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    Gensler and Sterling Bay design Chicago laboratory to resemble a hotel

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    Light-filled spaces, neutral-toned furniture and a sculptural spiral staircase bring a hospitality feeling to this life sciences building in Chicago, designed by architecture studio Gensler and developer Sterling Bay.

    The eight-storey 1229 W Concord Place building is located at the Lincoln Yards development, northwest of Downtown Chicago and beside the north branch of the Chicago River.
    The building’s double-height lobby features comfy lounge areasIntended to bring much-needed lab spaces to this part of the city, which has a growing scientific community, the building’s developer Sterling Bay hopes it will foster collaborative research and new medical breakthroughs.
    “The new lab space will house world-class innovators and industry-leading companies that seek to develop groundbreaking medical solutions in Chicago and create a sense of community within their workplace,” said the project team.
    A spiral staircase connects the lobby with the floor aboveGensler’s Chicago office worked with Sterling Bay’s in-house design studio on both the architecture and interiors, with a focus on natural light and “bright, airy, open spaces”.

    The building is clad almost entirely in glass, which wraps around its curved corners, while terraces are cut into the side facing the river and the skyline.
    Neutral-toned wood panelling and furniture create a hospitality-style aestheticIn the double-height lobby, the stark white interiors are warmed by brass accents and soft, neutral-toned furniture.
    Several seating areas comprising comfy sofas and accent chairs are arranged on large textured rugs, and dotted with planting.
    The warm material palette continues in the elevator bankPanels of vertical wooden louvres and shelving provide a backdrop to these lounges, creating a scene that looks more like a hotel lobby than a science centre.
    A sculptural spiral staircase connecting the ground and first floors is loosely based on a DNA helix.
    Open floor plans and dedicated conference rooms are filled with natural lightThis feature provides another focal point in the lobby, which also doubles as a large meeting space and a reception area for events.
    “With warm hospitality-inspired interiors, sophisticated communal spaces, and a robust amenity selection centred around wellness, the design provides future tenants the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research in a space that prioritises the wellbeing of scientists,” Steph Geronimo Smothers, vice president of design at Sterling Bay, told Dezeen.

    Geodes inform design of Arizona research building by Grimshaw and Architekton

    The amenities offered to tenants include a fitness centre, a cafe and conference spaces, while flexible floor plans allow tenants to customise their workspaces to suit their needs.
    The building also features Circadian rhythm lighting, which mimics changing daylight conditions to improve mood and sleep cycles.
    Staff can utilise the expansive terraces accessible from each of the building’s eight storeysStaff are encouraged to spill out onto the large outdoor terraces, accessible from every floor, and make the most of the fresh air.
    “1229 West Concord’s panoramic city views and expansive riverside terraces create a deep connection to nature, bringing in natural light and fresh air and pushing the boundaries of modern lab space to encourage blue-sky thinking and collaboration,” said Geronimo Smothers.
    The glass-wrapped building overlooks the Chicago River and the city skyline beyondOther laboratory buildings with unconventional architecture and interiors include the Walton Center of Planetary Health at Arizona State University, which Grimshaw and Architekton based on natural elements such as rocks and saguaro cacti.
    Gensler’s Chicago office also recently completed a series of renovations to the city’s sprawling 1930s The Merchandise Mart.
    The photography is by Hal + Merick + McCaugherty.

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      WGNB creates minimal monochrome SVRN store in Chicago

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      A variety of monolithic furniture pieces direct the flow of movement around this fashion boutique in Chicago, designed by South Korean studio WGNB.

      The space for lifestyle brand SVRN is intended to highlight the products for sale as artworks and ideas, rather than simply as garments.
      Benches balanced on irregularly shaped rocks also act as product displays in the store”Spatial design of the SVRN store began with our interpretation of the SVRN’s brand identity and narrative through the eastern perspective,” said WGNB.
      “While the western perspective looks at the object itself, the eastern perspective rather focuses on the surrounding relationship of the object.”
      Thin black railings are used for hanging garmentsThe 4,200-square-foot (390-square-metre) store on North Aberdeen Street, in the Fulton Market area, is split into two sections: the main sales floor and a back room, which are connected by a narrow corridor.

      A muted, monochrome selection of materials creates a serene atmosphere in both of the spaces, while the architectural elements dictate purposeful paths that connect them.
      Various architectural and furniture elements form pathways for shoppers to meanderBlack railings transverse the walls, puncturing curved and flat vertical partitions made from materials including concrete, steel and black-stained thermowood.
      Curved benches that act as both accessory displays and seating are balanced on large irregularly shaped stones.
      The walls and ceiling in the back room are lined with stainless steelTogether, all of these elements suggest multiple meandering routes for customers to trace through the store.
      In the back room, the curvature of the benches corresponds with a circular opening in the brushed stainless steel ceiling, while a round patch of carpet sits offset on the floor.
      A section dedicated to footwear features multiple shelving unitsHot-rolled steel continues across three walls, creating a sci-fi feel in certain areas of the room.
      Micro-cement plaster paints are used to contrast the metal, adding a rougher texture against the smooth surfaces.
      A monochrome colour scheme is applied throughout”Overall, usage of the materials are manifestations of the SVRN’s brand identity and narratives,” said WGNB.
      The fourth wall in the rear space is reserved for displaying shoes, which sit on shelves of unequal heights that are silhouetted against backlighting.

      WGNB designs all-black flagship store for fashion brand Juun.J

      “The spatial layout of the store considers the current that customer’s circulation creates in the space with the objects and openness,” said the studio.
      “And, the visual tension is created by the constantly changing eyesight of the customers while navigating the store.”
      A variety of smooth and textured surfaces create subtle contrasts across the boutiqueMinimalist fashion boutiques can be found worldwide, with many brands opting for a simple and pared-back interior to allow the products to shine.
      Recently completed examples include Snøhetta’s Holzweiler store in Copenhagen and a Jonathan Simkhai store in New York’s SoHo by Aruliden.
      The store was designed by WGNB, the Dezeen Awards Emerging Interiors Studio in 2021WGNB, which won the Dezeen Award for Emerging Interior Designer of the Year 2021, has also created monochromatic interiors for fashion brand Juun.J’s flagship store and a golf supply shop – both in Seoul.
      The photography is by Yongjoon Choi.
      Project credits:
      Construction/general contractor: Helios Construction Services

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      AMO experiments with materials for Stone Island store in Chicago

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      Fashion brand Stone Island has debuted a retail concept by Dutch studio AMO, which includes surfaces made from compressed shredded paper, burnt cork and sand-coated steel.

      The research studio, affiliated with architecture firm OMA, created the store concept to celebrate Stone Island’s 40th anniversary.
      Stone Island’s Chicago store features a digital chandelier at its entranceAs well as an update to the look and feel of the interiors, AMO has designed the spaces to host a program of public presentations, salons, workshops and private events beyond store opening hours.
      For the store’s architecture, the studio referenced the “innovative” approach taken by the Italian brand to transforming materials for its products, particularly outwear.
      The interior was designed by AMO to reflect the brand’s experimental approach to materials”Research and innovation are at the core of Stone Island,” said AMO director Samir Bantal, who worked with Natalie Konopelski, Giulio Margheri and Mateusz Kiercz on the project.

      “The space, materiality, and program of the stores underpin the brand’s ethos, and reinforce a sense of belonging of its community of like-minded people,” he continued.
      Walls are lined in cork that has been burnt, sandblasted and coatedThe inaugural store to be designed based on this direction is the 180-square-metre space in Chicago, Stone Island’s first in the city.
      The space features altar-like niches for displaying archival pieces and prototypes to highlight Stone Island’s focus on technology and development.
      A niche at the back of the store displays archival products and prototypesSurfaces throughout the store are intended to look like stone, though none are actually made from it. Instead, off-the-shelf materials have been treated in a variety of ways to replicate the same visual qualities.
      Shredded paper and resin were compressed under high pressure to produce durable panels that mimic concrete, and used to create sculptural displays for products.
      Sculptural display stands are formed from shredded paper and resin that’s compressed to look like concreteCork – which is a staple in existing Stone Island stores – was burnt, sandblasted and coated to create a dark texture. Applied to the walls, the material helps to both absorb sound and control humidity, while the ceiling is covered with a sawtooth arrangement of translucent light boxes.
      Corrugated steel panels were sand-coated to create a softer finish and used to form a curved partition around the fitting rooms.
      The fitting rooms are surrounded by sand-coated corrugated steelAt the store’s entrance, which has a bright orange floor, a digital chandelier is suspended from the ceiling and broadcasts messages to shoppers.
      Following the opening of the Chicago store in October 2022, plans are in place to roll out the concept at locations including Seoul, Munich and Stockholm.

      AMO cocoons Jacquemus store in pillows to create “bedroom-like” interior

      “Stone Island and AMO share values of innovation, functionality, and passion,” said Stone Island creative director and president Carlo Rivetti.
      “I am very happy to begin this important partnership, a new visual approach for our stores, to speak to our communities.”
      Stone Island’s research is explained through displaysAMO was founded as the research arm of OMA, and has developed long-standing relationships with several fashion brands.
      One of its most frequent collaborators is Prada – the studio has designed a number of environments for the Italian brand’s runways shows over the years.
      The Chicago store is the first iteration of the concept by AMOMost recently, AMO worked with French brand Jacquemus to create a Paris boutique with a “bedroom-like” interior and a terracruda-clad shop-in-shop at London’s Selfridges.
      The photography is by Marco Cappelletti, courtesy of Stone Island and OMA/AMO.

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      Chicago's Swiss Consulate interior is a nod to 1960s modernism

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      Swiss firm HHF and Chicago-based studio Kwong Von Glinow have collaborated on the interiors of the Swiss Consulate located in Chicago’s landmark John Hancock Center.

      Located on the 38th floor of the 100-storey supertall skyscraper, the 1,500-square-foot office is designed to pay homage to the shared architectural history of Chicago and Switzerland.
      The Swiss Consulate is located in the John Hancock CenterHHF and Kwong Von Glinow drew on the domestic interiors of Swiss modernist architect and designer Otto Kolb, who taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

      Original Otto Kolb light fittings have been used throughout, and the office’s mid-century style furniture is the result of a collaboration with Ginger Zalaba, Kolb’s granddaughter and founder of Zalaba Design.
      HHF and Kwong Von Glinow referenced the work of 1960s architect Otto Kolb”The Swiss Consulate was developed as one fluid space,” the designers told Dezeen. “Similar to the design of the Villa Kolb on the outskirts of Zürich.”
      At the centre of the office, an area is carved out by curved sections of wooden slats and plants in reference to Villa Kolb’s cylindrical fireplace.
      The kitchen is painted a deep green colourThese wooden dividers – painted a deep green internally and white on the reverse – act to separate the social areas of the office from the workspaces, loosely enclosing a green kitchenette and central tall table.
      “The light-altering screens that shape the green core act as mediators between the more public area and the working areas of the consulate,” explained the designers.

      Dyed concrete walls surround Swiss embassy in Nairobi by Roeoesli Maeder Architekten

      “Taking cues from how kitchens are typically used in the home as a place where daily interactions between family members occur, the kitchenette becomes the meeting place of the Swiss Consulate.”
      Three desks sit alongside this central core, while two individual offices and a conference room are separated from the more social area with large frosted glass partition walls that help pull light deeper into the plan.
      Meeting rooms are screened by frosted glass”Given the meeting room’s lack of access to direct light, natural light comes instead from the frosted glass partitions that separate it from the deputy’s office,” explained the designers.
      With privacy and security being important, the only entrance to the office is via a mirror-polished chrome door, which stands alongside a bright red reception booth.
      The reception booth is painted bright redKwong Von Glinow recently completed their first project since founding the practice in 2017, a light and spacious house in Chicago aimed to demonstrate an alternative to developer-led housing.
      Global practice Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the original designers of the John Hancock Center where the Swiss Consulate is based, has also recently revealed plans for a new curving glass canopy for the State/Lake station on Chicago’s metro.
      The photography is by James Florio.

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      Farnsworth House installation replicates Edith Farnsworth's original decor

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      Farnsworth House, the glass house designed by Mies van der Rohe in Illinois, has been redecorated for an installation to feature furnishings and personal belongings of its original client Edith Farnsworth.Edith Farnsworth’s Country House is the centrepiece of an exhibition series called Edith Farnsworth Reconsidered that explores the house’s namesake.
      The installation marks the first time in over 50 years the all-glass residence raised above ground by pilotis is furnished with Farnsworth’s original decor.

      “The Farnsworth House is known around the world as Mies’s ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ (total work of art), but that’s a false history and one that largely ignores the home’s namesake, Dr Edith Farnsworth,” said Farnsworth House executive director Scott Mehaffey.

      For the installation the Farnsworth House and the National Trust for Historic Preservation referenced old photographs of the space taken by Hedrich-Blessing, André Kertész and Werner Blaser. These date back to when Farnsworth occupied it to replicate the design of the space as it would have appeared in 1955.
      Farnsworth, a celebrated research physician, commissioned Van der Rohe to design the country house completed along the Fox River, in Plano, Illinois in 1951.

      While Farnsworth lived there in the 1950s to 60s the house was decorated with her preferred taste of Scandinavian and Italian furniture from designers such as Florence Knoll, Jens Risom, Bruno Mathsson and Franco Albini and with Asian antiques.

      In 1970 the residence was sold to British real estate mogul Baron Peter Palumbo, who outfitted the house with pieces by Van der Rohe and his grandson, Dirk Lohan. These are the furnishings typically on display in the space.
      “For Edith Farnsworth, it was a weekend house – for Peter Palumbo, it was an architectural monument: two fundamentally different viewpoints,” Mehaffey said.

      Geometry of Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House illuminated with red lasers

      “So through this installation, we experience the Farnsworth House as the client actually occupied the space – and I think this gives us a much better sense of who she was as a person, and what the house meant to her.”
      In the main living area, which opens out to the two lifted terraces, there is a wood dining table with white metal legs, a black and white rug with a geometric pattern and two curvy lounge chairs with woven straps.

      The centre of the house is occupied by a large rectangular structure used to divide the space and house its mechanics and two bathrooms. One length of the volume is fronted with the kitchen, while the opposite side is furnished with a daybed and chairs that face a small fireplace.

      The bedroom is located at one end of the wood volume and is partitioned by an office tucked into the corner of the house.
      A glass desk with crossed legs overlooks the green landscape in the workspace. On top of the work surface there is a replica of Farnsworth’s typewriter, a framed family photograph and books and on the ground next to the table is her medical briefcase.

      Most of the furnishings on display are commercially-sold reproductions of Farnsworth’s original pieces, while the wardrobe, daybed and Asian slipper chairs are custom-built replicas.
      In addition to the furniture pieces the installation also showcases personal belongings Farnsworth is known to have owned, including potted plants, dish ware, linens, a violin, and a typewriter.

      “We’ve personalised the installation with replicas of her violin, her typewriter, her books, family photos, monogrammed towels and other personal effects – to help conjure her presence,” Mehaffey said.
      Edith Farnsworth Reconsidered and its components will continue through December 2021 with a VR tour and a number of other programmes in the on-site galleries, including an exhibition that focuses on Farnsworth’s life, career and hobbies.

      “Related programmes and events will also celebrate Edith Farnsworth’s life and times,” Mehaffey added. “All of this places the Farnsworth House in a broader, richer context than ever before – it’s no longer ‘All about Mies.'”
      The Farnsworth House opened to the public in 2004 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006.

      To highlight the house’s unusual geometries and history Iker Gil and Luftwerk projected red lasers across the building and surrounding property. In 2014 there was a proposal to lift the structure with hydraulic jacks to avoid the region’s flooding, however, the system was never implemented.
      Photography is by William Zbaren.

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