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  • Sim-Plex Design Studio creates a four-bedroom smart home in Hong Kong

    Voice-activated technology and space-saving furniture helped Sim-Plex Design Studio turn a two-bedroom home in Hong Kong into Smart Zendo, a four-bedroom apartment with hidden storage.Smart Zendo is in Hong Kong’s Coastal Skyline neighbourhood. The project has been shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020 in the small interior of the year category.

    A coffee table appears on voice command
    Sim-Plex Design Studio converted the home for a couple who often travel for work and needed room for multigenerational living.

    “Eric and Lory moved to Hong Kong from Taiwan many years ago and have a son,” said Sim-Plex founder Patrick Lam.

    Benches hide storage in the kitchen area
    “Eric needs to travel frequently throughout the country, and Lory is a flight attendant. The lack of time spent at home means they often need their grandmother to take care of the children,” added Lam.
    “Eric and Lory often talk about the scenery and homestay in Taiwan and how they missed them so much.”

    The apartment can now house four or five people
    Sim-Plex Design Studio aimed to recreate the feeling of their old home in Taiwan while building a flexible living space that could make the most of the 492-square-foot home.
    Wide windows make the most of the views and pale Maplewood floors and cabinets were chosen to create a calm and warm atmosphere.

    A screen unfolds to turn the living area into a private room
    The floor of the living room is a raised platform with trap door-style elements that lift to reveal hidden storage for children’s toys and other household necessities.
    A coffee table up rises up from the platform to create a sunken bench where the adults can sit and enjoy tea ceremonies.

    Toys can be stored in the raised platform floor
    Technology is everywhere in the apartment, but the interior designers deliberately made it less obvious, preferring a subtle approach rather than overtly futuristic placements.
    Smart homes should use technology to enhance the lives of busy city dwellers, not distract them, said Lam.

    A table rises up for sharing a tea ceremony
    Voice-activated technology allows the residents to open the curtains, turn on the lights, lock or unlock the door and even raise the table.
    Curtains, screens and the home security system are all controlled by apps and remotes, and plugs and wall sockets are all secreted away.

    Big windows frame the scenery
    “The integrated TV cabinet wall and the wooden floor platform are plain and warm, yet hide a large number of intelligent devices,” said Lam.
    “The design is also integrated into the traditional Feng Shui doctrine, to create a spiritual space where tradition and technology, people and scenery are combined.”

    A raised platform in the bedroom forms a desk chair
    Eric, in particular, is a keen practitioner of Feng Shui, so Sim-Plex Design Studio carefully oriented the living space according to this. Maplewood was chosen to represent the wood element of Feng Shui.

    Pets Playground apartment in Hong Kong is designed for couple, a parrot and a cat

    “Although the traditional Feng Shui aesthetics and smart technology seems to be contradictory, if applied properly, they also have their compatibility,” said Lam.

    Wood was chosen for its symbolism in Feng Shui
    The open plan kitchen and living room freed up the old kitchen room, which has been converted into a third bedroom for the family’s live-in maid.
    Sliding doors can screen off the living area from the kitchen to create an extra fourth bedroom for when the grandmother comes to stay.

    A makeup table folds out in the bedroom
    Space-saving furniture has been used throughout, including rounded benches that tuck under the dining table in the kitchen area. More storage is integrated into the base of the chairs and the slim drawers in the tabletop.
    In the child’s room, the platform-style bed doubles as a chair for sitting at a desk, while the master bedroom has a hidden makeup table and the bed can double as a stool for using it.

    Marble tiles clad the walls in the bathroom
    The bathroom, with its marble-tiled walls, was modelled on a boutique hotel aesthetic.
    Sim-Plex Design Studio was founded by Patrick Lam and specialises in small space solutions for Hong Kong residents.
    The studio recently designed an apartment in Yuen Long for a multigenerational family – and their pet cat and parrot.

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  • Lost House by David Adjaye features black interiors and bedroom with a pool

    Black walls, built-in raw concrete furniture and a fish pond in a lightwell define Lost House, a residential project designed by David Adjaye in London’s King’s Cross, which has recently come on the market.Royal Gold Medal-winner Adjaye, the founder of Adjaye Associates, designed Lost House in 2004.

    Top: the swimming pool. Above: a central lightwell holds a fish pond
    The house has come back on the market recently, granting an opportunity to see the interiors of one of the architect’s early residential works in detail.

    Original features have been preserved, including an all-green sunken cinema room and a water gardens in planted courtyards that double as lightwells.

    A courtyard garden in a lightwell
    Hidden behind an unassuming brick facade in an alleyway, Lost House was formerly a delivery yard complete with a loading platform.
    Adjaye Associates turned the concrete loading platform into a plinth for an upper-level swimming pool with black-painted sides next to the pink-walled main bedroom.

    The ground floor is an open plan living space
    On the ground floor, there is a large open plan living, dining and kitchen area with a double-height ceiling.
    The sunken conversation pit with a cinema room-style projector, complete with zesty lime walls, built-in bookshelves and wide sofas, is off to one side.

    Raw concrete countertops are part of the kitchen
    Three tall, glass-walled lightwells stretch up to the black-painted timber eaves of the roof, bringing natural daylight down into the room instead of windows.
    In the centre of the living area is a lightwell filled with a fishpond.

    A sunken conversation pit is entirely bright green
    The square courtyards in the lightwells are planted with tropical greenery. At the back, next to the kitchen, the courtyard features wooden decking around clusters of circular concrete benches inset with the same grey pebbles that surround them.
    The black chipboard walls, ceiling and exposed timber beams are reflected in the shiny black resin floor.

    Concrete benches in the courtyard garden
    Adding to the industrial look are the thick concrete elements of the built-in kitchen, which forms a continuous countertop and splashback.

    Ten key projects by RIBA Royal Gold Medal winner David Adjaye

    A concrete element continues from the kitchen to the living area, were it forms a low bench upholstered in black leather cushions.

    Black walls and floors around the pool and bathroom
    Steps lead to the raised ground floor, where the old loading bay plinth supports the lap pool. Black stone tiles surround the pool, which is part of the master bathroom for the main bedroom.
    Two stone sinks sit on a concrete shelf below mirrored cabinets. A wet-room style shower allows the residents to wash before and after swimming.

    The master bedroom is entirely pink
    This bathroom connects directly to the back of the master suite, which has a separate toilet and a long corridor connecting to the stairs. The bedroom is decorated all pink to contrast with the ink-black interiors
    A second bedroom is located on this floor, with a third bedroom located up on the first floor that is currently being used as a home office.

    An upstairs room is a work from home office
    David Adjaye founded Adjaye Associates in 2000 and began his career designing high-end residential projects in north London such as Lost House. Other notable all-black houses by the studio include Dirty House and Sunken House.
    Photography is courtesy of United Kingdom Sotheby’s International Realty.

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  • Aston Martin collaborates with S3 Architecture to design first residential project

    US studio S3 Architecture worked with luxury carmaker Aston Martin’s architectural design service to create Sylvan Rock, an angular black-cedar home in Hudson Valley, New York.With building works set to start in early 2021, Sylvan Rock by S3 Architecture will be the first property to be fully realised under Aston Martin’s Automotive Galleries and Lairs service, which launched last year.

    The form of Sylvan Rock house will mimic jagged rock formations nearby
    The service sees the carmaker team up with architecture practices across the world to design bespoke spaces where its clients can show off their most cherished motors.

    Sylvan Rock will be situated two hours away from Manhattan, hidden amongst a 55-acre plot of forested land in Hudson Valley that will allow inhabitants to “reconnect with nature”.

    Luxury cars will be displayed in a glass gallery-style room
    A sweeping driveway that spans 2,000 feet (609 metres) will lead up to the front door of the house. The facade will be composed of expansive panels of glazing and blackened cedar.
    Its dark metal roof will be faceted to emulate the jagged shape of surrounding rock formations, at one point dramatically dipping downwards to form a covered entryway.

    The house will also include a subterranean office
    “When designing, we always let the land speak first and respond to it,” said Christopher Dierig, partner at S3 Architecture.
    “It’s as if the home is born of and launching from the landscape. The resulting design blends our modernist aesthetic with the privacy and context of the rural location to create a unique luxury experience.”

    Parquet flooring and dark-wood joinery will feature throughout living spaces on the ground floor
    Cars will be displayed in a subterranean gallery-style room that’s completely enclosed by panels of glass.
    It will look through to a wine lounge where bottles are kept in floor-to-ceiling latticed shelves that subtly nod to the intersecting lines seen in Aston Martin’s logo.

    Lounge areas will overlook the green landscape
    At this level there will also be an office where the inhabitants can escape to do work without interruption. It will feature a huge window that offers an up-close glimpse of the craggy rocks outdoors.
    From here guests can head upstairs to the ground floor where there will be a kitchen, cosy den, dining room, formal sitting area and an array of other shared living spaces that look out across the home’s decked pool area and verdant landscape.

    Other rooms will have views of the home’s pool
    Aston Martin – which will be responsible for the home’s interiors – imagines each room to be finished with parquet flooring and rich chocolate-brown storage cabinetry.
    Marble-topped tables and plush, leather-trimmed soft furnishings will further enhance the opulent feel of the home.

    The first-floor master bedroom will cantilever towards the Catskill mountains
    Elevated views across the treetops and towards the nearby Catskill Mountains will be available up in the first-floor master bedroom, which will cantilever over the house’s ground floor.

    Aston Martin launches architectural service to design homes focused around your car

    “Our architecture and design team was immediately in sync with the Aston Martin design team, both emphasizing clean lines and the luxury of natural materials and textures,” the studio’s partner, Doug Maxwell, told Dezeen.
    “Working with them we evolved our creative process to view the residence in a similar way as designing an Aston Martin car – by designing in 360 degrees, where no specific angle or facade took precedence or dominates.”

    Sylvan Rock will also include three pods where guests can stay
    The grounds of Sylvan Rock will additionally accommodate three gabled guest pods that will stagger down a grassy embankment towards a pond.
    They will enable visiting friends and family to have a sense of privacy when they come to stay but, when not in use, can alternatively serve as a health and fitness space or a quiet area for homeschooling.
    There will also be a small produce garden where fruit and vegetables can be grown, as well as a pitched-roof treehouse where inhabitants or guests can choose to spend a night under the stars, closer to the site’s wildlife.

    There will also be a treehouse on site
    Aston Martin’s Automotive Galleries and Lairs service is not the brand’s first venture outside of carmaking. Last year it unveiled its inaugural motorcycle model, AMB 001, which features a 180-horsepower turbocharged engine and a carbon-fibre body.
    Images are by S3 Architecture, courtesy of Corcoran Country Living.

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  • Outdoor dining on New York City streets becomes permanent

    New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has made the Open Restaurants Program, which allows restaurants in the city to extend seating onto streets, sidewalks and public spaces, permanent following the coronavirus pandemic.First temporarily initiated in June to allow restaurants to continue doing business while adhering to social distancing restrictions, the programme will now be a year-round fixture, De Blasio announced on 25 September.
    The Open Restaurants Program, which has seen outdoor dining spaces pop up across the city, will boost the capacity of restaurants as they open indoor dining at 50 per cent capacity as New York gradually reopens after the coronavirus lockdown.
    Restaurants allowed to heat outdoor spaces and build tents
    Under the scheme, eateries are allowed to extend seating onto sidewalks and roadways, or onto adjacent outdoor spaces with their neighbours’ consent. Establishments must follow a list of requirements for an Open Restaurant design, which include a clear path on the pavement, a maximum distance from the curb and a required height of enclosing barriers.
    De Blasio’s extension will also introduce guidelines for restaurants to heat outdoor areas during the colder winter months, which will be released by the end of September.

    David Rockwell unveils kit to build restaurants on streets following pandemic

    These regulations will allow the installation of electrical heaters on both sidewalks and roadways, and propane and natural gas heaters only on pavements. Propane will require a permit from New York City Fire Department.
    Restaurants will also be able to build tents, ranging from partial to full enclosures, in order to keep diners warm.
    Outdoor seating enables safe dining amid pandemic
    Food establishments will have to apply online for permission to become an Open Restaurant. Three or more restaurants on a street that is closed to traffic can also apply together to expand outdoors in another option known as Open Streets: Restaurants.
    Following the city lockdown, more than 10,300 restaurants citywide reopened with activities outdoors over summer, according to the New York Times, allowing them to stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic.
    A number of architects and designers also came up with creative ways for restaurants to allow safe dining post-Covid-19. In May, ahead of New York’s outdoor dining programme, designer David Rockwell created a kit of parts to turn the city’s streets into outdoor restaurants with socially distanced dining.
    His firm, Rockwell Group, later built a pro-bono DineOut NYC project (pictured top) comprising 120 seats for restaurants on Mott Street in Chinatown.
    Arts centre Mediamatic also developed a socially distanced dining experience in Amsterdam where guests sit in their own greenhouse and hosts wear face shields.
    Photograph of DineOut NYC is by Emily Andrews for Rockwell Group.

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  • Shortlist revealed for AHEAD MEA 2020 hospitality awards

    Dezeen promotion: a cluster of luxurious tents in the Namibian desert and a hotel set amongst verdant gardens in Marrakech are some of the projects shortlisted in the Middle East and Africa heats of this year’s AHEAD awards.The AHEAD MEA awards give praise to outstanding hospitality projects that have launched, opened or reopened across the Middle East and Africa between January 2019 and February of this year.

    Zannier Hotels Sonop, a group of guest tents in Namibia, is on the shortlist
    Entries were initially organised into 15 categories, which acknowledge everything from a project’s guest suites to its landscaping and outdoor spaces.

    A shortlist was then composed by a judging panel of leading experts from the hotel industry. This year it includes figures such as Leila Abdul Rahim, design director of Hilton Worldwide, and Pallavi Dean, founder of studio Roar.

    Another project on the AHEAD MEA awards shortlist this year is Dubai’s Opus hotel
    Among the projects on the shortlist is Zannier Hotels Sonop, a group of 10 tents that perch over huge granite boulders in the Namibian desert.
    Decadently designed to evoke old-world safari charm, inside the tents have been decorated with vintage maps, binoculars and telescopes.

    Also on the shortlist is The Oberoi Marrakech, which is surrounded by lush gardens
    Other projects on the shortlist include the Opus hotel in Dubai designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, which is set inside a cuboid glass building that’s punctuated by an irregularly shaped void.
    Also on the shortlist is The Farmstead at Royal Malewane, an intimate lodge that looks out over the tree canopies of a national park in South Africa, and The Oberoi Marrakech, which is nestled amongst 28 acres of Mediterranean gardens and citrus trees.

    Additionally on the AHEAD MEA 2020 shortlist is The Farmstead at Royal Malewane
    This year – due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic – the final stages of judging will take place over a series of video calls between 30 September to 1 October, where those on the panel will review projects one last time before deciding on their favourites from each category.
    Winners will then be announced on 9 November at the awards’ inaugural “hybrid” event, which will involve a digital screening for overseas audience members and a localised on-the-ground ceremony for people part of the AHEAD MEA community.
    See the full shortlist below:
    Bar, Club or Lounge
    Archer Bar & Eatery at Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaTwenty Three Rooftop Bar at Grand Plaza Mövenpick Media City, Dubai, UAESiddharta Lounge by Buddha Bar at W Muscat, OmanSt. Trop at Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre, UAE
    Guestrooms
    Four Seasons Hotel Doha, QatarLekkerwater Beach Lodge, De Hoop Nature Reserve, South AfricaThe Farmstead at Royal Malewane, Hoedspruit, South AfricaThe Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, UAE
    Hotel Newbuild
    Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaME Dubai at Opus, UAEThe Museum Hotel Antakya, TurkeyThe Social House Nairobi, Kenya
    Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces
    Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas, TunisiaLe Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoThe Farmstead at Royal Malewane, Hoedspruit, South AfricaThe Oberoi Marrakech, Morocco
    Lobby & Public Spaces
    Le Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoMarriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaME Dubai at Opus, UAEVida Hotel Emirates Hills, Dubai, UAE
    Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps
    Abelana River Lodge, Phalaborwa, South AfricaandBeyond Ngala Treehouse, Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South AfricaHabitas NamibiaKing’s Pool, Linyanti Wildlife Reserve, BotswanaLepogo Lodges’ Noka Camp, South AfricaPuku Ridge, South Luangwa National Park, ZambiaZannier Hotels Sonop, Namibia
    Renovation, Restoration & Conversion
    andBeyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge, Namibrand Nature Reserve, NamibiaFour Seasons Hotel Doha, QatarLe Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoLong Lee Manor, Shamwari Private Game Reserve, South Africa
    Resort
    Al Wathba, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Abu Dhabi, UAEAnantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas, TunisiaThe Oberoi Marrakech, MoroccoW Muscat, Oman
    Restaurant
    Bull & Bear at Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre, UAEKeystone at Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaMina’s Kitchen at The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, UAENammos Restaurant at Four Seasons Resort Dubai, UAE
    Restaurant
    Bull & Bear at Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre, UAEKeystone at Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaMina’s Kitchen at The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, UAENammos Restaurant at Four Seasons Resort Dubai, UAE
    Suite
    Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas, TunisiaFour Seasons Hotel Doha, QatarLe Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoMarriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South Africa

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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
    The post Old nylon factory converted into “cathedral-like” office space appeared first on Dezeen. More

  • 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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