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      Bureau de Change inserts bronze lift into 1920s art deco office block

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      Bronze laser-cut sheets wrap around the lift shaft that extends up through this building in central London, which has been updated by architecture studio Bureau de Change.The elevator links together all four floors of The Gaslight, a mixed-use development that’s been created within an art deco building in central London’s Fitzrovia neighbourhood.

      Originally constructed in 1929 as offices for the now-defunct Gas, Coke and Light Company, the building has recently been completely renovated by dMFK Architects to include a series of bright, airy rooms.

      Bureau de Change was tasked with developing the interiors, which are meant to have a contemporary feel while still showing hints of the building’s art deco heritage.

      “We enjoy working with existing buildings, transforming them for a new purpose but doing it with a kind of nostalgia at the heart of the designs,” said Bureau de Change’s co-director, Katerina Dionysopoulou.
      “It was a pleasure to explore these ideas for The Gaslight and ultimately enrich a building so that it can take on a new meaning.”

      The Gaslight building is accessed via a lobby that’s illuminated by a trio of large spherical pendant lamps.
      At its centre is a striking lift. The shaft of the lift is made from concrete which Bureau de Change has wrapped in two layers of bespoke bronze sheeting.

      The first bronze sheet is flat and has been laser-cut to feature an intricate art deco-inspired pattern. Laser cutting has also been done to the second bronze sheet, but this has been folded to feature concertina-style pleats.
      Layered over each other, the sheets create a moiré effect that obscures the concrete underneath.

      The second pleated bronze sheet turns at a 90-degree angle to clad the underside of the lobby’s stairs. This eventually “peels off”, leaving just the flat bronze sheet to cover the lift shaft on the building’s upper levels.

      Atelier Dau adds kinetic bronze facade to Chimney House extension in Sydney

      “Industrial materials and fabrication techniques were therefore explored in a more artisan-like manner, with laser-cut bronze panels folded to create an intricate framework,” added the studio’s co-director, Billy Mavropoulos.

      The white terrazzo that covers the floor and stairs of the lobby has also been used to line the lower half of the building’s bathrooms and hallways, a modern interpretation of the wooden panelling that the studio thinks would have appeared in the original building.
      Surfaces have otherwise been painted in cool grey or sage-green tones.

      Some of the glazed partitions in the building have been overlaid with shapely patterns that match the cut-outs on the lift shaft.
      Other unique details include the building’s entrance door handles, which have been hand-carved with a series of grooves. The Gaslight’s address number has also been shaped into the metal spokes that run along the top of its restored front gate.

      Bureau de Change is based in Clerkenwell. The studio has previously created a barn-style home in the Cotswolds with an ombre-effect timber facade and added a texture brick building into a century-old London terrace.
      Photography is by Gilbert McCarragher.
      Project credits:
      Architects: dMFKInterior architects: Bureau de ChangeStructural engineer: Michael Hadi AssociatesM&E engineers: WB ShielsProject manager: Alford PorterQuantity surveyor: Alford PorterMetal fabricator: John Desmond

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      Thomas Heatherwick and Ab Rogers to speak at virtual Workplace Wellbeing by Design conference

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      Dezeen promotion: Workplace Wellbeing by Design is a week-long online event taking place during this year’s London Design Festival, which explores the complex relationship between design and wellbeing in the workplace.The event, which will take place from 14 to 18 September 2020, includes talks by leaders in the architecture and design industry, including Thomas Heatherwick, Ab Rogers and HOK senior director of WorkPlace, Kay Sargent.

      Thomas Heatherwick will be speaking at the Workplace Wellbeing by Design event
      These creatives will be joined by more corporate figures such as Bruce Daisley, who developed Twitter for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Cees van der Spek – communications director for EDGE – and workplace theorist Jeremy Myerson.

      Other speakers include biometrician Nikita Mikhailov, who will discuss new data-driven biometric techniques for employers and employees, as well as Maaind founder Martin Dinov, who will outline how AI can be harnessed for workplace wellbeing.

      Ab Rogers will be speaking at the event about his Maggie’s Centre design
      Over the course of five days, five 75-minute sessions will explore the issues of workplace design from a range of viewpoints including technology and diversity, as well as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
      Each session will be hosted by author and design commentator Aidan Walker and will be split into three sections: a keynote, a practical case study and a Q&A session.

      Maggie’s chief executive Laura Lee will explain the organisation’s architectural philosophy
      Day one – the Well Workplace – will begin with a talk between Rogers and Heatherwick about their work for Maggie’s Centres.
      While the two architects discuss how they have tried to use the built environment to influence the psychology of its inhabitants, Maggie’s chief executive Laura Lee will explain the organisation’s architectural philosophy.

      Bruce Daisley will also be speaking at the event
      Day two, led by Dinov, will focus on the smart workplace and the impact of technologies like AI on wellbeing. EDGE’s van der Spek will also uncover the ideas behind the brief for the firm’s existing project in Amsterdam and its new one at London Bridge.

      Heatherwick Studio designs plant-filled Maggie’s Centre in Leeds

      “People have been talking about – and designing for – psychological diversity, as well as the individual’s control over their physical environment for a generation now,” said Walker.
      “Sensor technology has given a whole new meaning to the smart building and the impact of artificial intelligence is just around the corner,” he continued. “It’s time to take stock and Covid-19 has added currency and urgency to the discussion.”

      Speakers will also discuss the impact of office design on mental and physical health
      Day three – the Human/Humane Workplace – will be led by Swann, whose book The Human Workplace explores interior and behavioural design.
      Swann will be joined by architect Giuseppe Boscherini, Mikhailov and director of Chapmanbdsp design consultancy Ian Duncombe to discuss “psychosocially supportive design”.
      Day four, led by HOK’s Sargent, will concentrate on creativity, productivity and diversity in discussions with Ricoh’s workplace services director Simone Fenton-Jarvis and MoreySmith principal Linda Morey Burrows.
      Real estate company CBRE’s Kate Davies and Art Acumen CEO Catherine Thomas will also join the talk.

      Workplace theorist Jeremy Myerson will be part of a discussion about the future of work
      Day five considers the future of work, led with a keynote by Myerson from the Helen Hamlyn Centre at the Royal College of Art and the Worktech Academy.
      This will be followed by a discussion with Mike O’Neill, former director of global research at Haworth, Guy Smith, founder of COSU and former design director of WeWork, and Frances Gain, associate of strategy at M. Moser Associates.
      The conference has been organised by the creators of the MAD World Summit with Dezeen as the media partner.
      Registration is £25 for all five sessions, with profits donated to cancer support charity Maggie’s.
      For the full agenda, visit the event’s website.

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      The Olive Houses are off-grid retreats hidden in Mallorca's mountains

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      Craggy boulders jut through walls in these off-grid guesthouses that architecture studio Mar Plus Ask has built in Mallorca, Spain, for creatives in need of a quiet escape.Tucked away high up in Mallorca’s Tramuntana mountains, The Olive Houses are run year-round by Mar Plus Ask as a silent refuge where solo architects, writers and artists can stay free from interruption.

      The pair of houses are enclosed by a dense grove of thousand-year-old olive trees, which at points is interrupted by huge boulders resembling “natural monumental sculptures”.

      Keen to leave this rugged terrain largely untouched, Mar Plus Ask set about designing two modest structures – one that accommodates sleeping quarters, the other cooking facilities – that look like homes in the surrounding landscape.

      “Our first reaction was that only if we could come up with something that would add something in a respectful and beautiful way, would we ever consider building,” explained the studio, which is led by Mar Vicens and Ask Anker Aistrup.
      “However, it was calming that the functions we were looking to build wouldn’t be much different than those of the existing structures found in the area.”

      One of the houses is partially embedded into an existing stone terrace, which the studio hopes will help the structure keep cool during the warm summer months.
      A sliding teakwood door can be pushed back to reveal a grand arched entrance. Inside, the house has a series of smooth, sloping surfaces similar to those seen within a cave.
      The walls, floor and ceiling have been exclusively rendered in blush-pink stucco, as the studio felt the colour was complementary to the pale green shade seen on the underside of an olive tree leaf.

      A corner of the house has been built around a craggy boulder that the studio left in situ, illuminated by a skylight directly above.
      “To us, the stone became a piece of art – suddenly the house was more about sculpting its backdrop and being its lightbox,” explained the studio.

      Tiny camping pods by Andrea Zittel serve as a creative refuge in the California desert

      Just beside the boulder, an overhead shower has been fitted, while a single bed lies on the other side of the house. Outside there’s also a large sink, the basin of which is formed from rock.

      Mar Plus Ask created the second house by renovating a dilapidated shed on site that was once used to store tools.
      Surfaces throughout are instead covered in deep-purple stucco, a hue that the studio thought was more akin to the dark, glossy topside of an olive leaf.

      The structure was initially deemed too narrow to hold cooking facilities but the studio ended up carving a wide opening into one of its 60-centimetre-thick walls, which is able to accommodate a chunky prep counter and a sink.
      Guests will also have access to two gas burners and a wood-fire oven – water, like that used to service the shower and sink in the first house, is sourced from a nearby spring. This house also includes a toilet.

      Mar Plus Ask was established in 2015 and works between offices in Copenhagen, Berlin, Mallorca and Valencia.
      The studio’s Olive Houses project isn’t the only place where creatives can go to clear their heads. Back in 2016, Andrea Zittel launched Wagon Station Encampment – a campsite near Joshua Tree Park, California, where artists and writers are allowed to play out their “desert fantasy”.
      The site includes 10 sleeping pods, a communal outdoor kitchen and open-air showers.
      Photography is by Piet Albert Goethals.

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      Norm Architects balances “richness and restraint” in refresh of Alsterhaus' menswear department

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      Oak, grey stone and yellow-tinted glass are some of the materials that Norm Architects has used in its minimal makeover of the menswear section of German department store Alsterhaus.Alsterhaus is situated at the heart of Hamburg and first opened its doors in 1912. Spanning 24,000 square metres, the department store offers a mix of fashion, accessories, beauty products and homeware.
      Norm Architects was tasked with refurbishing the long-standing store’s menswear section, which featured lack-lustre white walls and herringbone walls.

      The practice was keen to create a “unity of different universes” across the men’s section that would offer customers a richer experience than shopping online – but also wanted the architecture and material palette of the space to look inherently “pure”.

      The work of American-German architect Mies van der Rohe and Austrian-Czech architect Adolf Loos became a key point of reference.

      OMA wraps glass public walkway around Galleria department store in Gwanggyo

      “A department store is a visually busy place and we realized early in the process that the design needed to be pared down and clear conceptually – ruling out strong patterns and ornamentation,” said Sofie Thorning, associate partner at Norm Architects.
      “We looked to Mies van der Rohe and Adolf Loos for inspiration on natural materials with inherent characteristics that form textures and colours while evoking sensations of warmth, cold balancing feelings of soft and hard to the touch,” she told Dezeen.

      The menswear section is now orientated around a colonnade comprising a sequence of oakwood frames.
      It leads off to various brand concessions that are each fronted by gunmetal signs denoting their name.

      While some areas boast plush carpeting, a majority of the floor has been clad with pale-grey Ceppo di Gre stone tiles.
      “This balance between richness and restraint affords the user a unique and engaging shopping experience, relying on a considered quality of materiality and space,” added Thorning.

      Garments hang from rectangular black-metal frames that descend from the ceiling, while smaller accessories like shoes or lifestyle items are presented on bespoke steel or dark-wood shelving units.
      Pops of colour are offered by yellow-tinted glass clothing stands and blocky display plinths crafted from milky-green natural stone.

      Norm Architects has been established since 2008 and was founded by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen and Kasper Rønn Von Lotzbeck. Its most recent projects include the creation of a Copenhagen hotel that doubles as a showroom and the refurbishment of a pair of Tokyo apartments.
      The practice also is longlisted in the interior designer of the year category in this year’s Dezeen Awards.
      Photography is by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen of Norm Architects.

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      Dutch Invertuals designs Tiny Offices from corrugated aluminium plates

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      Design studio Dutch Invertuals has created a collection of compact offices made from corrugated aluminium and wood for Dutch holiday park operator Droomparken.Named Tiny Offices, the small workspaces were designed to be places where you could “freely dream, perform and create”. They have been installed in two of Droomparken’s holiday parks in the Netherlands.

      Dutch Invertuals has designed four Tiny Offices
      The compact offices measure just over six square metres and were built from raw corrugated aluminium plates, with wooden doors and a large window frame on the front facade.

      “The biggest inspiration came from projects which were completely embedded in natural surroundings,” said Dutch Invertuals architect Chris Collaris and design director Wendy Plomp.

      The Tiny Offices were built with corrugated aluminium walls
      “It’s almost an ‘end of the world-place’ with that big window overlooking it,” Collaris and Plomp told Dezeen.
      “The actual space itself didn’t need to be very big.”

      Each of the Tiny Office interiors was designed by a different designer
      The Tiny Offices have custom-designed interiors in different colours, clad in materials including felt and acrylic that were chosen for their functionality.

      Shuhei Goto Architects turns lecture hall into multi-level work space

      “The interiors are designed to create the most optimal work environment, where you can concentrate and work but also lay down on a beautifully designed daybed to think and look outside,” Collaris and Plomp explained.
      “Because it is a small and intimate space, all materials should make sense. Therefore we used an acrylic wall that makes the space look more spacious, but you can also write on it.”

      Tijmen Smeulders designed a paired-back colour scheme for one Tiny Office
      The interiors were designed by three designers Raw Color, Thomas Ballouhey and Tijmen Smeulders.
      Each designer created their own colour scheme, with some choosing a colourful identity and some going for darker, more sophisticated hues.

      Designer Raw Colour added colour wall art to its Tiny Office
      Droomparken, which runs holiday parks across the Netherlands, commissioned the project for Dutch Design Week in 2018 with the aim of creating a space that would be better to work in than a traditional office.
      Today there are four Tiny Offices, with more to potentially be installed in the future.

      Raw Colour also upholstered the chair in pink material
      Their project became more timely as the coronavirus pandemic struck.
      “In these last years offices have become more green and healthy, but criticism of the modern contemporary office has come to the surface, and today the office seems to be under pressure because of the COVID-19 virus,” Collaris and Plomp explained.
      “The units got more attention because going to the normal office was not an option any more. Tiny Offices were and are a much safer place than the traditional office.”

      Thomas Ballouhey designed the interiors of the final office
      Tiny Offices has been longlisted for the Dezeen Awards 2020 in the small workspace interior category.
      Dutch Invertuals previously designed an exhibition celebrating at the circle and experimented with creating products from unwanted household junk to produce less.

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      Decada Muebles spotlights local craft inside Mexico's Escondido Oaxaca Hotel

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      Interiors studio Decada Muebles has filled this boutique hotel in Oaxaca City, Mexico with pieces made by the region’s artisans.A majority of the Escondido Oaxaca Hotel takes over a former family home that dates back to the 19th century.
      Inside are four of the hotel’s total 12 guest rooms – the last eight are located just beyond the house within a more contemporary concrete tower erected by architect Alberto Kalach.

      The Escondido Oaxaca Hotel lobby. Top image: a bedroom in the concrete tower
      This mixture of old and new influenced Decada Muebles’ design of the hotel, which has been almost exclusively decked out with pieces crafted by local craft makers.

      “We wanted to create a feeling of timelessness inside an authentic Oaxacan house, where the guests could feel the presence of a craftsman’s hand through their work in every nook and cranny,” the interior design studio told Dezeen.
      “With a mix of minimalism and clean lines in our furniture choices, and the lush landscaping and garden design, we aimed to maximize the possibility of relaxation and sense of serenity as the underlying state while at the hotel.”

      The hotel restaurant features green cement tiles
      Guests enter the hotel via the old house, walking through a spacious lobby that’s dotted with oversized terracotta plant pots.
      Red bricks run across the floor, while the walls are loosely rendered with stucco – faded patches of paint left behind from the house’s old fit-out are still visible.
      These rustic walls continue through into the restaurant, which serves up a menu of Mexican fusion food.

      The split-level culture room features stucco walls
      Local craftsmen have used Sabino, a Mexican wood, to make the tables and chairs that appear throughout the room. They complement a gridded timber shelving unit that openly displays liquor bottles and glassware.
      The floor here is clad with locally sourced green-cement tiles – the colour was specifically chosen in a subtle nod to Cantera, a green-hued volcanic rock that’s native to Oaxaca and used to build several of its buildings and roads.

      The concrete facade of the new tower
      When they’re not relaxing around the pool, which is up on the roof, guests can head to the split-level “culture room”.
      It includes a small library and a cosy sofa area decorated with earth-tone vases.

      Bedrooms feature sabino wood furniture
      Guest rooms in the old house and the concrete tower have been finished in the same material palette that’s been applied throughout Escondido Oaxaca Hotel’s communal spaces.

      Monte Uzulu is a boutique hotel in the Oaxacan jungle by Taller Lu’um and At-te

      Green-tinted cement tiles cover surfaces in the en-suite bathrooms and sabino wood has been used to create the rooms’ side tables, bed frames and shutters, which can be pushed back to reveal balconies or foliage-filled patios.
      Details like the woven palm leaf headboards were also custom made in Oaxaca.

      A bedroom opening onto a courtyard
      Escondido Oaxaca Hotel is longlisted in the hotel and short-stay category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.
      It will compete against the likes of Trunk House, a boutique hotel in Tokyo that includes a miniature disco, and Casa Palerm, a guest villa in Mallorca which is fronted by a huge cinema screen-like window.
      Photography is by Undine Pröhl.

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      Seven dental clinics designed to take the pain out of check ups

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      Architects and designers have created these seven dental offices with bright and colourful interiors to offer patients a more enjoyable and worry free experience.

      Dent Protetyka, Poland, Adam Wiercinski

      The pick-up window inside this Polish denture clinic designed by Adam Wiercinski is outlined with green lines that form the shape of medical services cross.
      Located inside an old tenement building in Poznan, the 10-square-metre space is modelled after the city’s small kiosk shops. Steel mesh separates the waiting room and shopfront from the tiny consultation room situated in the rear of the space.
      Find out more about Dent Protetyka ›

      The Urban Dentist, Germany, Studio Karhard
      Studio Karhard designed The Urban Dentist in Berlin to mimic the flashy interiors of Berghain, the electronica nightclub in the German city also completed by the firm.
      LED lights border the edges of the fluted glass walls, while in the treatment rooms the sink and supplies are stored inside a pink cabinet that is topped with a colourful speckled counter.
      Find out more about The Urban Dentist ›

      Sou Smile, Brazil, SuperLimão
      Brazilian studio SuperLimão inserted a pink polycarbonate volume inside Sou Smile, a dental health treatment centre in São Paulo that manufactures dental appliances.
      The rounded structure houses a consultation room, while the rest of the converted warehouse building is outfitted with open-plan workstations and a laboratory for manufacturing dental appliances.
      Find out more about Sou Smile ›

      Waiting room, China, RIGI Design
      A rectangular “dining” table and play area for children feature in this colourful clinic in Tianjin, China designed by RIGI Design.
      The play space is framed in the shape of a house and decorated with animal-shaped furnishings. Treatment rooms are located along a corridor fronted with glass walls. Large black digits painted on the hardwood floor designate the room number.
      Find out more about the waiting room ›

      Ortho Wijchen, Netherlands, Studio Prototype
      For this office in Wichen, Netherlands has inserted the treatment areas between translucent glass partitions. To ease patient’s comfort each the of chairs faces a wall of windows that provide a view of a grassy pastoral landscape.
      “The open setup of the plan and the large panoramic view towards the garden create a light and spacious place in which the patient feels comfortable,” the studio said.
      Find out more about the Ortho Wijchen ›

      Go Orthodontistes, Canada, Natasha Thorpe Design
      Slatted timber panels clad the walls and reception desk in this orthodontist practice in Quebec, Canada designed by Natasha Thorpe Design.
      The boards of Douglas fir wood cover storage cabinets and form shelves in the office. In the consultation room there are several dental chairs and a row of black cabinets. Translucent glass spans across the laboratory and instrument sterilisation room concealing its interiors from the outside.
      Find out more about the Go Orthodontistes ›

      Impress, Spain, Raúl Sanchez Architects
      The curve of a smile informed the design for Impress, a dental clinic in Barcelona designed by Raúl Sanchez Architects.
      Large rounded boards crafted using pine wood form partitions in the office. The studio chose the material to add warmth to the typically white and sterile environment. Red, blue and grey accents add a playful element to the design and tie in with the company’s branding.
      Find out more about the Impress ›

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      Luigi Rosselli Architects creates wave-like facade for Bondi Bombora house in Sydney

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      Turquoise and sea-green tiles wash over the undulating facade of this family home in Sydney, designed by local practice Luigi Rosselli Architects.The Bondi Bombora house is occupied by three generations of a family and their gang of dogs, cats and chickens.

      The swelling ocean waters of nearby Bondi beach informed the design of the three-storey home, which Luigi Rosselli Architects has named after bombora – an indigenous Australian term used to describe a wave which forms over submerged fragments of reef or rock offshore.

      “It’s an homage to that surfers’ haven; to the swell and the waves that have formed a rich intertidal culture for millennia,” said the practice.

      Elements of the home have been made to emulate the shape of a wave, like its undulating front elevation.
      Slim turquoise and sea green-coloured tiles arranged in a herringbone pattern cover the bottom third of the elevation, which the practice hopes will “shimmer in the daylight like the surface of the ocean”.

      Ripple-edged frames made from black steel also surround the windows and doorways.
      Black steel has additionally been used to clad the top third of the house, which the practice likens to an “armoured battleship”.

      Inside Bondi Bombora are a series of airy, light-filled living spaces with high ceilings, which Luigi Rosselli Architects created with the help of interiors studio Alwill.
      The practice had been inspired by the lofty proportions of piano nobiles, or “noble floors” – the first storey of grand Italian palazzos where main reception rooms and bedrooms would be placed.

      One side of the home accommodates an open-plan kitchen with bright white cabinetry. Inhabitants can eat at the marble-topped breakfast island, or around the more formal wooden dining table.
      Where possible, Alwill has incorporated practical features for family living. For example, a sideboard that runs along the rear of the room includes a fold-out desk where the kids can do their homework.

      Luigi Rosselli Architects adds twisting stair to Sydney’s Peppertree Villa

      Expansive glazed panels can be slid back to access the garden, where landscaper Michael Bates has planted an abundance of fruit trees and pollen-friendly plants for the bees the inhabitants keep.

      A double-height void accommodates a small study area and a stairwell that leads up to the Bondi Bombora’s sleeping quarters.
      Cocoon-like pendant lamps made from black and white mesh cascade down the centre.

      The entire back wall of the stairwell has been in-built with a towering bookshelf. More books can be stored in the stepped shelving unit that’s been built to sit alongside the steps.
      A deep-set window on the first-floor landing has also been transformed into a cosy reading nook.

      Luigi Rosselli Architects has been established since 1984 and works out of offices in Sydney’s Surry Hills suburb.
      The practice has designed a number of dwellings around the Australian city. Among them is Peppertree Villa, a 1920s home that features a dramatic spiral staircase and contemporary glass conservatory.
      Photography is by Prue Ruscoe.
      Project credits:
      Architects: Luigi RosselliProject architects: Sean Johnson, Diana YangInterior designers: Alwill InteriorsBuilder: Building With OptionsJoiner: BWO Fitout and InteriorsStructural consultant: Geoff Ninnes Fong and PartnersLandscaper: Bates LandscapeWindows: Evolution Window SystemsMetal roofing/cladding: Traditional Metal Roofing

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