelier Dialect places mirrored tub in minty green bathroom of Apartment A

    One wall of the living room features a sequence of shelves extending up across both floors of the apartment, offering a spot for the owner to display books or cherished ornaments.

    A galvanised-steel staircase connects the apartment’s two floors
    The shelves also serve as a backdrop to an open-tread spiral staircase that’s made from galvanised steel. This material was specifically chosen by Van Der Linden and Geldof as they felt it has an almost pearlescent quality.
    “With its extremely logical and pragmatic construction method, this object stands as a ‘pièce unique’ in the open living space,” they explained.

    Pale white joinery dominates the master bedroom
    Panelled joinery, similar to the kitchen, appears again in the master bedroom upstairs, but this time in a whitish colour.
    At this level of the apartment, there is also an almost-black sauna room that’s fronted by a panel of glazing, providing views out across the beachy landscape.

    The apartment also includes a sauna that has views of the outdoors
    This is the first collaborative interiors project from Van Der Linden and Geldof, who are based respectively Ghent and Antwerp.
    Other striking Belgian homes include Apartment A by Atelier Dialect, which boasts a mint-green bathroom, and the Spinmolenplein penthouse by architect Jürgen Vandewalle, which is simply arranged around three blocks of furniture.
    Photography is by Piet-Albert Goethals.

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  • Seven wooden kitchens that offer a different take on timber

    Wood has long been used to create kitchens, but architects and designers are finding subtle ways to reimagine the material in the cooking space. Interiors reporter Natasha Levy selects seven standout examples.

    The Rye Apartments, UK, by Tikari Works

    Spruce-wood cupboards inset with subtle grooves feature in the kitchens of these apartments in south London’s Peckham neighbourhood.
    The cabinets and the surrounding cross-laminated timber walls are meant to lend the homes a cosy, domestic atmosphere. Extra warmth is provided by brass door handles and amber-flecked terrazzo that runs across the floors.
    Find out more about The Rye Apartments ›

    Ti Clara, Portugal, by Atelier Espaço P2
    Atelier Espaço P2 felt that a natural material palette offered “the most honest and true solution” for the overhaul of Ti Clara, a historic home in the Portuguese municipality of Ansião.
    The kitchen has therefore been set within a wood-lined gabled niche. Pale plywood has been used to craft its cabinets, as well as the triangular extractor hood above the stove. Contrast is offered by the grey stone countertop, splashback and floor tiles.
    Find out more about Ti Clara ›

    Southgrove Road, UK, by From Works
    A photograph of a moss-covered stone inspired the earthy green hue of this stained plywood kitchen suite, which design studio From Works incorporated into a Sheffield family home.
    “[The photo] sparked conversation about trying to create a space and a material palette that referenced Sheffield’s special position as an earthy regenerating city uniquely connected to the beautiful surrounding Peak District.”
    Find out more about Southgrove Road ›

    Urban Cabin, Italy, by Francesca Perani
    Surfaces throughout the kitchen of this 25-square-metre apartment in Albino, Italy are covered in oriented strand board (OSB) – a type of engineered timber made by compressing strands of wood in different directions.
    Although architect Francesca Perani was more accustomed to seeing OSB used on building sites, she thought its continuous pattern helped make the micro-sized kitchen appear bigger.
    “I love its textural irregularity, random organic composure and recycled properties,” she added.
    Find out more about Urban Cabin ›

    Powerscroft Road, UK, by Daytrip
    Design studio Daytrip didn’t want the interiors of this London townhouse to seem “over-designed or mass-produced”, so applied a selection of textured and patterned materials.
    In the kitchen, grainy Douglas fir wood has been used to make the cabinetry and the base of the central breakfast island. Countertops are pale Evora marble, while walls have been limewashed to leave a “painterly” finish.
    Find out more about Powerscroft Road ›

    An Attic for David, Spain, by MH.AP Studio
    The kitchen and all the storage elements of this Barcelona apartment are made from matte-finish MDF.
    While this type of engineered wood is often appreciated for being cost-friendly, MH.AP Studio also thought it would create a warm, “enveloping” ambience inside the home – especially when combined with oak parquet flooring.
    Find out more about An Attic for David ›

    Hackney House, UK, by Applied Studio
    A jet-black timber kitchen suite forms a striking focal point inside this east London home.
    “[The clients] wanted vivid contrast between the background and feature elements,” explained Applied Studio.”We worked with them to introduce natural elements to soften this, hence the visible grain in the joinery.”
    Find out more about Hackney House ›

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