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      Architensions creates colourful Children's Playspace with plywood climbing frame and tunnel

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      New York studio Architensions has designed structures modeled on clouds, treehouses, tunnels and igloos for an indoor playground for children in Brooklyn.Called Children’s Playspace, the space was designed for a wellness professional who wanted an intimate play area for children.
      Architensions’ response was to create structures in different colours and shapes that could offer different sensory experiences based on natural landscapes.

      Among these is an eight-foot-tall (2.4-metre-tall) green cylinder, known as the Treehouse, which is composed of a stepped bottom and gridded top wrapped in mesh.

      The Tunnel meanwhile has a slanted, gridded exterior and arched opening carved through it that leads up steps and down a ramp. Geometric windows with colourful frames protrude from the exterior to offer views out and inside to the brightly coloured orange walls.

      “As designers, we had to challenge ourselves and ask a number of questions,” said Architensions co-principal Alessandro Orsini.
      “How can the built environment relate to children’s imagination, cognitive development, and aesthetic appeal? Is it possible to merge aesthetics and function for a space that appeals to children?”

      Another structure, called Igloo, has a circular white base and a suspended triangular top covered with semi-translucent washi paper.
      Architensions said the project took cues from other architect-designed playgrounds such as the structures architect Aldo van Eyck’s built in his series of of Amsterdam playscapes and the never-built Contoured Playground Japanese American artist and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi designed to encourage freeform play.

      “The goal is to iconise the forms to make them recognisable and welcoming for the children,” Orsini added. “And, at the same time, to create inspiring spaces where they will always feel in control of their environments.”
      ‘This environment allows them to assume different body postures, to create boundaries, and to manipulate and re-invent their surroundings,” added co-principal Nick Roseboro.

      Other playgrounds recently completed by architects and designs with bold forms include a colourful playground in Madrid designed by Aberrant Architecture and an open-air space made of geometric structures by French designer Olivier Vadrot.

      Olivier Vadrot designs sculptural outdoor playground for children

      In Children’s Playspace, all the plywood is sanded and clear stained, ​and covered in non-VOC (volatile organic compounds) natural stain paint, in order to make it safe for the children.

      Three cloud-like structures made from slats of white-painted foam also hang from in the 875-square-foot (81-square-metre) playground, while a soft tan-coloured rubber floor was chosen to reference a forest floor covered in pine needles.
      Some of the walls are draped with with a silky textile to look like water or sky, while another is covered in a mural of woodland.

      Children’s Playspace joins a number of projects Architensions, which has offices in New York and Rome, has completed in New York borough Brooklyn. They include the renovation and extension of a Brooklyn townhouse and a tiny writer’s studio.
      Photography is by Cameron Blaylock.

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      The Other Season applies natural palette to boutique hotel by Dutch seaside

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      Linen, bamboo and sandy-beige tones appear throughout Strandhotel Zoomers in the Netherlands, which has been designed by creative studio The Other Season.Strandhotel Zoomers huddles up against the sandy dunes of Castricum beach in north Holland.
      The hotel was completed by Dutch practice Breddels Architecten at the beginning of 2020 and features a facade clad with different-hued strips of timber.

      Creative studio The Other Season has applied a similarly warm and natural material palette throughout the hotel’s interior, which accommodates 12 guest rooms.

      Smaller rooms have views of the dunes, while larger rooms are orientated to overlook the calming ocean waves. There’s also a large apartment-style room for families visiting with children.

      “The outside of the building reflects the inside of it; simple and pure with beautiful nuances in colours that make you feel welcome and at ease,” said the studio, which is led by Jasmijn Boots and Marry Broersen.
      “We chose natural patterns, colours and materials for the flooring, doors and window coverings like bamboo and wood, as they reflect the wooden covering on the exterior of the hotel and of course the tones of the grasses and sand in the dunes.”

      Each room boasts simple white walls and an exposed concrete ceiling, but has been exclusively decorated with products from Dutch design brand HK Living.
      Taupe or maroon-striped scatter cushions have been used to dress the beds, as well as sandy-beige linen throws.

      Photo by Enstijl
      Storage is provided by bamboo-panelled cupboards, complementing the bamboo armchairs that appear underneath the rooms’ writing desks or beside the windows.

      Space&Matter converts Amsterdam’s bridge keeper’s houses into hotel rooms

      Shell-shaped ornaments, amber-hued vases and woven rugs have also been used as decor, along with oversized lamps that have been printed to feature spindly illustrations of faces.

      There’s no on-site restaurant at Strandhotel Zoomers, but instead a cosy breakfast room where guests can enjoy beverages and snacks.
      Wood has been used to craft the room’s prep counter, cabinetry and central dining table, which is surrounded by white wire-frame seats.
      More food is available just a stone’s throw away at the hotel’s sister company Beach Pavilion Zoomer.

      Other spots to stay around the Netherlands include Kazerne in Eindhoven, which has just eight guest rooms and an exhibition space that displays works from the city’s leading creatives.
      There’s also the Sweets Hotel in Amsterdam, which takes over a series of vacant canal-side bridge keeper’s houses in Amsterdam. It won the hotel and short-stay interior category at the 2019 edition of the Dezeen Awards, where it was praised by judges for “questioning the idea of hotels in the era of Airbnb”.
      Photography is courtesy of The Other Season and One Two Studio unless stated otherwise.

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      Island Rest is a black-timber holiday home on the English coast

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      British practice Ström Architects has completed Island Rest, a low-lying holiday home in the Isle of Wight that is clad in beams of blackened larch wood.Island Rest has been designed by Ström Architects as a “home away from home” for a family of four, who wanted a place where they could spend quality time together.
      The house is nestled in a creek that looks out across The Solent, a 20-mile-long stretch of water that separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England.

      First revealed in a series of renderings in 2018, the now-complete Island Rest house comprises a single-storey rectilinear volume clad with beams of black-stained larch wood.

      A low-lying structure was specifically chosen so as not to compromise views of the surrounding natural landscape.

      “We wanted the house to sit quietly against the backdrop of trees, while feeling like it embraced the views when looking out,” said the practice.
      “Our clients asked for an architecturally timeless building, drawing on the very best modern architectural concepts to create a whole – no frivolous moves; rigour must flow through every space and every detail that the building is.”

      As the area surrounding Island Rest is prone to flooding, it has been positioned to sit at the highest point of the site.
      At one end the house is supported by a grassy hill, but as this gradually slopes away, slim metal poles are instead used to elevate the structure.

      Magnus Ström models gabled annex for Hampshire home on “rustic boutique hotel”

      Expansive panels of glazing have also been fitted on both sides of the home to maximise sightlines and natural light.

      Inside lies an open-plan living and dining area, complete with a jet-black kitchen suite. This leads off to a fleet of bedrooms for the owners’ three young children.
      Each room has been given a largely simple fit-out to make them “places to sleep and not places to stay”, in a bid to encourage the children to spend more time playing outdoors.

      To give the parents a greater sense of privacy, their bedroom has been placed on the opposite side of the house.
      It has ensuite bathroom facilities and access to a small deck that leads down to the swimming pool and verdant garden.
      “Landscaping was a consideration from the outset and has a very natural and organic feel, with mowed paths through wildflowers leading to and defining areas of different function and interest,” added the practice.

      Ström Architects was established in 2010 and is based in the New Forest, a district of Hampshire, England.
      Other homes on the picturesque Isle of Wight include The Sett by Dow Jones Architects, which takes design cues from black-painted fishermen sheds seen dotted along the island’s beaches.
      There’s also House for a Yachtsman by The Manser Practice, which is punctuated by several glazed openings.
      Photography is by Nick Hufton of Hufton + Crow.

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      Greek islands inform design for Monastery Studio facial spa

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      A pale green lacquer table and dried plants are among the references to Greek architecture and “Californian freshness” in this spa in San Francisco designed by Jacqueline Sullivan.Monastery Studio is a spa and retail space in San Francisco, founded by Athena Hewett, that offers a range of facial and body services.
      The light-filled space is designed to take cues from Hewett’s Greek heritage and her time spent in the Cyclades.

      “Monastery Studio is inspired by Athena’s Greek heritage and memories of summers in the Cyclades – sun bleached architecture, ancient pottery, soft stones, the salty sea, diffused sunlight,” Sullivan told Dezeen.

      “Though the space has an old world feel it also has a distinctly Californian freshness and sensibility,” she added.
      Walls and flooring in the space are painted white to provide a neutral backdrop for the custom-built furnishings, ceramics and dried floral sculptures.

      At the centre of the shop there is a chartreuse-coloured lacquer table with chunky circular legs and rounded edges designed by Shin Okuda of Los Angeles furniture studio Waka Waka. The surface forms a display area for the spa’s range of oils and serums.

      Bottles of products and other trinkets, including dried flowers, rocks and pottery, are arranged across the thin boards that comprise a massive built-in shelving unit.

      Proem Studio uses muted shades to design Cheeks & Co facial spa

      To add texture to the space Sullivan installed a curving sculpture of brown and red plants that extends from the ground to the ceiling onto one of the walls.

      “We played with shape, texture, colour and scale in a way that feels informed by the past but simultaneously very contemporary,” the designer added.
      “Ultimately, we wanted the space to feel soft, special and thoughtfully considered, just like the Monastery oils themselves.”

      Curved archways lead into the treatment rooms which are also painted white and flooded with natural light from a row of windows. The rooms are outfitted with a wood chair for patients, wooden stools and potted plants.
      The exterior of the spa and store is clad with planks of black wood and fronted with three large windows.

      Other facial spas include a skincare studio in Los Angeles with light pink accents designed by Proem Studio and a skincare store in England with cane and ash wood cabinets.

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      This week, architects designed innovative public toilets for Tokyo

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      This week on Dezeen, we featured three unusual restrooms designed for the Tokyo Toilet project, including Shigeru Ban’s colourful, transparent design.As well as Ban’s restroom, whose transparent walls become opaque when the toilets are in use, designs include Wonderwall’s concrete toilet that references primitive Japanese huts, and Fumihiko Maki’s “squid toilet” which is located in a park known as the Octopus Park.
      The project is being run by the not-for-profit Nippon Foundation and will see 17 toilets being built in total.

      Revit software costs “reasonable” says Autodesk president and CEO Andrew Anagnost
      The CEO of American software maker Autodesk, Andrew Anagnost, replied to criticism from leading architects about the rising cost and lack of development of its Revit application.

      Though he admitted improvements “didn’t progress as quickly” as they should, he called the expense of Autodesk software “certainly reasonable for tools that are at the centre of the daily work of architects.”

      Harikrishnan’s blow-up latex trousers go on sale with “do not overinflate” warning
      Fashion blew up this week, as Harikrishnan’s inflatable trousers went on sale – just six months after the designer showed them at his graduate show – with a warning to “not overinflate” the shiny latex garments.
      Spanish artist SiiGii took the concept one step further with their wearable, inflatable latex lilo, which enables the wearer to float in the ocean without worrying about sun exposure.

      Architecture “is more elitist than the most elite university in the world” says Phineas Harper
      Open House and Open City director and Dezeen columnist Phineas Harper inspired a passionate discussion in the comments after accusing architecture of rampant elitism.
      In a Twitter thread, the former Architecture Foundation deputy director compared the percentage of architects from non-state schools in its New Architects 3 publication with the percentage of state school students who went to Cambridge las year.
      “[W]e *need* to start talking about the impact of private schools on architecture,” Harper said.

      Dyson family to make art collection public in home gallery by Chris Wilkinson
      James Dyson, vacuum-cleaner entrepreneur and the UK’s wealthiest person, and his wife Deirdre are set to open their private art collection to the public in an art gallery that WilkinsonEyre’s founder, Chris Wilkinson, has designed for their UK home.
      In Ireland, O’Donnell + Tuomey unveiled a timber and concrete pedestrian bridge, which was built over the River Lee to improve connections to University College Cork. The bridge gives students direct access to an area of green space across the river from the university.

      Snøhetta, Studio Gang and Henning Larsen unveil designs for Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library
      Competing designs for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, which will be built in Medora, North Dakota, were presented by Snøhetta, Studio Gang and Henning Larsen.
      Proposals include a scheme composed of four angular volumes topped by grass, a building composed of three horseshoe-shaped structures, and a library topped with a huge, curved roof that acts as an extension of the landscape.

      BIG reveals masterplan for “urban lilypads” off coast of Penang Island
      In other architecture news, Dutch studio MVRDV announced its plans to turn a deteriorating concrete factory in China into a creative office space with a maze-like garden on the roof.
      Denmark’s BIG unveiled its masterplan for BiodiverCity Penang, a series of islands in Malaysia that will be connected by a car-free autonomous transport system.

      Step House extension built around perforated birch-ply staircase
      Popular projects on Dezeen this week include the Step House extension with its plywood staircase, Worrel Yeung’s industrial artist studios in historic Brooklyn factory buildings, and Ridgewood, a renovated California house that pays homage to its “flamboyant” modernist architect.
      This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week’s top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don’t miss anything.

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      Long wooden cabinet runs through slender Borden house by StudioAC

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      Pale woodwork wrapping white-painted walls forms storage to make more space in this 14-foot-wide house in Toronto, which has been overhauled by local firm StudioAC.The Borden project is the renovation of a Victorian-era, three-storey residence in Annex, a neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto.

      Like many other properties in the area the house has a “very slender” width measuring 14 foot (4.2 metres) wide, which is approximately half the length of a London bus.

      Focused on the the ground-floor living area and second floor bedroom, StudioAC’s overhaul aimed to emphasise the tall ceilings of the house and give the impression of more space inside.
      It painted the walls and ceilings white and added short wood cabinets, which it describes as “contemporary wainscotting”, to highlight the height of the walls.

      “With soaring ceiling heights, we wanted to articulate the interior in a way that felt intimate while maintaining an open slender floor plan,” StudioAC explained.
      “We utilised a language of wrapping the flooring material up to counter-height to create a nestled feeling throughout the ground floor and the level three bedroom suite.”

      In turn, the cabinetry is also used to conceal storage and functions, making more space in the floor. One of the cabinets stretches the floor length of the ground floor to form the base of a built-in fireplace and kitchen counter. Both the chimney and the oven are built out in white volumes on top.
      The decor of the space, including wood flooring and furniture, and mirrored walls, complements the simple aesthetic. A white couch is placed at the front beneath a large window covered with translucent, white curtains.

      Matching wooden cabinetry continues in the top floor main bedroom, extending around the bed and forming short storage cabinets, and closets.

      StudioAC designs Toronto house “disguised as a gallery”

      “The third floor bedroom suite also has incredible ceiling height,” said the studio. “So the language of the contemporary wainscotting is taken up to the bedroom to carry the thesis from private to public.”

      The woodwork leads towards the en-suite bathroom at the front of the house, whose walls and pitched ceiling is is covered in grey concrete.
      “The wood wrapper cradles the bed and weaves around the closet to direct the eye toward the bathing suite: an intimate room clad in concrete tile with a soaring pitched roof,” it added.

      StudioAC was founded in 2015 by architects Jennifer Kudlats and designer Andrew Hill, who met while working at KPMB Architects in Toronto.
      Other Toronto house renovations by the studio include Candy Loft, Hilton House and Pape Loft that was once a church. In one of its more recent projects it took cues from the work of late American designer Donald Judd to create a home “disguised as a gallery”.
      Photography is by Jeremie Warshafsky.

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      Sivak & Partners imagines contemporary beachside guest suite in Odessa

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      Craggy rock walls and a hot-spring style bathtub would feature in this imaginary Odessa hotel room that interior design studio Sivak & Partners has envisioned in a series of renderings.The guest suite would come as part of a boutique beach hotel in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa that Sivak & Partners’ chief designer, Alexey Gulesha, was challenged to create just over a year ago.
      He decided to share the studio’s renderings when the global coronavirus crisis began and put a pause on the design process.
      “This project started from the idea to make something different from other hotels in Odessa – the client had bought a plot and asked us to design something which we wanted to see there, so this is our proposal,” Gulesha told Dezeen.

      Influenced by the dazzling settings seen in James Bond films from the 1980s, Gulesha has envisioned the guest suite as being fronted by a curved, full-height window that offers sweeping vistas of the sandy shoreline and rolling ocean waves.

      In almost every room he has tried to foster a sense of “tactile contrast” – for example, in the bedroom, the hard stone floor is topped with a fluffy cream-coloured rug. A plump bed frame has also been placed beside a couple of Italian architect Cini Boeri’s glass Ghost chairs.

      “I like to draw people’s attention to the fact that the materials to the touch may not be what they seem visually,” Gulesha explained.
      “The Cini Boeri’s armchairs look like a cold piece of glass, but they are surprisingly convenient and comfortable when you sit in them.”

      A wall that resembles a craggy cliff face would feature in the study. Other than a simple steel desk and wooden chair, Gulesha has largely omitted standard office paraphernalia so that guests would be more inclined to spend relaxing time down on the beach instead of doing work.
      “The idea of the materials is that in this digital era, when work means sitting on the PC and answering email for two to three hours, I want to see and feel something natural,” added Gulesha.

      A focal point of the suite is the circular tub in the bathroom, which would slope up from the stone floors to make guests feel like they’re “bathing in a hot spring”.
      Bathroom facilities would be housed inside a see-through volume that, using smart-glass technology, would turn opaque whenever in use.

      Architectural visualisers imagine rainbow-coloured Sonora Art Village during pandemic

      The suite would also include a small kitchenette, should future guests not want to dine at the hotel’s restaurant. At its centre would be a timber prep counter that balances across a pair of chunky stone blocks.
      A couple of rounded boucle sofas would then be used to dress the lounge area, along with a blush-pink abstract artwork that is meant to mirror the texture of the surrounding mottled plaster walls.

      The pandemic has encouraged several architects and designers to turn to the medium of renderings and imagine getaway destinations.
      Siblings Mary and David Javit imagined Sonora Art Village, a community of rainbow-coloured houses in Mexico where people could head to escape “grey reality”. Inspired by the vivid architecture of figures like Luis Barragán and Ricardo Boffil, the houses would be surrounded by cacti and swimming pools.
      Child Studio also imagined Casa Plenaire, a blissful seaside villa where those in lockdown could picture enjoying the “perfect holiday”.

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      CL3 unveils interior design for Intercontinental Chongqing Raffles City

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      Sailing and nautical aesthetics informed CL3’s interiors for the Intercontinental hotel in the Raffles City Chongqing complex in China, which includes guest rooms that draw on the design of yacht cabins.Intercontinental Chongqing Raffles City is located in the Raffles City Chongqing development, which features a “horizontal skyscraper,” the Crystal skybridge that connects four 250-metre tall skyscrapers.
      The hotel’s location in the city’s Chaotianmen area, where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers meet, was the starting point for the designers.
      “The project has a geographical and historical significance by being where the ancient emperor sent his fleet to meet the people,” CL3  said.

      This nautical past not only informed the design of the eight streamlined skyscrapers that make up the Raffles City Chongqing complex, which features sail-like screens, it was also carried through into the interior design.

      CL3 was approached to create the interiors after working with architect Moshdie Safdie of Safdie Architects on the Marina Bay Sands project, and designed the interiors of the hotel’s main areas as well as the residential lobby and common areas for five of the towers.

      The studio was also responsible for the design of the residential clubhouse inside the signature Crystal skybridge that connects four of the towers.
      Intercontinental Chongqing Raffles City’s grand reception is located on level 42 at the skybridge and nods to the sailing theme with a reception desk shaped like the hull of a ship, complemented by lighting in the same shape.

      “The shape design echoes the water reflection during sailing in the river,” the studio said. The link bridge reception area was also decorated with marine-themed Chinese motifs and crafts.
      In the arrival lobby area, CL3 added stylised drawings of traditional ships to the mirrored walls of the elevators.

      The lobby lounge was designed to create a “mountain landscape in the sky” and filled with green plants under an arc-shaped dome.
      It features views of the skybridge that stretches across the skyscrapers, which visitors can enjoy from enveloping seats in pale wood with an undulating, wave-like shape.

      For the interior of the hotel rooms, the studio used pale wood combined with beige and cream colours and softly curved walls.
      “The inspiration from the timeless ultra-luxury of contemporary sailing vessels is reflected in the ambience, furniture selections, finishes and guest rooms, ” CL3 said.

      The nautical theme is less apparent in the Jing restaurant, which has a dark stone floor and peacock blue detailing.
      The distinctive bar, where guests can sit and enjoy a meal, has been decked out in pale blue, bright blue and white stripes that pick up the blue hues in rest of the room.

      CL3 was also behind some of the residential areas in the complex, including the residential clubhouse inside the Crystal skybridge itself which has a swimming pool, gym and a spa, as well as private function rooms.
      Rattan lounge chairs with blue upholstery surround the pool, whose “modern shape and light colours reflect the rhythm of urban life,” the studio said.

      CL3 was founded in 1992. The studio is based in Hong Kong but also has offices in Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai.
      As well as the Raffles City Chongqing complex, Safdie Architects also designed a housing development in the city, Eling Hill, consisting of a set of stepped homes on a hill overlooking the Yangtze River.
      Photography is by Feng Shao.
      Project credits:
      Client: CapitalandProject name: Intercontinental Chongqing Raffles CityProject location: No. 2 Changjiang Binjiang Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, China 400010Completion time: 2020Interior design firm: CL3 ArchitectsInterior design team: William Lim, Jane Arnett, Simon Ho, Jun Tse, Katerin TheysArchitecture design firm: Safdie Architects

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