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    Linda Boronkay selects bold shapes and colours for The Sessile

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    Former Soho House design director Linda Boronkay drew on her experience of members’ clubs when creating communal spaces at The Sessile, a rentable apartment block in north London.

    Created by contemporary rental brand Way of Life, The Sessile is a 310-apartment building in Tottenham Hale.
    Linda Boronkay has created the communal spaces at The Sessile in Tottenham HaleBoronkay designed the interiors for the building’s communal areas, which include a rooftop orangery and a private dining area as well as a gym, a yoga studio and a dedicated vinyl listening room.
    “We opted for bold colours and pieces with lots of personality,” said the interior designer, who founded her own practice in 2020.
    The rooftop orangery opens onto wide terraces”We also integrated vintage finds like we always do, so the ingredients and our approach were very similar to how we would work on a members’ club design,” she told Dezeen.

    The 10th-floor rooftop orangery is the largest of the spaces, opening onto planted terraces with sweeping views of the surrounding area.
    Marble and dark timber feature in the private dining roomBlack terrazzo flooring was paired with gleaming green and crimson tiles, which line the windowsills and a tall central fireplace. Boronkay chose a trio of spindly, ornate chandeliers to contrast with these colour-blocked accents.
    Large skylights illuminate an open kitchen and various seating areas encircled by textured armchairs. Bespoke rugs decorated with bright patterns add “a layer of art and graphic design” to the space, said Boronkay.
    Boronkay selected lighter hues for the yoga studioThe private dining room is more intimate, with sliding timber joinery that allows a graphic, coloured tapestry to give way to a concealed television.
    “Joinery, artwork and drapery allow residents to instantly change the function or ambiance of a room,” explained Boronkay.
    The gym is illuminated by sculptural lampsTranslucent glass discs were clustered together to create a chunky overhead lamp, while burnt orange curtains and veiny marble sideboards add a touch of luxury.
    Lighter hues were chosen for the yoga studio, finished with “natural” earthy colours on the floors, walls and ceilings. Muted tones also evoke a sense of calm in the gym, complete with sculptural sandy pendant lamps.
    The vinyl listening room was created as a “private nook”A squiggly neon ceiling light features in the vinyl listening room, designed as a “private nook for reflection”. The space is characterised by open blood-red shelving displaying stacks of records.
    “We were conscious about coming up with a new colour scheme and new identity for each room,” said the designer.

    Careers guide: Linda Boronkay explains what it’s like to be design director for Soho House

    Boronkay also included a ping-pong table in the room that can be used or stowed away depending on residents’ preferences.
    “We aren’t very used to designing in new build architecture,” reflected Boronkay.
    Terrazzo flooring was included in the interior design”Most of our projects are in historical heritage buildings and their story and style is an important building block in our design and narrative. At The Sessile, we had to almost ignore the architecture and create a world of our own that you experience as soon as you step inside,” added the designer.
    Elsewhere in London, local firm Studio Est referenced the industrial heritage of Battersea Power Station when creating the interiors for an apartment inside the redeveloped landmark. Archmongers studio recently renovated a home inside North Kensington’s Trellick Tower.
    The photography is courtesy of Way of Life.

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      Cutwork designs co-living developments for single-parent families

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      Parisian architecture studio Cutwork has unveiled plans for housing designed to allow single parents and their children to live more closely together.

      Rental housing provider Commune commissioned Cutwork to design co-living specifically for single-parent families.
      The design includes private living spaces that cater to both adults and children, plus communal spaces where families can spend time together and support each other.
      Commune offers co-living for single parentsThe concept puts a new spin on co-living, a type of housing that typically offers residents smaller homes but instead gives them access to a range of shared amenities.
      Co-living is typically marketed to single people, but Commune founders Tara Heuzé-Sarmini and Ruben Petri believe it is equally desirable for people navigating the challenges of single parenthood.

      A study by the British Red Cross found that 83 per cent of mothers aged under 30 experienced loneliness, while 43 per cent said they felt lonely all the time.
      The private units each include a bathroom and kitchenette”Commune and Cutwork are convinced that we need to put human relations and interactions back at the core of the places we evolve in and that buildings need to serve our basic need for connection,” said Heuzé-Sarmini.
      “Spatially and architecturally, we have translated this into living spaces that encourage encounters and break the vicious circle of loneliness, while preserving the privacy of single parents and their children.”
      A unified colour and material palette features across shared and private spacesCommune opened its first location in Poissy on the outskirts of Paris in late 2023, describing it as “the first co-living in the world dedicated to single-parent families”.
      The building, which accommodates 14 families, is now being renovated in line with Cutwork’s concept.

      Bittoni Architects designs co-living project geared toward LA newcomers

      The scheme extends to both the building’s layout and the interior fit-out, with bespoke furniture designed for both the private and communal living spaces.
      The architects aimed to create three types of space. These are referred to as “a world for the children without their parents”, “a world for the adults without their children” and “a world for all of the families to meet collectively”.
      Communal areas include a playroom”At Cutwork, we envision a world where shared architecture and design inspire us to think differently about being together,” said Kelsea Crawford, co-founder and CEO of Cutwork. “Our partnership with Commune perfectly encapsulates this mission.”
      “We’ve considered the design for each part of the Commune experience, integrating compact living spaces designed to host parents and children with shared communal areas that promote a strong sense of community and support for single-parent families.”
      The design includes both adult- and child-specific featuresAvailable for one- and two-child parents, the private units each include a bathroom and kitchenette, with distinct design elements for adults and children.
      The communal areas include a shared kitchen, a living and dining room, a playroom, a co-working space and a garden.
      Child-focused aspects of the design include “doors placed low down and often hidden away or disguised as other things such as a wardrobe or TV cabinet”.
      For adults, spaces include reading nooks and a “speakeasy-style” bar, accessed via a fake fridge door.
      Commune’s first location in Poissy is currently under renovationCutwork aimed to create “an environment that feels both modern and comfortable with child-friendly designs that sit alongside a sleeker aesthetic suited to parents”.
      A unified colour and material palette is intended to make all areas feel homey, rather than emphasising the divide between shared and private spaces.
      “This design strategy extends the notion of ownership of all spaces and subsequently the feeling that the entire house/building belongs to each user and is a stable environment within a dynamic experience,” said the design team.
      A range of different unit sizes are availableCutwork specialises in co-living and co-working, with previous designs including social housing that can turn into emergency housing and co-living flats at Paris startup campus Station F.
      With this project, the designers hope to highlight how housing might adapt to the reality that the nuclear family is no longer the norm for many.
      In France, one in four families is a single-parent unit. This is not just due to high divorce rates, as research suggests that more individuals are consciously choosing single parenthood.
      “This changing dynamic calls for a new and sustained approach to housing,” Cutwork said.
      The design is set to be applied to future Commune properties. The company plans to open its second location for 28 families in Roubaix, Lille, later this year.

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      Children in social housing “sleeping on a blanket on a concrete floor”

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      Increasing numbers of people in social housing are living in inhospitable conditions because they are unable to afford even basic furniture and flooring, Dezeen reports as part of our Social Housing Revival series.

      In the UK, social-rented homes are usually handed over to new residents in a sparse state – lacking basic elements of decoration and furnishings, as well as essential appliances.
      As the cost of living continues to rise and the availability of crisis-support services diminishes, a growing number of people are unable to afford to furnish these homes, meaning they are sometimes forced to live in a harsh environment for months at a time.
      Top: before – many UK social-housing residents live with furniture poverty. Above: after – London charity Furnishing Futures makes new interiors for women who have fled domestic abuse”For the families who we work with, the point that is most distressing is the void condition – the homes are given and [social landlords] don’t bother painting the walls, and there’s absolutely no flooring down,” said Emily Wheeler, founder and CEO of Furnishing Futures.
      “Most people over time can manage to get some furniture together that’s gifted to them from the local church or friends or family or whatever, but it costs thousands and thousands of pounds to put flooring down, even in a one-bedroom flat.”

      London charity Furnishing Futures was recently established to address the issue among women fleeing domestic abuse, creating interiors to a high standard using furniture donated from brands.
      Emily Wheeler founded Furnishing Futures after realising that the poor condition of social housing was driving women back to abusive partners. Photo by Penny WincerDomestic-abuse survivors and people leaving care or who were previously homeless are particularly at risk of furniture poverty since they are less likely to have items to bring with them.
      Wheeler said Furnishing Futures is seeing increasing demand for its services as more people come under financial pressure.
      “Initially we were only working with women who were in receipt of benefits or experiencing severe poverty or destitution,” explained Wheeler.
      “But now we’re working with families who are using the food bank but the woman is a midwife, or she’s a teaching assistant, or she is a teacher, and that is new.”
      The charity increasingly encounters families living in destitute conditionsSometimes the conditions the charity witnesses are shocking, Wheeler told Dezeen.
      “People are experiencing real hardship,” she said. “We’ve frequently come across people who have no food, no clothes, no shoes for their children.”
      “The kids are sleeping on a blanket on a concrete floor – there’s nothing in the flat whatsoever,” she continued. “And those people might even be working as care assistants, or teaching assistants. So it’s really, really difficult at the moment for people.”
      Furnishing Futures seeks to deliver interiors that “look like show homes”. Photo by Michael BranthwaiteAccording to the campaigning charity End Furniture Poverty, more than six million people in the UK lack access to essential furniture, furnishings and appliances – including 26 per cent of those living in social housing.
      Only two per cent of social-rented homes in the UK are let as furnished or partly furnished, the charity’s research has found.
      Wheeler is a trained interior designer who formerly worked in child safeguarding.
      The charity decorated and furnished 36 homes in 2023. Photo by Michael BranthwaiteShe was prompted to set up Furnishing Futures after discovering that many women in social housing who had left dangerous homes were driven back to their abuser by poor living conditions.
      “When women were placed in new housing after having escaped really high-risk situations, they sometimes felt that they had no choice but to return because they couldn’t look after their children in those conditions – there’d be no fridge, no cooker, no washing machine, no bed, no curtains on the windows,” she explained.
      “People are expected to go to those places at a time of great trauma and distress, and recover, but those places are often not conducive to that because of the design and the environment.”
      Wheeler said the interiors industry could be doing more to have a bigger social impact. Penny WincerThe charity overhauled 36 homes in 2023, helping 99 women and children. It takes a design-led approach with an emphasis on finishing interiors to a high standard.
      “We professionally design them and they look like beautiful homes – they look like show homes when they’re finished,” Wheeler said.
      “And the reason we do that is because it’s really important that the women feel that they have a beautiful home and they feel safe there, that they feel for the first time that someone really cares about them,” she added.
      “It also supports the healing and the recovery journey for those women.”

      Social housing means “I can breathe again” say residents

      To help ensure quality, the charity only works with new or as-new furniture. It works with brands to source items that would otherwise be sent to landfill – usually press samples or items used at trade shows, in showrooms or on shoots.
      Donating partners include Soho Home, BoConcept, Romo Fabrics and House of Hackney.
      Wheeler is keen for Furnishing Futures to expand beyond London but the charity is currently held back by limited warehouse capacity and funding.
      “If we had more money and more space we could help more people, it’s as simple as that, really,” she said.
      The charity relies on donations from furniture brandsThe charity continues to seek donations from brands, particularly for bedroom furniture and pieces for children.
      As well as calling for social-housing providers to let their properties in a better state, Wheeler believes the design industry could be doing more to help people facing furniture poverty.
      “I do think that where the industry could catch up a little bit is working with organisations like ours,” she said.
      For example, charities are unable to take furniture lacking a fire tag – which tend to be removed – so imprinting this information onto the items themselves would make more usable.
      The charity is often in need of items for children’s bedrooms. Photo by Michael BranthwaiteIn addition, donating excess items as an alternative to sample sales could be a way to reduce waste with much greater social impact, she suggests.
      “There’s probably millions of people across the country living without basic items and yet there’s massive overproduction, but the waste isn’t necessarily coming to people who actually need it,” Wheeler said.
      “There are things that the industry could be doing that will create a huge social impact very easily.”
      The photography is courtesy of Furnishing Futures unless otherwise stated.
      Illustration by Jack BedfordSocial Housing Revival
      This article is part of Dezeen’s Social Housing Revival series exploring the new wave of quality social housing being built around the world, and asking whether a return to social house-building at scale can help solve affordability issues and homelessness in our major cities.

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      Architecture at Home exhibition presents “human-centred” housing prototypes

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      New York studio Levenbetts and Mexico City practice PPAA are among the firms that have designed sustainable and socially conscious architecture prototypes for an exhibition on housing at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas.

      Architecture at Home is an exhibition that brings together experimental housing by five architecture firms based across the Americas.
      The prototypes are positioned alongside The Fly Eye Dome by Richard Buckminster FullerThe prototypes respond to issues central to the state of today’s housing in both the USA and around the world by acknowledging the present needs of occupants and their natural surroundings, as well as reflecting on the past.
      Curated by Dylan Turk, the show takes place outside along the meandering Orchard Trail at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.
      Levenbetts created a pinewood structureThe designs are positioned alongside a 50-foot prototype of the 1965 Fly’s Eye Dome by the late American architect and theorist Richard Buckminster Fuller – a prototype that encompassed his idea for the ultimate affordable, portable and self-sufficient home.

      One of the five prototypes is House of Trees: City of Trees by Levenbetts, a structure made from Arkansas southern yellow pine that is composed of two pavilions connected by walkways, which are housed under fanned slats of wood.
      Built from mass timber, the prototype was designed to offer a low-cost and sustainable solution to housing with a form that complements the contours of its surrounding landscape, according to Levenbetts.
      Translucent panels connect inside and outside spaces in PPAA’s prototypeAnother prototype that aims to connect inside and outside spaces was created by PPAA, which includes natural soil flooring.
      Formed from translucent geometric panels, the house is designed to stand alone as a single structure or can be scaled to achieve a series of linked houses that would encourage community-based co-living.
      Totem House: Histories of Negation attempts to highlight systemic racism in Arkansas and beyond”The concepts presented here offer hope for the future,” said the museum.
      “Each structure demonstrates how thoughtful design can inspire more sustainable and human-centred models of building and living.”

      Safdie Architects to expand Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

      Totem House: Histories of Negation is an experimental sculpture by Studio Sumo that aims to discuss the often-suppressed histories of Black and Indigenous peoples in northwest Arkansas through architectural symbols.
      Designed as a series of totemic structures, each totem is engraved with information citing events that detail the forced migration or expulsion of these communities over many years in Arkansas and elsewhere.
      Studio: Indigenous designed a prototype that emphasises a house’s hearthThe structures take the form of an outline of a house from a distance. But up close, the shape is meant to disappear – drawing attention to the injustice and displacement endured by local communities.
      Totem House can also be expanded into a functioning structure that can be prefabricated off-site, according to its architects.
      “Each firm recognises the complexities and barriers that exist in the current housing system, from financing and established building practices to neglected histories of place,” added Crystal Bridges.
      Mutuo offered a sculpture that addresses issues surrounding home ownershipStudio: Indigenous founder Chris Cornelius offered a prototype that aims to explore how conventional housing models could be improved for Indigenous peoples.
      Cornelius designed an experimental structure with a towering steel hearth, which he described as an important place to gather inside the home.
      Compartmentalised rooms also offer internal flexibility – a hallmark of many Indigenous homes, according to Cornelius.
      Architecture at Home takes place outside at Crystal Bridges Museum of American ArtLos Angeles-based practice Mutuo used concrete, steel, clay and Mexican handcrafted wood to create a prototype that aims to explore issues surrounding homeownership inclusivity.
      Made up of rigid columns, these building blocks represent stumbling blocks that many people experience when trying to secure their own house.
      Large sections of each room in the prototype home were omitted from the design, aiming to expose the many issues within the housing industry that are not often enough acknowledged, according to Mutuo.
      Visitors can explore the works along the museum’s Orchard Trail”My goal is to prove that affordability, beauty, and diversity in housing types can coexist when designing, regulating and developing housing,” said Turk.
      Other projects that explore experimental housing concepts include a community in Mexico with homes by Frida Escobedo and Tatiana Bilbao, a pair of hill-like buildings in France by MVRDV designed for “a variety of income levels” and Hackney New Primary School and 33 Kingsland Road – Henley Halebrown’s affordable housing project in London.
      The photography is by Ironside Photography. 
      Architecture at Home takes place from 9 July to 7 November 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Watch Open House Worldwide's Housing and the People festival explore extraordinary housing

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      Dezeen is teaming up with Open House Worldwide to livestream its festival exploring the future of housing and neighbourhood planning. Tune in to the broadcast from 7am-7pm UK time on 9 April 2022.

      Called Housing and the People, the virtual festival is a 12-hour livestream featuring live tours of pioneering housing and critical debates about the future of housing.
      It will also showcase films and podcasts exploring historic and contemporary residential schemes and local approaches to housing issues.
      The festival features over 50 contributions from the global Open House network, from locations including London, Lagos, Melbourne, New York, Taiwan, Seoul and more. It is organised by London-based architecture charity Open City.
      Featured speakers and tour guides include architects Antonio Cortés Ferrando, Johannes Eggen and Farshid Moussavi among other renowned designers.

      The festival includes a live tour of Karakusevic Carson Architects’ redevelopment of the Colville EstateThis year’s instalment of the festival will explore the various ways that architects and city planners are trying to advance housing models and residential areas in line with the acceleration of technology, climate change and the evolving nature of how we live and socialise with one another since the coronavirus pandemic.
      Other topics include how to build low-carbon housing to accommodate growing populations, what can be learnt from indigenous and vernacular architecture and how to retain the character of local townscapes when building on a larger scale.
      Highlights of the festival include a live tour of Karakusevic Carson’s ongoing redevelopment of the Colville Estate in east London, which comprises over 900 new residences as well as improved community facilities and public spaces.
      Also featured is a presentation and panel discussion led by Studio Bright director Mel Bright exploring the complex economic, political and cultural implications that affect access to affordable and safe housing for women in Victoria, Australia.
      Studio Bright director Mel Bright will present the studio’s affordable housing project for women in MelbourneEstablished in 2010, Open House Worldwide is a network of over fifty organisations in cities across the globe that present festivals, events and open a dialogue focusing on architecture, design and cities.
      The first edition of the Open House Worldwide festival took place in November 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The 48-hour virtual festival was broadcast to a global audience of over 40,000 viewers and was named one of Dezeen’s top events of 2020.
      The full lineup of talks and more information about the festival can be found here.
      Housing and the People will take place from 7am-7pm UK time on 9 April 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      Partnership content
      This article was written as part of a partnership with Open House Worldwide. Find out more about our partnership content here.

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      Freadman White completes Napier Street apartments in Melbourne

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      Architecture practice Freadman White has created an apartment block in Melbourne’s Fitzroy neighbourhood, finishing its interiors with gleaming brass accents.The Napier Street apartments were designed by Freadman White for property developers Milieu. It is situated directly beside Whitlam Place, another residential block designed by the practice.

      The Napier Street apartment block has a simple off-white facade
      Whilst Whitlam Place has a green-hued exterior clad with corrugated panels of oxidised copper, Napier Street features a plain off-white facade punctuated by wide windows.

      Freadman White creates new layout for extended 1930s house in Melbourne

      Freadman White says the building’s pared-back aesthetic draws inspiration from Heide II – a modernist Melbourne home designed in 1963 by Australian architects David McGlashan and Neil Everist, which has masonry walls and expansive panels of glazing.

      Rooms feature concrete ceilings and oak floors

      An equally refined material palette has been applied throughout the interiors of Napier Street’s 14 apartment units. Each home boasts oak flooring and exposed concrete ceilings, which rise up to 2.9 metres in height.
      Kitchens have been finished with wooden cabinetry, white-tile splashbacks and countertops crafted from pale Elba stone.

      Brass shelving and door handles have been incorporated throughout
      There are some decadent touches in the apartments – for example, some of the bedrooms are closed off by glossy, full-height black doors.
      Golden-hued brass has also been used to create door handles, shelves and vanity units inside the bathrooms, which are otherwise lined with grey terrazzo tiles.

      Glossy black doors conceal the apartments’ bedrooms
      Elements in the apartment block’s communal areas such as the front gate and mailboxes are also made out of brass.
      “Napier Street is a symphony of robust materiality displaying organic, muted beauty carried from the exterior through to the interior experience,” concluded the practice, which is led by Ilana Freadman and Michael White.

      More brass detailing appears in the terrazzo-lined bathrooms
      Freadman White’s Napier Street and Whitlam Place projects both made it to the longlist of this year’s Dezeen Awards. The practice has previously renovated a 1930s home in Melbourne’s Elsternwick neighbourhood to include an angular grey-brick extension.
      Photography is by Gavin Green.
      Project credits:
      Client: Milieu PropertyBuilder: Atelier ProjectsStyling: Hub Furniture

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      “We were all broke” when we designed Park Road Apartments says Nicholas Grimshaw

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      British architect Nicholas Grimshaw explains the impact that limited resources had on the housing block he designed with Terry Farrell, in this exclusive video interview created for our high-tech architecture series. Completed in 1970 by Farrell and Grimshaw Partnership – the architecture practice set up by the duo five years earlier – Park Road Apartments is […] More