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    Studio FB creates gallery-like interior for Frame store in Marylebone

    French interior design Studio FB and the co-founder of fashion brand Frame, Erik Torstensson, have designed a California-informed store for the brand in London.

    The store’s concept draws from the brand’s Californian origins as well as European influences, which is reflected in the lighting, furniture and materials.
    Studio FB designed a minimalist store for Frame”The Californian universe with these modernist architectures with a free plan, skylights and the opening of spaces to the outside was our inspiration basis,” Studio FB told Dezeen.
    “We imagined this new concept design layout as open as possible, which can be compared to a gallery.”
    The store is arranged round a large central pillarTo create a greater connection with the street, the studio redesigned the facade by adding a curved, full-height glazed wall, which was set behind the original piers.

    “We designed a long-curved glass like a contemporary insert which contrasts radically with the classic London pillars preserved,” said the studio.
    The studio aimed to create a gallery-like atmosphereWithin the store, the studio aimed to mimic the atmosphere of an art gallery with a polished concrete floor serving as a base for a central pillar constructed from stained birch wood veneer.
    The store’s rails were custom-designed with a distinctive hand-moulded abstract-shaped end-piece serving as the highlight
    With in the fitting room, the ceiling, walls and doors were upholstered in fabric by textile company Kvadrat.
    Custom-designed rails were created for the store”The rounded central wooden element was designed as a sculptural object, which gives a residential feeling from the 50s,” the studio explained.
    “The backspace invites the cabins and lounge area becomes more intimate all-in fabric and brings sophistication to the space. Pieces of furniture and artwork sublimate the atmosphere,” the studio continued.
    “The general atmosphere is similar to an art gallery with raw materials such as concrete on the floor and white walls.”
    The stores changing areas have fabric wallsFB Architects and Torstensson worked together to acquire artwork and collectable design pieces to reinforce the gallery atmosphere.
    “It was a thorough process to ensure the most unique response possible to Frame,” said the studio.
    “Erik had a precise vision of his brand, so we exchanged a lot together on many artistic fields to build the brand’s architectural DNA.”

    Traditional Korean pavilions inform open-sided Aesop store in Seoul

    A sculpture by Serbian visual artist Bojan Šarčević crafted from wood and limestone sits in the display window. Also in the store are two original 1950s Gio Ponti stools, crafted from wood and textiles.
    The store was decorated with wall-mounted fixtures designed by French lighting designer Jean Perzel, as well as geometric fixtures created by French architect Pierre Chareau, to create a soft and gentle lighting ambience.
    Artworks feature throughout the storeTorstensson used AI as a sketching tool to design custom objects for the space, such as large brutalist stone tables and chrome custom-made sculptures that were then realised by architecture studios including Bucktron Studio Sweden.
    “I’ve been learning and expanding my skills with AI for the last year, it creates a superpower when it comes to speed, as it allowed me to generate the visual concept at a greater pace and scale,” said Torstensson.
    “This creates exciting results and provides a new outlook on design. I simply use it to visualise my initial ideas in greater detail in order to bring my ideas to life.”
    The store is Frame’s second in the UKOther retail interiors recently featured on Dezeen include a stationery store interior made from white-oiled wood by Architecture for London and a store interior for Ms MIN in Shanghai, China, by Neri&Hu.
    The photography is courtesy of Frame.

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    Gallery Fumi marks 15th anniversary with design exhibition informed by biology

    To celebrate 15 years of Gallery Fumi, the London gallery is hosting the Growth + Form exhibition of “functional art”, featuring sculptural furniture and lighting with organic forms.

    The Growth + Form exhibition includes new works by 16 of the 28 past Gallery Fumi exhibitors, responding to themes of transformation, regeneration and biological growth patterns.
    The Growth + Form exhibition celebrates Gallery Fumi’s 15th anniversaryIt was designed by architectural designer Leendert De Vos and curated by design historian Libby Sellers, who invited former exhibitors back to showcase new pieces in a group display.
    The exhibition title and theme were informed by the On Form and Growth book by Scottish biologist D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, which analyses the mathematical harmony of growing shapes in biology.
    Pieces in the exhibition were informed by biologyResponding to this biological starting point, furniture and lighting with organic shapes and natural materials can be seen throughout the exhibition.

    Danish artist Stine Bidstrup created a sculptural chandelier titled Light Entanglements, made up of twisting clusters of hand-blown glass.
    Light Entanglements is a chandelier made from hand-blown glassDifferent lengths of painted sticks were combined to create Marmaros Metamorphosis II, a circular decorative wall piece with a textured, tufted-like surface by sculptor Rowan Mersh.
    “Revisiting the very beginning of his career when Mersh used cheap materials to experiment with techniques, in this work using lacquered coloured sticks, he creates forms with the details and skill level he currently attains when using precious materials,” said Gallery Fumi.
    Seating crafted from a single yew log is featured in the exhibitionAs the gallery celebrates its 15th anniversary, Sellers likened its growth to the formation of crystals – the material traditionally associated with 15-year anniversaries.
    “Grown from small particles into a solid form of geometric beauty, crystal is both a poetic metaphor for Gallery Fumi’s own development over the last 15 years and an opportunity to explore the creative affinity between science, art, and the intricate nature of constructions,” said Sellers.

    Lara Bohinc designs Jesmonite lighting collection to look like unearthed relics

    “After all, is this not a definition of design? The meeting of knowledge, form-making, material exploration and beauty?” Sellers added.
    “The works are vibrant and active – sprouting, swirling, twisting, turning – transferring material and form into objects of beauty.”
    Wegworth created a crystal salt vase for the exhibitionAlso on show was a wooden cabinet covered in hand-painted shingles by Berlin-based designer Lukas Wegwerth, who also created a crystal salt vase titled Crystallization 183.
    “Crystallization 183 was identified by Sellers as most significant for the exhibition, as not only is the 15-year anniversary traditionally celebrated with crystal, but the process of growing the crystals is a poetic metaphor for Fumi’s growth as a gallery,” Gallery Fumi said.
    The wall sculpture Marmaros Metamorphosis II has a tufted textureOther pieces on display include a sculptural copper floor lamp with a stone base by London design studio JamesPlumb and a chair by British designer Max Lamb crafted from a single yew log.
    “Tapping into the creative affinity between science and art, the pieces created for the show will display fluid organic forms, natural materials and geometric structures,” said Gallery Fumi.
    The exhibition is on display from 7 to 30 SeptemberOther designers showing work include US sculptor Casey McCafferty, Italian designer Francesco Perini, design studio Glithero, Chinese material designer Jie Wu, German ceramic artist Johannes Nagel, Finnish artist Kustaa Saksi, British artist Leora Honeyman, Spanish artist Saelia Aparicio, British artist Sam Orlando Miller, design studio Study O Portable and furniture design studio Voukenas Petrides.
    Gallery Fumi was founded in 2008 by Valerio Capo and Sam Pratt. It has previously showcased work including a Jesmonite lighting collection by British designer Lara Bohinc and a limited-edition bench by JamesPlumb made using medieval dying techniques.
    The photography is courtesy of Gallery Fumi.
    The Growth + Form exhibition is on display at the Gallery Fumi in London, UK, from 7 to 30 September 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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    Burberry draws on minimalism at New Bond Street store

    British luxury brand Burberry has renovated its New Bond Street store, which has been decorated with a minimalist scheme that is populated with striking contemporary furniture.

    Set on a prominent spot on the corner of New Bond Street and Conduit Street in central London, the 22,000-square-metre store is split across three levels.
    Burberry’s flagship store is located on New Bond StreetThe flagship store has a minimal open-plan interior that is characterised by stark white floor, walls and ceilings which are offset by pops of gold, blue and tones of brown.
    The fixtures of the store such as its pillars, staircase, wall displays and mirrors bring a rigid and strict geometry to the space that is complemented by a panelled ceiling which was designed to mimic the brand’s iconic check.
    It has a minimalist interior”The minimalist interior is punctuated with an eclectic mix of contemporary furniture, creating a stripped-back setting designed to spotlight key Burberry pieces,” said Burberry.

    “Overhead lighting has been crafted to replicate the iconic Burberry Check – a pattern introduced in the 1920s, referencing the brand’s rich heritage.”
    Burberry’s check was incorporated across the ceilingCeiling panels were organised in a gridded formation with spotlights set between each. Lighting strips were added to the panels at various intervals throughout the store and reference the multiple lines of the signature check.
    Throughout the store, slivers of checkered tiles punctuate the stark white floors. A classic black-and-white checkered tile covers multiple areas of the interior, zoning numerous different spaces including ready-to-wear and accessory sections.
    Other combinations of tiling include a dark brown and black rectangular tiles that are similarly organised in a checkerboard formation.

    Tom Atton Moore reinterprets imagery of knights and flora with hand-tufted Burberry installations

    In contrast to the rigid lines of the store’s more permanent fixtures, furniture brings a softer and more playful look.
    Curving sofas and armchairs were upholstered in bold shades of beige, brown and vibrant blue and placed on top of matching area rugs and carpets.
    Areas of the store were decorated with pops of colourDisplay tables in blocky shapes are carried throughout each of the store’s floors and sit alongside glass, metal and mirrored vitrines.
    Clothing rails draw on an industrial look, with the floor-to-ceiling structures reminiscent of scaffolding systems, however, set apart by their polished and reflective finish.
    Polished metals were paired with glass”We are excited to open the doors of our newly refurbished flagship store on New Bond Street in one of London and the world’s premier luxury shopping destinations,” said Burberry’s chief executive officer Jonathan Akeroyd.
    “The store showcases our beautifully crafted products in a luxury setting that connects our customers with our brand and unique heritage.”
    Blocky display units were placed throughoutIn 2022, British designer Daniel Lee was announced as Burberry’s creative director following a shock exit from Bottega Veneta. Soon after his appointment, Lee revealed the “first creative expression” under his direction in the form of an archive-inspired charging knight logo and serif logo font.
    Earlier this year, British artist Tom Atton Moore was commissioned to create a series of hand-tufted textile installations for Burberry’s Paris showroom and Rue Saint Honoré store.
    The photography is courtesy of Burberry.

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    Most Architecture creates micro factory with “everything on display” for Charge Cars

    UK studio Most Architecture has converted an industrial shed in west London into an all-black-and-white showroom and production facility for electric car start-up Charge Cars.

    Created to manufacture Charge Cars’ first vehicle the ’67 – an all-electric version of the 1960s Ford Mustang Fastback built using components from electric vehicle brand Arrival – the facility also acts as an office and showroom.
    Most Architecture has created a factory for electric car start-up Charge Cars”Charge designs and makes its unique cars in a single facility,” said Most Architecture founder Olga McMurdo. “Like an open-kitchen restaurant, everything is on display to the staff and customers.”
    “So we created an environment that allows immediate access to every aspect of the process from design through to production,” she told Dezeen. “The factory, and all of its contents, are at once an agile design and manufacturing centre, a customer showroom, and a design statement.”
    The building is arranged around the workshopThe facility in Stockley Close, west London, was designed around the idea of promoting a connection between Charge Cars’ clients and the engineers building and customising the cars.

    At its centre is a large open workshop where the cars are built and customised, which is overlooked by various offices and meeting spaces.
    Charge Cars’ ’67 will be manufactured in the factory”Our client came to us with an ambition to re-define a classic design icon using cutting-edge electric vehicle technology and to create a customer experience that engenders a visceral response to the product, and the process of creating it,” said McMurdo.
    “Their space had to accommodate both the manufacturing and the design process, facilitating teamwork and recreation, testing, a showroom, and areas for customer engagement,” she continued.
    “All that had to happen within one architectural volume, and so the primary challenge was to facilitate all of these activities simultaneously and symbiotically, whilst projecting a clear and coherent design statement reflecting the client’s philosophy.”
    Office spaces overlook the workshopUnlike the majority of car factories, the Charge Cars facility was designed so that its customers can visit at any time to observe how the vehicle is designed and assembled.
    “Charge wanted the customer journey to be mapped out by the design of the building,” said McMurdo.

    Bindloss Dawes creates car barn for classic Porsche collector

    “The customer’s access to, and experience of, the factory is an integral part of the product,” she continued.
    “They have a personal relationship with the engineers that are making their car, and are able to see the car as it is being constructed.”
    The Charge Cars factory is almost entirely black and whiteMost Architecture designed the spaces with a stripped-back aesthetic united by a largely white and black colour palette, including a black light fixture above the building’s entrance.
    “The white and the black amplify each other by contrast, representing the fusion of a laboratory and a garage, and the constant dynamic between research and production,” explained McMurdo.
    “Using this pallet we also wanted to make an impactful design statement on entry to the building. The result was a large anamorphic light fixture, which coalesces into a Feynman diagram from a single vantage point, becoming a composition of independent pieces.”
    Cars are designed, built and tested at the facilityOther recent electric car factories featured on Dezeen include a black steel and glass facility designed by Snøhetta for car brand Polestar in Chengdu, China. In Sweden, Danish architecture studio Cobe is designing a development centre for Chinese car manufacturer Geely, which it describes as a “chamber of secrets”.
    The photography is by Paul Riddle.
    Project credits:
    Client: Charge CarsLead architect: Most ArchitectureInterior concepts: Evgeniy BulatnikovMechanical engineer: AironElectrical engineer: Smart Techno SystemsStructural engineer: HLS StructuralLighting: Gaismas MagijaBuilding control: The Building InspectorsWind consultant: Buro HappoldFire engineer: QFSMCDM advisor: Andrew Goddard AssociatesMain contractor: Hansa GroupSteel mezzanine contractor: System Store SolutionsLighting manufacturer: Esse-Ci

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    Fettle revamps San Carlo restaurant with interiors informed by Milanese villas and gardens

    Architecture and design studio Fettle has unveiled the refurbished interior of the San Carlo restaurant in Liverpool, UK, which was informed by northern Italy’s coastline.

    Located in Liverpool’s city centre, Fettle’s refurbishment was designed to reinvigorate the restaurant and offer a “spectacularly opulent and contemporary take on traditional Italian dining”, the studio said.
    The lighting was chosen to create an overall softnessDuring the redevelopment, Fettle stripped the building back to its existing shell and redesigned each element, from the walls to the flooring.
    The 280-square-metre restaurant also contains a feature bar and a private dining room named The Rosa Room and Wine Sellar, which is located on the lower ground floor.
    The restaurant’s furniture was informed by Milanese villas and gardensSan Carlo’s colour palette takes cues from the hues of the northern Italian coastline and includes greens, blues and pinks.

    Fettle adorned the space with contrasting materials, including timber, brass and marble, which were softened by patterned upholstery made from mohair and leather.
    San Carlo’s colour palette takes cues from Italy’s coastlineThe furniture was designed specifically for the project and was informed by the furniture found in grand Milanese villas and gardens.
    This included fluted oak bar stools with green leather seats and brass bases, marble and timber tables, curved-legged dining chairs and velvet leather seating.
    Fettle aimed to create a space that had an “alluring ambience and timeless sophistication”.”The restaurant offers a spectacularly opulent and contemporary take on traditional Italian dining with elegant interiors inspired by Grand Milanese villas and gardens,” the studio said.
    The lighting was chosen to add a sense of softness to the interior, and includes a mixture of bespoke-designed statement chandeliers, pendant fillings and wall and table lamps to give the space an “intimate glow”.
    The lighting intends to give the space an “intimate glow”.The floor was equipped with colourful terrazzo in a mix of cream, orange and green tones, while the walls were clad in high gloss timber panelling.
    According to the architects, its colour is similar to that of luxury Italian sports cars and the water taxis of Venice.
    The restaurant was also equipped with antiqued mirrored panels that aim to add to the glamour of the space.

    Fettle returns The Georgian hotel in Santa Monica to its 1930s “glory”

    Three eclectic abstract murals by Los Angeles-based artist Jessalyn Brooks are positioned opposite the bar and on the rear wall of the restaurant.
    “We’re excited to unveil the transformation of San Carlo Liverpool,” said the managing director of San Carlo, Marcello Distefano. “The new design is representative of the evolution of San Carlo, a journey we began in 1992.”
    Antiqued mirrored panels decorate the restaurantFettle was founded by designers Tom Parker and Andy Goodwin and specialises in hospitality design and interior architecture.
    Previous projects include the restoration of an art deco hotel in Santa Monica, California, and the conversion of a members’ club for 1 Warwick members’ club in Soho, London.
    Other interior projects recently featured on Dezeen include the transformation of a three-story home into a restaurant in Bogotá that uses natural materials and a travelling gallery by multidisciplinary designer Vanessa Heepen, which includes vintage furniture pieces.

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    Tate Modern’s Corner cafe revamped to be less “Herzog & de Meuron-y”

    Architecture studio Holland Harvey has overhauled the ground-floor cafe at the Tate Modern in London so it doubles as the gallery’s first late-night bar.

    Tucked away in the museum’s northwest corner, the interior of the Corner cafe was originally designed in 2000 when Herzog & de Meuron created a home for the UK’s national collection of modern art inside the disused power station on the Southbank.
    Corner is a new cafe and bar at the Tate ModenSince then, the Tate had made no changes to the space until Holland Harvey was brought on board to refresh the interior at the start of 2022.
    “It was quite a cold space,” the studio’s co-founder Richard Holland told Dezeen. “All very Herzog & de Meuron-y.”
    “They’re amazing at what they do in so many ways,” he continued. “But this was not their best food and beverage space.”

    A grey stone bar forms the centrepiece of the roomHolland Harvey stripped back many of the cafe’s hard, reflective finishes, sanding away the black gloss paint on the floors to reveal the parquet underneath and removing the mirrored glass that Herzog & de Meuron had used to enclose the building’s original riveted columns.
    Fluorescent lights were replaced with more muted spots by London studio There’s Light, while the dropped ceiling above the bar was rounded off and covered in foam insulation to soften the interior – both visually and acoustically.
    Otherwise, many of the cafe’s core elements including the servicing as well as the kitchen and toilets remained largely untouched to prevent excessive waste and maintain the integrity of the building.
    “You don’t really want to mess around with the servicing because 12 feet above your head is a Picasso,” Holland said. “So it was pretty light touch.”
    The cafe backs onto the Tate’s Turbine Hall. Photo by Edward BishopThe biggest intervention came in the form of a newly added riverside entrance, allowing passersby to stroll straight into Corner rather than having to take the long way through the gallery.
    At the other end of the open-plan room, a door leads directly into Tate’s famous Turbine Hall, effectively linking it with the public spaces of the Southbank.
    Stone seating banquettes double as impromptu climbing frames”The Turbine Hall is one of the most successful public spaces in London,” Holland said. “It’s one of the few indoor places you can go, where people happily sit down on the floor in the middle of the day.”
    “And obviously, the Southbank is an amazing public offering as well,” he continued. “So this felt like an opportunity to connect the two, which led a lot of the thinking around the design.”
    With the idea of extending the public realm, many of the newly added pieces are robust and fixed in place, much like street furniture. Among them are the double-sided Vicenza Stone banquettes, which can also serve as impromptu climbing frames for young children.

    UXUS designs “permanently temporary” gift shop for Herzog & de Meuron’s extended Tate Modern

    Holland Harvey created a number of other seating areas throughout Corner to suit different accessibility needs, with a focus on supporting local manufacturers and small businesses while reducing waste wherever possible.
    Corner’s long sharing tables and benches were made by marginalised young people from west London as part of a carpentry apprenticeship programme run by social enterprise Goldfinger, using trees that were felled by local authorities to stop the spread of ash dieback.
    “Every table has the coordinates of where the tree has felled on it, so there’s a provenance to the furniture,” Holland said.
    The chairs were taken from Tate’s own storage and refinishedThe chairs, meanwhile, were salvaged from the gallery’s own storage before being refinished and reupholstered, while the smaller tables were made by Brighton company Spared using waste coffee grounds from Tate’s other cafes.
    These were baked at a low temperature to remove any moisture before being mixed with oyster shells and a water-based gypsum binder.
    Although the resulting pieces aren’t fully circular since they can’t be recycled, Holland hopes they tell a story about the value that can be found in waste.
    Waste coffee grounds from the gallery’s other cafes were turned into table tops”We’re by no means saying that it’s an exemplar project in that sense,” he explained. “We were just trying to find opportunities to tell stories through all the different elements rather than just going to the large corporate suppliers.”
    “And that’s really our wider impact: people realising that there’s a different way to procure a table. Imagine if all of Tate’s furniture moving forward is made by Goldfinger,” he continued.
    The cafe also has high counter seating for remote workingIn the evenings, the space can be transitioned into a bar and events space by switching to warmer, higher-contrast lighting, while a section of the central banquette can be turned into a raised DJ booth by pressing a button that is hidden under the cushions.
    “This place can get quite wild in the evening,” Holland said.
    Timber shelves are used to display productsThe last significant amendment to the Tate Modern building was Herzog & de Meuron’s Switch House extension, which opened to the public in 2016.
    The building contains a gift shop designed by Amsterdam studio UXUS, alongside various galleries and a viewing level on the top floor, which is currently closed to the public after Tate lost a high-profile privacy lawsuit brought by the inhabitants of a neighbouring residential tower.
    The photography is by Jack Hobhouse unless otherwise stated.

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    Bindloss Dawes maximises light and space in London mews house

    Architecture firm Bindloss Dawes has reorganised a mews house in Chelsea, adding a full-height lightwell with a dramatic oak-and-steel staircase to forge “a sense of volume and theatre”.

    The client initially commissioned Bindloss Dawes to simply create a more spacious kitchen and living area on the lower ground floor of this typical London property and improve its relationship to the garden.
    Bindloss Dawes has completed the Chelsea Mews House in LondonBut as the project progressed, the studio was asked to extend its remit to the entire residence to create a more holistic scheme.
    “Chelsea Mews House highlights that large spaces aren’t always needed,” Bindloss Dawes told Dezeen. “It’s about creating something pragmatic and beautiful that clients will treasure.”
    “This is a small terraced house, and we’ve elevated it by bringing in daylight and giving it a sense of volume and theatre.”

    The house now features a sunken concrete floor in the basementAs part of the renovation, Bindloss Dawes updated the three-storey house from a dark and cramped two-bedroom to a simplified one-bedroom layout, making the most of the awkward trapezoidal plan with its angular walls and junctions.
    Working within the planning constraints of a conservation area in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Bindloss Dawes dropped the level of the lower ground floor to create a more impressive space.
    The studio also added a new three-storey staircase”Digging down 50 centimetres unlocked the opportunity to create new volumes, which in a tight footprint goes a long way to enhancing the spatial quality,” the studio said.
    This newly created spaciousness at the lower level is accentuated by the addition of a lightwell that cuts through all three storeys of the home, connecting them via a custom staircase while drawing sunshine deep into the basement.
    The staircase traverses a full-height lightwell drawing sun into the interior”The previous configuration did the house a disservice,” Bindloss Dawes said. “It has wonderful bones that we have celebrated by opening up and creating a void, which draws light right into the depths of the space.”
    Meanwhile, a subtle glass extension projects approximately 50 centimetres beyond the rear facade into the garden to increase the sense of light and space without significantly altering the exterior.

    Bindloss Dawes creates car barn for classic Porsche collector

    A thoughtful and restrained material palette was crucial to the success of the project, according to Bindloss Dawes.
    “By embracing simplicity, maximising light and space, and employing a careful selection of materials, we’ve crafted a home that balances functionality with elegance,” the studio said.
    Venetian polished plaster in a Marmorino finish by Calfe Crimmings was used on the walls throughout the home, creating a sense of tactility.
    The steps are finished in European oak while the balusters are steelExpressed concrete brings a grounding element to the basement level, with concrete skirting that seamlessly extends onto the steps leading up into the courtyard garden.
    Concrete was also used to form the first flight of the new three-storey staircase, while the upper levels are finished in European oak to match the handrail.
    The steel balusters were painted in the same grey-based white by Farrow & Ball that was also used on woodwork and ceilings throughout the house.
    The bedrooms are hidden behind subtle pocket doorsTo eliminate visual breaks to the lightwell, pocket doors were strategically incorporated at the bedroom level.
    “The project exemplifies how highly detailed yet simple design can work to great effect within tight city footprints,” said Bindloss Dawes.
    The homeowner, a talented craftsman and metalworker, personally designed and created the lighting fixtures, adding a personal touch to the home.
    The home is a traditional mews house in ChelseaPrevious projects from Bindloss Dawes, which was founded by Oliver Bindloss and George Dawes in 2018, include a timber car barn for a collector of classic Porsches.
    The studio is based in Bruton – a village in Somerset that has drawn an increasingly metropolitan crowd in recent years after contemporary art gallery Hauser & Wirth opened an outpost in the area in 2014.
    The photography is by Building Narratives.

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    Trellick Tower apartment revamped in line with Japanese design principles

    German interior designer Peter Heimer and joinery studio Buchholzberlin used a restrained material palette of concrete, oak and aluminium when renovating this flat inside London’s brutalist Trellick Tower.

    The Grade II-listed building, designed by architect Ernö Goldfinger, originally opened in 1972 to provide social housing for the neighbourhood of Kensal Rise but has since become a landmark of brutalist architecture thanks to its distinctive lift tower.
    Peter Heimer and Buchholzberlin have renovated a Trellick Tower flatThe renovation works were carried out in a privately owned apartment on Trellick Tower’s 21st floor that had not been significantly altered in several years and as a result, was host to narrow rooms and lacklustre white walls.
    Its owners wanted the open up the 86-square-metre floorplan to create the impression of a “cool concrete loft” while offering better views of the surrounding cityscape.
    Views of the London skyline took centre stage”Their taste was also trained by contemporary Japanese design, so they wanted to use a reduced range of pure materials,” Buchholzberlin told Dezeen.

    “Since Trellick Tower is subject to strict preservation requirements, our hands were tied so to speak. But we were able to push through with small improvements.”
    Oak was used to form the kitchen’s cabinetry and breakfast counterThe wall separating two former children’s bedrooms was knocked through to create a larger unified space that now serves as the living area.
    The team also exposed the building’s original concrete walls, laid oak flooring and installed slender aluminium lights across the ceiling.
    A bench seat with inbuilt storage boxes was fitted beneath a row of windows at the front of the room, allowing for uninterrupted vistas of northwest London and beyond.
    A pull-out guest bed is concealed within the desk in the studyThe two doors that previously led to the respective children’s bedrooms were left in place. Between them now stands a huge, double-faced oak sideboard.
    An inlaid mirrored panel reflects the distant skyline and in turn “brings an impression of the city into the apartment’s centre”, according to the team.

    “We couldn’t stop Balfron Tower from being privatised. In fact we probably helped it along”

    More concrete and oakwood surfaces can be seen in the kitchen, which occupies the former living area. Low-lying cabinetry was installed along the room’s back wall, while a large breakfast counter was placed at its centre.
    The counter was custom-built to stand at the exact same height as the railing of the apartment’s balcony, ensuring that sightlines aren’t compromised when the clients sit down to eat.
    The desk also discretely hides new water pipesThe former kitchen, meanwhile, was converted into a study with an oakwood desk snaking around the edges of the room.
    Its base conceals a network of water pipes that had to be redirected to serve appliances in the new cooking quarters. One side of the desk also conceals a pull-out bed that can be used when guests come to stay.
    An oak headboard wraps around the principal bedroomThe principal bedroom was left in its original place but – like the rest of the apartment – was stripped back to expose its concrete walls.
    Oakwood was used here to form the base of the bed and its lengthy headboard, which extends along the lower half of the walls.
    Heimer and Buchholzberlin also removed the time-worn laminate that once covered the small flight of stairs leading down from the apartment’s entrance, revealing the concrete steps beneath.
    Concrete steps were revealed in the apartment’s hallwayTrellick Tower is just one example of the striking council estates that can be found across the British capital, which were recently chronicled in a book by photographer Jack Young.
    Others include Holmefield House with its graphic tiled facade and the Brunel Estate, which has a monumental slide sweeping through its public pathways.
    The photography is by Heiko Prigge.

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