California

Subterms

    More stories

    • 150 Shares159 Views

      White stucco Casa Mami by Working Holiday Studio contrasts California desert landscape

      by

      Los Angeles design firm Working Holiday Studio has transformed a property in the California desert into a shoppable holiday home that “stands out” against its desolate landscape Casa Mami is located in Pioneertown, California, an unincorporated community outside of Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California.
      After visiting the area Carlos Naude and Whitney Brown of Working Holiday Studio wanted to purchase a house of their own to spend holidays in and to rent out to overnight guests.

      The 92-square-metre stucco house has an adobe-style construction and is situated on five acres (1.6 hectares) overlooking the barren desert landscape.

      To make the tiny building “stand out” against its surroundings a black portico contrasts the updated white exterior and light-coloured gravel around the property juxtaposes the sandy ground.

      “Most houses around the desert in that area try to blend in with the environment through earthy and brown tones, we wanted the opposite, we wanted our house to stand out which is why we chose to surround the house with white gravel to create a separation between the desert ground and house and painted it white and black, which not only made it really stand out but also brought a Mediterranean feel to it which is a good contrast to the dry hot desert,” Naude told Dezeen.

      For the interiors, the designers took cues from Scandinavian and Japanese design styles. This was coupled with bright colours found in work by Mexican architect Luis Barragán and a mix of pattern and shape used by French interior designer Jacques Granges and British designer Terence Conran.

      “I would say that we borrowed Luis Barragán’s use of colour – like the monochromatic yellow hallway, Jacques Grange’s ability to mix styles – between Scandinavian and Japanese, and Terence Conran’s incorporation of playful shapes and silhouettes,” he added.

      An Aesthetic Pursuit designs shoppable Airbnb in Maine

      Beige walls are paired with white moulding and painted grey floors throughout the house. In the kitchen the cabinets and drawers are punctured with a tiny hole to form a handle instead of with a traditional metal knob.

      A set of translucent glass doors with black trim is situated between the open-plan kitchen and living space frames the desert landscape, which is speckled with vegetation. Another pair is located in the master bedroom furnished with two semicircular nightstands and black light fixtures.

      In the living there is blue couch with rounded cushions and a circular coffee table topped with a terrazzo surface. The furnishings face a white, sphere-shaped fireplace installed to heat the tiny home.

      Photograph is by Candida Wohlgemuth
      The studio worked with over 30 brands to decorate the space with furniture, appliances and houseware items that guests can purchase online, forming part a new trend to design “shoppable stays”.
      Others include a holiday house in Maine designed by An Aesthetic Pursuit to showcase its new furniture collection and a rental property in Long Island Studio Robert McKinley has decorated to double as a showroom.

      Other details of Casa Mami are a hallway with bright yellow walls, decorative potted plants and an outdoor patio nestled into a corner of the structure.
      It is also powered by solar panels and a hauled water system, so the homeowners and guests are more conscious about their energy and water usage.

      Casa Mami has been longlisted in the hotel and short stay interior project category of Dezeen Awards 2020, with shortlists set to be announced at the start of September.
      Working Holiday Studio is a Los Angeles design studio led by husband and wife duo Carlos Naude and Whitney Brown. It worked with Francesca de la Fuente on the renovation of The Ruby Street co-working space in Los Angeles.
      Photography is by Carlos Naude, unless noted otherwise.

      Read more: More

    • 113 Shares99 Views

      Greek islands inform design for Monastery Studio facial spa

      by

      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.

      Read more: More

    • 188 Shares149 Views

      Kelly Wearstler's “fiercely local” Santa Monica Proper Hotel named AHEAD Americas Hotel of the Year

      by

      American designer Kelly Wearstler describes how she worked with local artisans and artists on the Santa Monica Proper Hotel in this video produced by Dezeen for the AHEAD Awards.Wearstler is the designer of Santa Monica Proper Hotel, a 271-room boutique hotel seven blocks away from the beach in Santa Monica, California.

      American interior designer Kelly Wearstler designed the Santa Monica Proper Hotel
      The project was named Hotel of the Year at the 2020 AHEAD Americas hospitality awards, as well as winner of the Guestrooms and Lobby & Public Spaces categories.

      The Californian interior designer, who has appeared as a judge on the Bravo reality show Top Design and designed homes for celebrities including Cameron Diaz and Gwen Stefani, described the hotel as “fiercely local” in an exclusive interview filmed by Dezeen.

      Santa Monica Proper Hotel was named Hotel of the Year at the AHEAD Americas awards 2020
      “We wanted to design a hotel where it felt like you’re in Santa Monica,” she said. “The inspiration came from everything that surrounds the hotel, the palm trees, the organic nature of the architecture, everything that you would find at the beach.”
      Natural and heavily textured materials, neutral colours and vintage furniture are used throughout the hotel to create a sensory experience that references Santa Monica’s beachside identity.

      Kelly Wearstler designs relaxed and beachy Santa Monica Proper hotel

      “There is a connection of materiality that speaks to the location” said Wearstler. “Organic materials, neutral colour stories, everything has a texture.”
      “There’s a patina, there’s a hand, there’s something that feels very warm.”

      The hotel also won in the Guestrooms and Lobby & Public Spaces categories
      Santa Monica Proper Hotel is filled with artworks and furniture pieces created specifically for the property by local artists and artisans.
      “Everything’s connected to somebody that is local in the city,” Wearstler said. “We’re so lucky to be in Los Angeles, the talent pool here is extraordinary.”

      The site comprises an historic 1920s building and a new curvilinear extension
      The site consists of the 1920s Santa Monica Professional Building, to which an extension by local firm Howard Laks Architects was added.
      “There’s an historic building that was built in 1928, in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, and then there’s a new contemporary building,” explained Wearstler. “We had to connect these two buildings with one voice.”

      Kelly Wearstler furnishes San Francisco Proper hotel with vintage European design

      “The atmosphere is something that’s just very relaxed,” the designer asserted. “When you come to California, it’s just super relaxed and it’s friendly, and there is a sense of style – it’s just cool. We can connect you to that coming to Santa Monica Proper.”
      The hotel is the latest in the Proper brand, which was founded by Wearstler’s developer husband Brad Korzen alongside hotelier Brian De Lowe, following the San Francisco Proper which Wearstler also designed.

      Wearstler collaborated with local artists and artisans to furnish Santa Monica Proper Hotel
      Previous hospitality collaborations from Wearstler and Korzen include the Tides hotel in South Beach, Florida, the Avalon and Maison 140 hotels in Beverly Hills, and hotels for the Viceroy brand in Miami, Palm Springs and Santa Monica.
      This year’s AHEAD Americas awards were shown in a video ceremony as part of Dezeen’s Virtual Design Festival after the event was called off due to the coronavirus pandemic. Previous winners of the Hotel of the Year award include the opulent Siren Hotel in Detroit and the Calistoga Motor Lodge and Spa, a renovated motel in California.

      Natural materials and neutral colours reference the hotel’s beachside location
      This video was produced by Dezeen for AHEAD. Photography is by The Ingalls and Matthieu Salvaing.

      Read more: More

    • 113 Shares199 Views

      Studio Collective revitalises modernist LA tower for Hotel June

      by

      Los Angles practice Studio Collective has renovated a mid-century building in the city designed by modernist architect Welton Becket in the 1960s to create a laid-back hotel.Hotel June is a 250-room property in a white, 12-storey tower designed by Los Angeles architect Welton Becket in 1968.

      Becket built a number of modernist buildings in the city, including the rounded Capitol Records Building, Koreatown’s Equitable Life Building skyscraper and the Los Angeles Music Center’s Ahmanson Theater near Frank Gehry’s metallic Walt Disney Concert Hall.

      This building, which is in Los Angeles’ beachside community of Playa Del Rey on Lincoln Boulevard, was previously another hotel before it was overhauled by Studio Collective.
      While the exterior was left intact, the interiors are refreshed with many built-in oak pieces, terrazzo floors and woven accents. Pink and green details add a pop of colour.

      The interiors have “a sense of the new and dynamic through coastal influences and a true California spirit” said the studio. The hotel features a pared-back feeling with natural materials and subtle use of colour.

      A lobby has cream terrazzo floors, a wood-clad ceiling and a bright painting on a wall designed by Brooklyn artist Alex Proba. Becket’s granddaughter, Alexandra Becket, also created wallpapers for other areas of the hotel.
      Hotel rooms have white walls, woven carpeting and a mixture of modernist and more contemporary furniture pieces, including Hem sofas. Bright blue and grey are integrated into the suites for visual contrast.

      “Hotel June is at once airy and cosy, blending clean lines and warm natural woods, earthy finishes, and custom furnishings,” the studio said.

      Lush courtyards surround 1 Hotel West Hollywood in Los Angeles

      White oak closets, custom platform beds and wooden daybeds are intended to evoke mid‐century designs, like those by Charles and Ray Eames and relate to the building’s history.

      “Guestrooms and corridors play with colour-blocking geometries (that recall the work of local mid-century industrial designers Charles and Ray Eames),” Studio Collective said.
      Bathrooms have black fixtures and showers are clad in small, square tiles in grey with dark grout.

      In the hotel’s restaurant and sitting area, glass walls are shaded by slatted oak wood screens to help filter natural sunlight. A white, curved sofa and a large woven light fixture decorate the lounge, while the dining area has dark terrazzo floors and wood furniture.

      Hotel June is complete with an outdoor swimming pool, patio, an outdoor bar and restaurant, a fire pit and indoor gym.
      The property, which is called Hotel June to reflect new beginnings and California’s year-round summer sensibility, is the brainchild of Proper Hospitality co-founders Brian De Lowe and Brad Korzen.

      The Proper hotels in California, which are designed by Kelly Wearstler, include Santa Monica Proper with a similarly relaxed style and San Francisco Proper overflowing with colourful art and furniture.
      Hotel June joins a number of hotels recently completed in Los Angeles, like Ace Hotel, the West Hollywood Edition Hotel by Ian Schrager and John Pawson, Arts District Firehouse Hotel and 1 Hotel West Hollywood.
      Photography is by The Ingalls.

      Read more: More

    • 163 Shares159 Views

      Commune designs Serra marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles to be airy and luxurious

      by

      Oak and brass display cabinets fill this cannabis dispensary in Los Angeles that local studio Commune designed to look like a jewellery store. Commune designed the store for Portland brand Serra that sells and produces cannabis products, from caramel treats to pre-rolled joints. Serra, whose Portland flagship was designed by OMFGCo and JHL Design, tasked […] More

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      McLaren Excell channels church interiors for The Splash Lab's LA showroom

      by

      Arched doorways, altar-like tables and a nave-style display area feature in this Los Angeles showroom that McLaren Excell has designed for bathroom brand The Splash Lab. The Splash Lab’s showroom takes over a converted factory in LA’s Culver City area that was originally built back in the 1930s. As this is the bathroom brand’s US […] More

    • 150 Shares119 Views

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

      by

      Hues of soft pink and bold grey are coupled with tiled surfaces in this California facial studio designed by Los Angeles firm Proem Studio. Cheeks & Co is a facial spa and skincare boutique located in a narrow building in Old Town Pasadena that was previously a travel bookstore. To give the space its “high-end” […] More