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      Eight eclectic self-designed homes by architects and designers

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      Our latest lookbook collects eight dwellings that were self-designed by architects and designers including Mexico-based Ludwig Godefroy and London studio Holloway Li.

      From a modernist-style house in South Africa to an American family residence characterised by a large interior crane, there are a range of materials and floor plans offered by each of these homes.
      The properties demonstrate the myriad ways architects and designers apply their knowledge to their own living spaces and push the boundaries of what is possible outside of client constraints.
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring wooden kitchens, statement bathtubs and paper lamps.
      Photo by HANAAtwater House, USA, by Rebecca Rudolph and Colin Thompson

      Co-founder of Design, Bitches Rebecca Rudolph and her husband Colin Thompson of Gensler designed their own home in Atwater Village, Los Angeles.
      In the kitchen, the pair combined a polished marble splashback with a central stone island clad in bespoke concrete panels made by Thompson.
      Find out more about Atwater House ›
      Photo by Frances MaraisMossel Bay house, South Africa, by Yvette van Zyl
      Modernist and nautical influences come together at this three-bedroom home in Mossel Bay, South Africa, designed and owned by local architect Yvette van Zyl.
      Porthole-style windows illuminate the interior, which features a mixture of concrete ceilings and floors and walls of exposed or painted brick.
      Find out more about this Mossel Bay house ›
      Photo by Jim StephensonPeckham House, UK, by Surman Weston
      Peckham House is a self-designed and self-build project by architecture studio Surman Weston, where co-director Percy Weston currently lives with his family.
      Hit-and-miss brickwork clads the home’s striking facade, while lime plaster lines the walls inside. End-grain woodblocks, salvaged from offcuts of the ceiling’s wooden structure, were also used to create chunky flooring.
      Find out more about Peckham House ›
      Photo by Edmund DabneyLondon apartment, UK, by Holloway Li
      Local design studio Holloway Li sought to honour the utilitarian kitchens of London’s many fast food outlets when creating a “unique” circle-brushed steel kitchen for this Highbury apartment.
      Inhabited by studio co-founder Alex Holloway, the apartment features pops of colour in its resin dining table and chubby orange armchair. A bathtub was also placed in the open-plan living space, adding to the home’s unusual design.
      Find out more about this London apartment ›
      Photo by Edmund SumnerCasa SanJe, Mexico, by Ludwig Godefroy
      Known for his brutalist-style buildings, architect Ludwig Godefroy and his partner renovated this house and home studio in Mexico for himself and his family.
      Integrated with an adjacent garden, Casa SanJe is characterised by a caste concrete interior with a mixture of warm wood panels and a wall covered in reddish volcanic stone.
      Find out more about Casa SanJe ›
      Photo by Jim StephensonBrighton house, UK, by Studiotwentysix
      Isabella and Dan Gray of architecture office Studiotwentysix created a birch plywood-lined loft extension for their family house in Brighton, England.
      Containing 55 square metres of additional living spaces, the loft includes an exposed red-oxide steel structure and is punctuated by geometric skylights.
      Find out more about this Brighton house ›
      Photo by Benny ChanJArzm House, USA, by John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects
      The founders of John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects inserted a giant yellow construction crane into the kitchen of their Los Angeles family home in the city’s Silver Lake neighbourhood.
      “Designing our own house was great because we didn’t have to ask permission,” John Friedman told Dezeen, explaining the unusual move. “We could do whatever we want.”
      Find out more about JArzm House ›
      Photo by Lorenzo ZandriOasis, UK, by Unknown Works
      Oasis is the home of architecture studio Unknown Works’ co-founder Theo Games Petrohilos, who wanted to renovate a terraced London house by adding a side and rear extension to create a flexible interior and maximise natural light.
      The studio placed a petite internal courtyard at the centre of the plan, which was informed by traditional Japanese stone gardens that provide cross ventilation throughout homes.
      Find out more about Oasis ›
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring wooden kitchens, statement bathtubs and paper lamps.

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      YSG creates “eccentric beats of nostalgia” in Byron Bay seaside home

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      Interiors studio YSG has updated a seaside home in Byron Bay, Australia, creating a series of retro spaces with colours and furnishings that evoke the 1970s.

      Byron Bay is known for its tropical climate and surf culture, so YSG director Yasmine Saleh Ghoniem designed a laid-back interior filled with period details to complement the lush environment.
      YSG has renovated a seaside home in Byron Bay, AustraliaResponding to the client’s love of deep brown hues and vintage furnishings, the 1970s theme informed details such as the use of chrome and the addition of a sunken lounge.
      “Despite tropical surrounds, the home’s gaze is now firmly fixed inwards to create sensory journeys heightened by the eccentric beats of nostalgia,” said Ghoniem.
      A chrome balustrade create a threshold between the kitchen and loungeThe existing kitchen was gutted to double its size, with a new galley kitchen partially enclosed by a wooden screen and a circular island that can be used for casual dining.

      A chrome balustrade informed by old-school skate parks provides an additional place to lean alongside the island. Fixed to a timber column, it helps to create a threshold between the kitchen and the sunken lounge.
      Vintage Italian dining chairs were reupholstered in chartreuse velvetThe island’s chrome footrest echoes the nearby barstools and vintage Italian dining chairs sourced in Paris, which YSG has reupholstered in chartreuse velvet.
      The project is titled Checkmate after the geometric patterned floors featured throughout the property.
      Terracotta pavers are arranged into a geometric grid across Checkmate’s living areasIn the living areas, YSG specified terracotta pavers arranged in a simple grid with wide grout lines that add tonal contrast.
      Checkered porcelain tiles used in the family bathroom extend across a balcony that wraps around the parents’ bedroom. The same pattern and hues were used for the bedroom’s cork flooring – another nod to the seventies.
      Checkered sandstone floor tiles feature in the guest bedroom downstairsThe raised bathtub in the main bathroom was retained and wrapped in mosaic tiles, while the guest bathroom downstairs features chunky sandstone floor tiles in a similar checkered pattern.
      YSG’s limited spatial interventions also included enclosing an internal balcony to create a hallway leading to the children’s enlarged bedrooms. A circular window on this level now looks onto the verdant balcony off the main bedroom.
      The home is furnished with a mix of new and vintage piecesAs in many of its previous projects, YSG used timber framing and slatted screens in the home to help provide visual cohesion while fulfilling practical functions.
      In addition to the screen installed in the kitchen, a latticed partition on the upper floor provides privacy for the children walking from the bathroom to their bedrooms.

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      The balcony on this level already had a slatted ceiling and YSG added matching vertical battens to further shade the space and protect it from being overlooked by neighbours.
      To furnish the interior, Ghoniem sourced a variety of new and vintage pieces that reference aesthetic styles from the 1950s to the 1970s, including a limited edition denim Soriana chair from Cassina placed in the living room.
      The raised bathtub in the primary bathroom was updated with mosaic tilesThe dining chairs are complemented by cone-shaped bar stools upholstered in a tropical fabric from Kvadrat, while a pair of Italian armchairs purchased at vintage emporium Oda Paris feature a chocolate-and-spearmint harlequin pattern.
      Lighting and accessories add further layers of pattern and texture to the interior, with the various shades of brown providing a backdrop for more expressive elements.
      A circular window overlooks the balcony off the main bedroom”We steered away from deep shades, opting for warm caramel and toffee shades,” Ghoniem told Dezeen.
      “To this grounding tone, we added a gamut of colours from jolts of indigo and denim blues to watermelon pink and green stripes adorning the kitchen’s window treatments, and assorted coloured ceramic pulls to the primary suite’s wardrobes.”
      Timber screens shade the upstairs balconyA moon-like fibreglass light fixture was created as a custom piece to fill the large void above the sunken lounge, while bespoke timber handles used for the kitchen cabinets as well as the property’s front door add a whimsical detail.
      In the main bathroom, an LED artwork by local artist Jeremy Kay was installed on the ceiling to create a dynamic disco effect.
      An LED artwork by Jeremy Kay creates a disco effect in the main bathroomYasmine Saleh Ghoniem founded her eponymous design studio in 2020, having previously worked with landscape architect Katy Svalbe at their joint studio Amber Road in Sydney.
      YSG’s multidisciplinary projects are defined by a bold approach to colour, texture and pattern. Ghoniem draws on her background in music and dance to infuse her designs with elements of storytelling and staging.
      Other residential interiors completed by the studio include a suburban home in Sydney finished with sumptuous materials intended to evoke a luxury hotel, and a coastal home featuring maximalist patterns that reference the beach clubs of Ibiza and Cancun.
      The photography is by Prue Ruscoe.

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      Aesop clads London store with tactile bars of soap

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      Skincare brand Aesop has opened a minimalist store in London’s Knightsbridge, featuring a “soap corridor” created with uniform tiles made from the everyday bathroom product.

      Set within a slim and narrow room on Brompton Road, the Aesop outlet is characterised by a floor-to-ceiling installation made of cream-coloured soap bars.
      Aesop has opened a store in London’s KnightsbridgeThe installation, created by architect Nicolas Schuybroek, was transferred from an Aesop store in Milan, where it was temporarily on display for the city’s design week in April. Slabs of soap were arranged in a gridded layout and supported by a subtle timber structure, designed to be disassembled and installed at different locations.
      “Schuybroek had taken one of the most fundamental, functional household items – a bar of soap – to create an unconventional sculpture,” reflected Aesop.
      It features an installation by Nicolas Schuybroek made of bars of soapAccording to the skincare brand, the architect was informed by the simplicity of Arte Povera – an Italian art movement from the 1960s to the 1970s that favoured using unconventional everyday materials instead of more traditional ones such as oil paint or carved marble.

      “Just as practitioners of the Arte Povera movement restricted themselves to simple and everyday materials in their poetic compositions, the spatial restriction of the store enforces a streamlined design in the form of a soap corridor,” said Aesop.

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      As per every Aesop branch, the store includes a central basin for skin consultations. At the Knightsbridge store, every piece of furniture was repurposed from the Aesop furniture collection, including the basin and the grey geometric display shelving.
      In one corner of the room, more bars of soap were piled into a sculptural heap, adding a playful touch to the otherwise “muted calm” of the interior.
      The skincare brand explained that Schuybroek’s installation is intended to travel to numerous Aesop stores, with Brompton Road being its second home.
      The installation was previously on display during Milan design week in AprilKnown for its varied store designs that often reference their specific locations, Aesop has nearly 400 outlets around the world.
      These include a brick-clad branch in Copenhagen that pays homage to the nearby Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and an open-sided shop in Seoul that was informed by traditional Korean pavilions.
      The photography is by Alixe Lay.

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      Alastair Philip Wiper captures “over-the-top kitsch” 1970s doomsday bunker in Las Vegas

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      British photographer Alastair Philip Wiper has documented a subterranean fallout shelter in Las Vegas, Nevada, complete with a four-hole putting green surrounded by faux pine trees and painted scenery.

      Built in 1978 by millionaire Jerry Henderson, the doomsday bunker stretches across 1,400 square metres. Henderson lived in the underground house for five years with his wife Mary up until his death in 1983.
      Alastair Philip Wiper has photographed an underground bunker in Las Vegas”Jerry was a millionaire who advocated for underground living,” Wiper said, adding that Henderson also had a similar bunker in an undisclosed location in Colorado.
      “He thought that all people would be better off living underground, not just in case of an apocalypse but in all situations.”
      The residence was built in 1978 as a nuclear fallout shelterThe shelter reflects the era in which it was designed, with details from decorative luminaires to statement pink curtains and toilet seats evoking 1970s interiors.

      Other features include a swimming pool, two hot tubs, a dance floor with a pole, a four-hole putting green, a bar, a barbecue and a sauna.
      “It seems like Jerry liked to party,” Wiper told Dezeen. “The house is made for entertaining. It’s not a house designed for a recluse.”
      1970s statement furnishings include pink toilet seats and decorative luminairesArtificial pine trees and faux rock walls emulate an outdoor garden space, while painted backdrops depicting life-like landscapes surround the shelter.
      Lighting simulates different times of day, with details like the pool and the garden picked out with colourful fluorescents that add to the eccentric nature of the residence.

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      “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” said Wiper. “But if you have a penchant for over-the-top kitsch, insane colour combinations and James Bond villain-lair aesthetics then you would be in heaven at this place.”
      Henderson’s underground house is now owned by the Church of Perpetual Life, an organisation involved with cryonic preservation that aims to extend human life, which Wiper explored in a 2023 feature for Bloomberg.
      The house has two separate hot tubsWiper documented the residence as part of an ongoing project called “How We Learned to Stop Worrying”, about the many architectural interpretations of the word “nuclear”.
      “I’m looking for all sorts of unusual locations that are associated with nuclear and when I came across the house, it fit perfectly,” Wiper said. “It’s so eccentric and flamboyant.”
      Artificial trees and faux rocks help mimic an outdoor garden spaceWiper’s latest photography book titled Building Stories, published by the Danish Architectural Press, also includes the underground house among a mix of other surreal buildings including a spooky skiing resort and a nuclear missile control centre.
      It is the follow-up to his previous book Unintended Beauty, which focuses on industrial buildings such as factories and power stations.
      Painted backdrops depict life-like scenery”I look for locations that are out of the ordinary, places that tell a story and which people don’t get to see every day, places I want to visit myself,” the photographer explained.
      “If there is something absurd, taboo or humorous about the location then all the better.”
      The photography is by Alastair Philip Wiper.

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      Translucent and reflective surfaces ricochet light around Cologne apartment

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      German architecture studio Demo Working Group has removed all non-structural walls from this 1970s high-rise apartment in Cologne, creating a utilitarian open-plan interior.

      Named Kier after its address on Kierberger Straße, the apartment is set in a housing block built in 1972. Before the renovation, wallpaper covered its concrete shell and a myriad of dividing walls created dark, enclosed rooms.
      Demo Working Group has renovated a 1970s Cologne apartmentNow, a structural concrete wall in the middle of the floor plan is the only interior wall that remains, although Demo Working Group used a concrete saw to cut out a doorway and create a direct link between the living space and the bedroom.
      “We were interested in how these concrete structures can be transformed to enable new spatial options,” partner Matthias Hoffmann told Dezeen. “The new opening between the living and the sleeping area redefines the circulation in the apartment.”
      Soft furnishings and reflective finishes take the edge off the stark concrete wallsRaw concrete perimeter walls work together with the remaining central wall to create an industrial-looking backdrop, consistent throughout all areas of the apartment.

      “The high-rise structures of that era are typically built out of concrete,” the studio said. “We took off the wallpaper so that the building’s structure with its specific texture and character can be experienced inside the apartment.”
      Light is bounced around by glass and reflective surfacesThe newly liberated interior benefits from having windows on two sides, which the designers capitalised on by employing translucent, transparent and reflective surfaces throughout.
      Former internal walls were replaced with sheets of transparent and frosted glass, allowing light to penetrate further into the space and providing a contrast with the heaviness of the concrete.
      Like the rest of the apartment, the kitchen has a cool-toned colour schemeThis creates a free-flowing atmosphere in the space, which almost functions as a studio apartment as a result of the minimal, see-through divisions between the living space, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.
      Mirrors and reflective surfaces are applied to other spaces, too. In the kitchen, cupboards are tucked below a window that casts light onto a full-height mirrored backsplash on one side.

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      The green kitchen counter also reflects light and is made from a heavy-duty plastic, which Demo Working Group says is usually reserved for use in laboratories.
      Glossy white tiles line the kitchen and bathroom area while a built-in storage unit in the living space is clad in sheets of aluminium to level up the brightness of the interior.
      Three purple-upholstered cantilevered chairs surround a metal dining tableFurnishings follow a colour palette of blues, greens and purples, with the sofa and window frame in the living area picked out in a deep blue, referencing the accent colour found throughout the wider apartment block.
      Metal continues to feature in the furniture and fittings, from the legs of the dining set and bookshelf to a horseshoe-shaped light fixture on the bedroom ceiling.
      The shower enclosure is transparent and contains white fittings and fixturesDemo Working Group was founded in 2019 and works on architecture and interior projects throughout northern Germany.
      Other apartment interiors that have recently been featured on Dezeen include a refurbished art deco-style apartment in Milan and a flat in Kyiv that features colourful furnishings and glass bricks.
      The photography is by Jan Voigt.

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      El Fant Café and Bar celebrates both traditional and contemporary Finnish design

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      Finnish design studio Yatofu collaborated with young and local craftspeople to create El Fant Café and Bar in Helsinki, Finland.

      The cafe and bar comprises three front of house spaces across 70 square metres, including a central bar with two adjoining dining spaces either side.
      El Fant Café and Bar features furniture by Helsinki-based workshop PuutamoYatofu intended to inject the energy of Helsinki’s contemporary design community into Torikorttelit, in Helsinki’s old town, where El Fant is located.
      “Our approach was rooted in celebrating the timeless qualities of Finnish design while infusing it with a contemporary twist,” Yatofu’s founders Angela Lindahl and Yihan Xiang told Dezeen.
      Paja&Bureau created curved galvanised steel shelving for this projectGuests enter into the central bar area featuring a custom galvanised steel bar designed by Yatofu in collaboration with local custom metal workshop Paja&Bureau.

      They designed the bar counter and matching shelving units to “add a touch of industrial modernity to the space”. The steel units bend and curve optimising the flow of the three connected interior spaces.
      Guests enter El Fant into a central bar areaYatofu also closely collaborated with Helsinki-based carpentry workshop Puutamo, led by young female carpenter Eveliina Ylöne, to create solid pine furniture.
      Yatofu purposefully worked with young and local craftspeople on the project, allowing them “to inject the space with fresh perspectives and a genuine connection to the community,” the studio told Dezeen.
      “By working with local craftspeople, we were able to explore new possibilities for local production and celebrate the creativity and innovation that defines the current generation of Finnish craftsmen,” they added.
      The cafe and bar features a pair of Howard Wall lamps by GubiEveliina Ylönen and Yatofu opted for four-centimetre-thick pine boards from northern Finland to create all the custom furniture pieces in the space.
      “Pine was selected for its historical significance in Finnish craftsmanship and its natural characteristics, durability and warmth,” said the studio.
      The interior includes dining chairs from the Finnish brand VaarniiThe result of the collaboration includes a set of stools, benches and tables with both natural and stained finishes.
      “Together, we explored how to maintain the wood’s natural beauty while introducing bold, contemporary design elements such as the saturated tomato-red dye, which added a modern twist to the traditional material,” Yatofu explained.
      The bar table features tomato-red stained finishThe stained finish was applied on a table and chairs set in the bar area, as well as benches in the dining areas.
      Paired with dining chairs from the Finnish brand Vaarnii, the solid pine pieces counterbalance the cool-toned steel.
      The earth-toned plaster walls are hand-finishedThis balance was also formed through the choice of earth-toned plaster walls and polished concrete flooring. As well as a series of warm-hued spotlights and wall lights, including a pair of Howard Wall lamps by Gubi.
      “The juxtaposition of warm natural materials like pine with cooler, industrial elements like galvanised steel was designed to evoke a sense of balance and harmony,” Yatofu explained.
      This balance of materials across the design scheme aims to create an “atmosphere that feels both relaxed and invigorating”.
      The interior balances contemporary and traditional design elementsOther projects featured on Dezeen by Yatofu include a furniture showroom in Hangzhou, China and a refined teahouse interior in Helsinki, Finland.
      The photography is by Aleksi Tikkala.

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      HawkinsBrown converts former Vitra showroom into own street-front office

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      Architecture studio HawkinsBrown has taken over a former furniture showroom, giving its staff a workspace with a shop window, a social kitchen and a Richard Woods-designed cabin.

      The former Vitra showroom on Clerkenwell Road is now a three-level office for 250 of HawkinsBrown’s 350 staff. The new street-front address was designed to give the architects a workspace that facilitates more diverse ways of working and offers greater opportunities for social activities and events.
      The street-front office is located on Clerkenwell Road in London”Our vast shopfront means we are on display, presenting us with a new and exciting opportunity to show the world who we are and what we do,” said HawkinsBrown managing partner Hazel York.
      “It’s a place to connect with our clients, collaborators and the wider Clerkenwell community through a programme of talks and events, temporary exhibitions and art installations.”
      The ground floor can be used for different activities and eventsCentral to this approach was turning the ground-floor space into a flexible “canteen” featuring a stainless-steel counter where staff meet for coffee and cafe-style furniture that can be easily moved around.

      “Our ground floor canteen is our working experiment, our laboratory,” said HawkinsBrown’s creative director David Bickle.
      A stainless-steel counter is the place where staff meet for coffee”It’s a place where we can host talks and seminars, workshops, supper clubs and sunset yoga, and invite takeovers by like-minded organisations,” he told Dezeen.
      “We’ve purposely kept it unprogrammed, loose fit and unfinished, preferring to ‘show not tell’ what we do to the world outside.”

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      A shed covered in the colourful cartoon-style prints of artist Richard Woods can be found on this floor, surrounded by plants.
      Known as Hut, it offers staff a place to find isolation.
      The Richard Woods-designed Hut sits among plantsThe idea was to create the feel of a building within a building, an approach that HawkinsBrown previously explored on projects including the Gantry at Here East and the Here + Now offices.
      “We recognised that many of us worked from sheds, home offices, lofts and kitchen tables during the Covid lockdown and that this form of isolation was important for certain concentrated creative tasks,” stated Bickle.
      This colourful cabin offers staff a place to find isolation”We talked through our ideas with Richard; he was immediately taken with our thinking and open to creating something new,” Bickle said.
      “The closed form of Hut creates a talking point. Paradoxically we placed the most private space in the most public location but, through its design, we created a sanctuary from the rest of the studio and the world outside.”
      The newly painted red staircase encourages staff to stop and chatMore art can be found on the glazed facade in the form of graphics designed by architect June Tong, the winning entry in an in-house competition.
      Power-assisted acoustic curtains allow the space to be subdivided if necessary, while a newly painted red staircase encourages staff to stop and chat while moving between floors.
      The design includes both formal meeting rooms and collaborative spacesMeeting rooms can be found on all three levels. These include a pair of adjoining basement rooms affectionately known as Ray and Charles, which can be combined into one larger room called Eames.
      These were named in tribute to former occupant Vitra, which produces furniture by the famed American architects.
      A modelmaking workshop is located in the basementA modelmaking workshop is located in the basement but visible from above, while pin-up boards were integrated into sliding doors as well as mobile partitions.
      York said the new office has shaped a more collaborative culture among staff. Amid the wider shift to hybrid working, she believes it has strengthened the firm’s sense of community and collective identity.
      “We knew having a shop window on a bustling street would be great but it has surpassed our expectations,” she said.
      The windows feature graphics designed by in-house architect June Tong”Watching the world go by is a constant reminder of how our work shapes and is shaped by the city and communities we serve.”
      “Equally, we are very open about the work we do; everyone can see in. We draw on the windows, stick up work in progress and regularly wave at people at the bus stop!”
      The photography is by Ruth Ward.

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      Akin Atelier designs JAM Record Bar to feel like being “inside a giant speaker”

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      Pink plywood and exposed insulation combine in this monochrome bar in Sydney, designed by local architecture office Akin Atelier to evoke the cosy feel of Tokyo’s mid-century listening bars.

      Akin Atelier founder Kelvin Ho designed JAM Record Bar for Justin Hemmes, the CEO of the Merivale hospitality group, who also ran the music label JAM Recordings.
      A passion project for Hemmes and his sister Bettina, the bar is named after their parents John and Merivale, who used the JAM label for various ventures alongside their successful hospitality business.
      Akin Atelier has designed a monochrome bar in SydneyThe idea for the bar came from a trip to Japan taken by Hemmes and Ho, where the pair enjoyed sampling the atmosphere of Tokyo’s iconic listening bars.
      “We wanted to create an immersive and fun environment,” said Ho, who has collaborated with Merivale for over 15 years on roughly 20 projects.

      “Justin and I have had some super fun trips to Tokyo exploring lots of bars and clubs,” he told Dezeen. “The commitment to design and concept was what we loved in Japan and JAM was an opportunity to do our own spin on this idea.”
      The interior scheme was influenced by Tokyo’s midcentury listening barsLocated on a corner of George Street in the city’s central business district, the compact 80-square-metre space seats 45 and houses a collection of 15,000 vinyl records along with a DJ booth.
      The unit was previously occupied by a retail store and has large windows looking onto the adjacent streets. Together with outdoor seating, the corner windows help to create a strong connection with the surroundings.
      Despite the small size of the space, Ho and his team created distinct zones organised around a central bar.
      Fibreglass insulation panels are left exposed within the ceiling structureTowards the rear, an area with low seating has an intimate lounge-like feel, while the main bar area features tall stools and space for standing.
      Ho described the decor as “simple and analogue but also refined”, explaining that this was achieved using a basic material palette including cork, plywood and off-the-shelf insulation.
      “These are all familiar and accessible materials but we used them in a way that was more elevated through detailing and composition.”
      The central bar is surrounded by tall stools with space for standingJAM Record Bar’s distinctive colour was driven by a specific material choice taken by Akin Atelier to enhance the acoustic properties of the space.
      Pink fibreglass insulation panels from New Zealand firm Pink Batts are left exposed within the ceiling structure rather than being concealed behind plasterboard.

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      “We loved the pink colour of the insulation, which then inspired the pink plywood and a full commitment to the colour throughout the project,” said Ho.
      “JAM is designed to feel like you are drinking a cocktail inside a giant speaker box – but pink.”
      The pink hue is applied across the ceiling, walls and all of the bespoke plywood joinery including the bar, the record library and the geometric stools that are used both indoors and outdoors.
      The bar’s distinctive pink colour also extends to the built-in record libraryThe space is given a retro feel through the selection of vintage light fittings and objects curated by Merivale’s styling director Bettina Hemmes and design director Nasim Koerting.
      Neon signage in the windows nods to the bar’s Japanese inspiration, while midcentury-style details such as the entrance with its grid of circular windows evoke the golden age of vinyl in the 1950s and 60s.
      JAM Record Bar offers a menu of Japanese-inspired snacks developed by chef Michael Fox of Merivale’s Sushi E restaurant and drinks crafted by the company’s creative cocktail lead James Irvine.
      Neon signage in the windows nods to JAM Record Bar’s Japanese inspirationKelvin Ho founded Akin Atelier in 2005 after studying at the University of Sydney.
      The studio’s multidisciplinary output combines architecture and interior design, with previous projects including a retail space in Sydney with curved resin walls and a womenswear store in Melbourne featuring a tactile material palette.
      The photography is by Tim Salisbury.

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