Dezeen Awards China 2024 reveals 34-strong interiors shortlist
Dezeen has announced the interiors shortlist for this year’s Dezeen Awards China, which includes interiors by Linehouse, Say Architects, UNStudio and Conran and Partners. More
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Linehouse defines Shanghai office with “unexpected combinations of materials”
Interior design studio Linehouse has renovated an office in Shanghai using numerous materials and art from a local gallery.
Linehouse refurbished the ground floor of a three-storey building in Shanghai that The Independents global marketing group have occupied in Shanghai for numerous years.
The office is located in a three-storey building in ShanghaiThe 374-square-metre space was designed as a communal area for the staff working on the floors above.
It includes a reception area, meeting rooms, pantry and communal eating space as well as a flexible deskspace for twenty people.
Metal curtains are used to blur the boundary between different functional spacesAdditionally, an art installation area has been integrated, taking advantage of the high lofty ceiling of the space, which will be used for monthly rotational curation.Linehouse aimed to create a destination by presenting art from a local gallery, which will be rotated monthly, in the space. Combined with numerous materials and abstract furniture pieces, the studio forms what the studio called an “unexpected collection”.
The entrance features a circular seating installation wrapped in metal curtain”The support of the client to design an office that pairs unexpected combinations of materials was refreshing and a challenge,” said Linehouse.
“The result is a space that allows art to breathe and creates a welcoming, natural and open place of work.”
The workstations are located in a sunken seating areaThe spaces are each defined by different materials. Marine plywood was used for the wall of the reception and pantry area, separating them from the meetings rooms. The same plywood was used for to the workstations located in a sunken seating area.
A circular seating area was wrapped in a metal curtain, with five-meter-high curtains used to divide other spaces.Linehouse transforms Shanghai swimming pool into office space
A customised table, made from different shaped pieces of marble and laminates, is used for meetings and dining.
Other tables in the meeting room features unique surfaces — one being a patchwork of timber textures and the other a gradient of glass transparency, from solid black to transparent.
“The design challenges the traditional notion of an office to promote a healthier and creative mindset to collaboration and communication, with emphasis on openness and autonomy for how staff use and occupy the spaces,” Linehouse concluded.
Marine plywood is used on the walls of the pantryLinehouse is a Hong Kong and Shanghai-based architecture and interior design studio established in 2013 by Alex Mok and Briar Hickling.
The duo won the emerging interior designer of the year category at the 2019 Dezeen Awards.
Meeting rooms feature custom made tablesThe studio has also recently designed a greenhouse-informed food market in Shanghai and the facade of a shopping centre in Bangkok.
The photography is by Dirk Weiblen.Read more: More
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Linehouse creates greenhouse-informed food market in Shanghai
Architecture studio Linehouse has wrapped a food market in a Shanghai laneway neighbourhood around a central atrium informed by Victorian greenhouses.
Named Foodie Social, the 2,000-square-metre food market is located within the Hong Shou Fang community – a residential area in Shanghai’s Putuo district known for its classic “longtang” laneway architecture.
The food market is in a two-storey grey brick building in ShanghaiThe entrance to the two-storey market was framed by a double-height arrangement of stacked recycled red bricks, with a corten steel canopy added to provide shelter.
The same recycled red bricks sourced from demolished houses in China can also be found on the interior walls, stacked to create three dimensional patterns.The glass pitched roof is lined with a gently curved metal trussA large glass door can be pulled open on warm days, with patterned paving from the laneway outside extending to the interior of the market, fully connecting the interior and exterior.
The interior of the market was designed to resemble a greenhouse, with shops and cafe’s arrranged around a central, double-height atrium.
The glass pitched roof above the atrium was lined with gently curved metal truss, in reference to Victorian greenhouses, with three large fans hanging from the metal truss to improve the air circulation.
Some vendors are designed to be retractable to allow flexibilityA cafe in the atrium, which contains an olive tree planted into the ground, integrates a metal staircase that leads to the upper floor.
A area describes as a “stage” is located by the staircase with a series of undulating balconies wrapped around the atrium on the upper floor.Overlapping concrete arches frame Bangkok shopping centre by Linehouse
Various typologies of food vendors are arranged in the open atrium on the ground floor, some of which are designed to be retractable, allowing flexibility for different types of vendors as well as a large open event space to be formed at the centre.
“This new typology brings together the local with more curated food offerings in a contemporary yet humble and sustainable way,” explained Linehouse’s Shanghai team who are responsible for the design.
Recycled red bricks can be found both on the facade and interior wallsSmaller snack shops were positioned on the ground floor, while larger restaurants occupy the upper floor.
Each stall was assembled from a kit of parts, so that the vendors are able to create their own signage and layout, but maintain a consistent material and lighting palette.
Larger restaurants are located on the upper floorLinehouse is a Hong Kong and Shanghai-based architecture and interior design studio established in 2013 by Alex Mok and Briar Hickling. The duo won the emerging interior designer of the year category at the 2019 Dezeen Awards.
The studio has also recently designed the facade of a shopping centre in Bangkok and the interiors for a Hong Kong residence that respond to coastal views.
The photography is by Wen Studio.
Project credits:
Design principal: Alex MokAssociate-in-charge: Cherngyu ChenDesign team: Yeling Guo, Fei Wang, Wang Jue, Norman Wang, Aiwen Shao, Mia Zhou, Yunbin Lou, Xiaoxi Chen, Tom GrannellsRead more: More
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Linehouse adds tactile textures and warm tones to coastal home in Hong Kong
Chinese studio Linehouse has designed the interiors of Cape Drive Residence in Hong Kong to respond to the surrounding coastal views.
Located on the south side of Hong Kong Island, the three-floor home is a short walk from the beaches of Stanley and Chung Hom Kok and has panoramic ocean views to the east and west from its elevated position.
“The design harnesses a costal essence through materiality, light and an easy flow, seamlessly connecting the interior and exterior spaces,” Linehouse explained.
The home is located on the south side of Hong Kong Island with expansive ocean viewsAn open living area on the ground floor connects to the kitchen and dining space while an internal courtyard was inserted between theses areas and includes a centralised tree and surrounding seating.
The living area extends to the main terrace with full-height windows that frame the expansive ocean views.Clad in stone, the terrace forms a sunken seating area with pockets of greenery surrounding it, which shelters the sea wind.
A timber staircase framed by a shuttered screen connects all three floorsWhite timber louvers were used as a continuous ceiling plane in the living area which also extends to the terrace as a canopy.
“The design of the home reflects the relaxed and laidback lifestyle of a beach setting,” said the studio. “Warm tones, tactile surfaces and textures, a clean and simple material palette, and a seamless flow between inside and out.”
An outdoor terrace was clad in stone with a sunken seating area”Cape Drive Residence offers the fitting backdrop for coastal living,” it continued.
A warm oak timber staircase was punctuated by a shuttered screen that runs vertically through all levels of the home while arranging more private areas such as bathing and dressing.Linehouse designs Hong Kong guesthouse to evoke the comfort of home
The whitewashed timber material of the screen echoes the coastal location and reflects light through the spaces.
A white metal rod screen can be slide open at each level, offering transparency and light through different spaces.
An internal courtyard was inserted between the dining and kitchen areaBedrooms, a second living area and a study were placed on the upper two levels, all with coastal views.
The same whitewashed timber material used on the shuttered screen was adopted to form storage, seating and shelving in these private spaces, providing a textural contrast to the hand-raked plaster walls.
The bathrooms add a fresh moment of colour into the space, using patterned tiles handmade in Portugal by Elisa Passino.
Shelving and storage spaces were created from whitewashed timber materialLinehouse was founded by Alex Mok and Briar Hickling in 2013 and the duo went on to win emerging interior designer of the year at the 2019 Dezeen Awards.
The studio has recently completed a guesthouse in Hong Kong that evokes the comfort of home and a Mediterranean restaurant in Shanghai with natural, tactile materials.
The photography is by Jonathan Leijonhufvud.
Project credits:
Design: LinehouseDesign principal: Briar HicklingDesign team: Ricki-Lee Van Het Wout, Cindy PoohRead more: More
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Five key projects by interior designer and Dezeen Awards China judge Alex Mok
Shanghai-based interior designer Alex Mok has joined Dezeen Awards China 2023 as a judge. Here she selects five projects that best reflect her work.
Mok and Briar Hickling are the co-founders of architecture and interior design practice Linehouse. The female duo’s work has been recognised internationally and won a number of international design awards, including Emerging interior designers of the tear at Dezeen Awards 2019.
“Linehouse’s approach is purposeful, creating poetic concepts through research of cultural, urban and historic contexts that respond to the program, site and function,” Mok told Dezeen.
“Each project has a strong narrative, a focus on craft and unique spatial experience with a dynamic intersection between disciplines,” she continued.
Currently, Mok is working on hotel projects in Hangzhou and Hong Kong, a food market in Shanghai, and a series of retail projects in Bangkok.Alex Mok among Dezeen Awards China 2023 judges
Dezeen Awards China 2023 launched in June in partnership with Bentley Motors. It is the first regional edition of Dezeen Awards, celebrating the best architecture, interiors and design in China.
We have announced 10 out of the 15 Dezeen Awards China judges, including architects Ma Yansong and Rossana Hu, furniture designer Frank Chou and interior designer Andre Fu, who will be joining Mok on the interior design judging panel.
Entries close on Thursday 24 August. Submit your entry before midnight Beijing time on 24 August to avoid late entry fees.
Read on to find Mok’s views on the five projects that best represent her work.
Photo is by Jonathan LeijonhufvudWework Weihai Road, Shanghai, 2016
“Linehouse worked with Wework in 2016 to create their headquarters in a spectacular turn of the century brick building in Shanghai. Linehouse celebrated the grandeur of the former opium factory and artist residence, encapsulating the feeling of a grand hotel, transporting guests and members on an unexpected journey of whimsy, voyeurism and festivity.
“The heritage facade surrounds the central atrium. A curved terrazzo tray was inserted to define the space, and pastel diagonal strips in blue, green, pink and grey wrap the floor and wall, creating a hardscape carpet.
“A bespoke lighting installation is suspended in the triple-height space. A new sculptural staircase was inserted to connect all three levels of the main public areas.”
Photo is by Dirk WeiblenTingtai Teahouse, Shanghai, 2018
“Tingtai Teahouse was completed in 2018 in a former factory space and art gallery in Shanghai’s Moganshan Road art district. We stripped the space completely to reveal the beautiful patina of the original factory with concrete beams and columns as well as the brick walls.
“The teahouses are modern architectural responses to the raw factory interior. They read as singular insertions that contrast with the rough brick and concrete interior and reflect the surroundings. The upper rooms in particular have strong relationships with the existing building in the way they connect to the original clerestory windows.
“With each of these rooms bookended with full-height glazing, guests become spectators to the activities below. Each room has a different roofline, which forms modern architectural puzzle spaces where tea drinkers can enjoy this age old drink with a new perspective. ”
Find out more about Tingtai Teahouse ›
Photo is by Wen StudioCoast, Shanghai, 2022
“The Coast restaurant in Shanghai recalls a deep connection with coastal elements and Mediterranean soul. Linehouse transformed a three-storey building into a vertical journey of refined rusticity.
“Colours and materials across the three floors change, telling different parts of the story. Green earthy tones on the ground floor link the garden to the open cafe space, while the red fire tones on the first floor reflect the dining room centred on the parrilla grill. On the second floor black yakisugi wood contrasts against the whitewashed flanked stone walls and the existing traditional timber trussed ceiling.”
Find out more about Coast ›
Photo is by DOF Sky|GroundCentral World, Bangkok, 2023
“Central World is our largest architectural project to date; a renovation project of an existing shopping centre called Isetan in Bangkok. Linehouse was commissioned to design the exterior facade and seven floors of retail space including a food court.
“The project was located in an area once abundant in lily pads. Linehouse examined the stemming, radiating and circular profile of the lily pads, translating this into a spatial narrative of the exterior and interior condition.
“The exterior is a double-layered, arched facade. The front layer was defined by concrete form and the back layer rendered in black. The arches stem in various heights and widths shifting on the two planes, creating interesting intersections which operate as framed views through to the interior.
“Linehouse punctuated the arches to allow green terraces, providing a depth to an otherwise flat elevation, and blurring the exteriors and interiors.”
Photo is by Jonathan LeijonhufvudYing’n Flo, Hong Kong, 2023
“Aiming to break the traditional hotel narrative of serious spaces and strict boundaries, Ying’n Flo is a lifestyle guesthouse for modern day travellers in Hong Kong.
“The spaces were designed to have a warm, welcoming and familiar feel, emphasising functionality and quality. Against this backdrop of curated simplicity is an edge of youthful attitude and local context, with vibrant elements giving the hotel its own unique flavour.”
Find out more about Ying’n Flo ›
Dezeen Awards China 2023
Dezeen Awards China is the first regional edition of Dezeen Awards, to celebrate the best architecture, interiors and design in China. The annual awards are in partnership with Bentley Motors, as part of a wider collaboration that will see the brand work with Dezeen to support and inspire the next generation of design talent in China.Read more: More
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Linehouse designs Hong Kong hotel to evoke the comfort of home
Shanghai-based interior studio Linehouse used natural materials and a muted colour palette to give the Ying’nFlo hotel in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, the feel of an inviting home.
The hotel occupies the podium of a 24-story tower on a hilly street in Hong Kong. Its ground floor holds a series of communal spaces that Linehouse designed to provide “home comfort” for guests.
The ground floor comprises a series of rooms referencing living roomsThe Collectors Room, which greets guests at the entrance of the hotel, has a neutral palette of hand-rendered walls, timber paneling, and linen cabinetry that display curated objects and artworks. A communal oak table serves as a counter where guests can interact.
This room also connects to an outdoor terrace through sliding glazed doors. Built-in bench seating and an olive tree sit at the centre of the terrace and invite guests to relax and socialise.
A communal table and outdoor bench invite guests to socialiseA gridded timber screen leads further into the space through to the lift lobby and the Arcade room, where guests can gather to relax and play.Soft-rendered walls, timber shutters and an eclectic mix of furniture create a sense of intimacy, while floor tiles in various geometrical motifs add a sense of playfulness.
The Music Room features ceramic tilesAdjacent to the Arcade is the Music Room, the social hub of the hotel. Here, ceramic tiles, a bespoke oak shelving system, a custom sofa and curated art and lifestyle objects were added to evoke a sense of a residential living room.
The Music Room opens up to the Garden Terrace, where undulating greenery sits behind circular seating in yellow-striped fabric, a colourful contrast to the overall neutral colour palette of the Ying’nFlo hotel.
Yellow-striped fabric seating on the terrace adds playfulness”The spaces are designed to have a warm, welcoming and familiar feel,” Linehouse said.
“Against this backdrop of curated simplicity is an edge of youthful attitude and local context, with vibrant elements giving the hotel its own unique flavour.”Linehouse creates tactile restaurant with “Mediterranean soul” in Shanghai
The guest rooms of the Ying’nFlo hotel are located on the upper floor and feature ceilings painted in a muted green hue, which the same green tone used to frame window seating nooks and for the hand-glazed tiles in the bathroom and kitchen.
A clean palette of plaster, wood, white-washed oak and canvas add texture to the rooms. Seating nooks and lounge furniture serve multiple functions as spaces where guests can work, relax or dine.
Muted green and selection of wood furniture create a warm feeling for the guest roomsLinehouse was founded by Alex Mok and Briar Hickling in 2013 and the duo went on to win emerging interior designer of the year at the 2019 Dezeen Awards.
The studio has recently completed a Mediterranean restaurant with natural, tactile materials, as well as a space-themed cafe decorated with real meteorites, both in Shanghai.
The photography is by Jonathan Leijonhufvud.
Project credits:
Design principle: Briar HicklingDesign team: Ricki-Lee Van Het Wout, Lara Daoud, Justin Cheung
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Click here to read the Chinese version of this article on Dezeen’s official WeChat account, where we publish daily architecture and design news and projects in Simplified Chinese.Read more: More
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Linehouse creates tactile restaurant with “Mediterranean soul” in Shanghai
Design studio Linehouse has used natural, tactile materials for the interiors of the Coast restaurant in Shanghai for China’s casual dining brand Gaga.
The restaurant is set inside a traditional mid-century Shikumen house – a blend of Western and Chinese architecture – with a renovated interior informed by its Mediterranean menu.
“We aimed to create a deep connection with coastal elements and Mediterranean soul,” said Linehouse co-founder Alex Mok.
Linehouse has completed the Coast restaurant in ShanghaiAccording to the studio, the restaurant’s aesthetic is one of “refined rusticity” – a contemporary reframing of rough-hewn vernacular styles, that creates a laid-back and tranquil atmosphere.
Throughout the scheme, Linehouse was informed by the idea of coastal terrain, including earthy and fired elements.Linehouse chose a natural material palette, which in turn informed the colour scheme that flows throughout the interior of the three-storey restaurant.
Green-glazed lava stone surrounds the ground-floor cafe and barThe aim was to take the visitor on a “vertical journey” by giving each of the three floors its own unique identity.
“The colours and materials shift on each floor, telling a different part of the story,” Mok said.
The bar is finished in the same tilesOn the ground floor, where a daytime cafe transitions into an evening bar, green and earthy tones link to the leafy garden beyond. Walls are wrapped in a green-glazed lava stone, with a deliberately hand-made patina, “representing the earth element”.
Custom furniture pieces designed by Linehouse were used throughout the restaurant, while lighting was chosen for its intriguing, sculptural forms from designers including Santa & Cole and Studio KAE.
Natural timbers were used for the centrepiece bar counter, while the timber-framed windows open up to the silver-grey of the olive trees outside.
An open-hearth grill features on the first floorAbove this on the first floor is an intimate dining space lined with white-washed stone and timber panelling. Layered oak panels hung horizontally from the ceiling create intimate dining nooks, with taupe-toned banquette sofas and oak dining tables.
The focal point of this room is the parrilla – an open-hearth grill – and a chef’s table.
“The concept of the open parrilla grill captures the quintessence of Mediterranean cuisine,” Mok told Dezeen.Linehouse designs space-themed cafe in Shanghai for creator of “Australia’s most Instagrammed dessert”
On this level, fire-informed red and brown tones punctuate the space including the tiles that line the kitchen, which were repurposed from used coffee grounds.
Finally, on the top floor under the exposed timber beams of the pitched roof, Linehouse created a string-wrapped wine room and a lofty private dining space.
Panels of string line the staircase structureThe walls were again clad in white-washed stone. But here, it is contrasted with the intense black of yakisugi, or fire-preserved wood, which serves as a backdrop to a chef’s table.
The space also features a generously-sized balcony, providing views out across this bustling neighbourhood.
Linehouse created a string-wrapped wine room on the top floorThe spaces are linked by a staircase that weaves up through the centre of the building. Its chalky-white outer walls are patterned with a sculptural relief of sea creature exoskeletons, echoed by collections of shells displayed in glass jars nearby.
Panels of string, woven into simple grids, line the staircase structure, allowing natural light to flow into the heart of the building.
“We chose materials that tell the story of the coastal journey, while the exoskeleton wall is a modern representation of the sea,” said Mok.
The top floor also houses a private dining roomLinehouse was founded by Mok and Briar Hickling in 2013 and the duo went on to win emerging interior designer of the year at the 2019 Dezeen Awards.
The studio has completed a number of other projects in Shanghai, including a space-themed cafe decorated with real meteorites and an office housed in a former swimming pool.
The photography is by Wen Studio, courtesy of Linehouse.Read more: More
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Linehouse designs Shanghai restaurant informed by New Wave art movement
Design studio Linehouse has filled a restaurant in a Shanghai art museum with mirrors and arched details informed by eastern and western art and design.
Located inside the UCCA Edge museum, the New Wave by Da Vittorio restaurant was named after the original UCCA museum’s opening exhibition The New Wave Art Movement, which also set the tone for its interiors.
Arched shapes are used throughout the restaurantNew Wave, a 20th-century art movement in China, is renowned for its bold experimentation that brought Chinese art into the modern art world.
“The concept for the restaurant comes from the collision of these opposing elements and the process of change,” said Shanghai-based Linehouse.
New Wave by Da Vittorio is located inside Shanghai’s UCCA Edge museumTo enter the restaurant, guests pass through a narrow passage that leads from the public museum space into a more intimate dining area.The restaurant, which measures 620 square metres, also holds a bar, private dining rooms and an outdoor terrace.
Mirrors create an illusion of more spaceA sequence of arches was added to the restaurant in reference to the use of colonnades in classical architecture, while matching arched mirrors create an illusion of spatial progression.
New Wave by Da Vittorio also features a ceiling installation formed by arches designed in a more eastern style.
Hanging fabric was cut into curved shapes to match the arches in the interiorThe installation consists of hanging fins made from a Japanese triaxle fabric with a woven texture, which has been cut into vaulted shapes to create a softness that evokes floating clouds.
The sheets of fabric are placed in a repetitive order with a pattern that only emerges once you see through one sheet to the next. The studio hoped this would evoke the contradiction between order and chaos.Linehouse designs space-themed cafe in Shanghai for creator of “Australia’s most Instagrammed dessert”
“Throughout the restaurant, we seek contradiction in materiality to create qualities of soft and hard, rough to smooth, order to unordered and solid to transparent,” Linehouse co-founder and lead designer Alex Mok told Dezeen.
The studio used stone for the main bar counter, which it sculpted into a curved, fluid shape to further explore the juxtaposition between soft and hard surfaces.
Linehouse deliberately chose a stone with a smaller repetitive pattern to create a continuous piece.
A stone bar is decorated with mirrorsThe bar area also has a floor patterned with different kinds of stone while in the private dining rooms, precision-machined stainless steel and curved lacquered timber were paired to create another form of contradiction.
“Materials are manipulated as a catalyst for creating disorder, dissipation, fragmentation and surprise,” Mok said.
Different types of stone create a polka-dot pattern on the floorLinehouse also recently finished a space-theme cafe for Australian chain Black Star Pastry’s first Chinese outpost.
The studio was named emerging interior designer of the year at the 2021 Dezeen Awards.
The photography is by Jonathan Leijonhufvud.
Project credits:
Architect: LinehouseDesign lead: Alex Mok, Briar HicklingDesign team: Jingru Tong, Inez Low, Aiwen Shao, Leah Lin, Jiabao Guo, Cherngyu Chen
Dezeen is on WeChat!
Click here to read the Chinese version of this article on Dezeen’s official WeChat account, where we publish daily architecture and design news and projects in Simplified Chinese.Read more: More
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Linehouse designs space-themed cafe in Shanghai for creator of “Australia's most Instagrammed dessert”
Design studio Linehouse combined stainless steel and meteorites to create a space-themed cafe in central Shanghai as Australian chain Black Star Pastry’s first Chinese outpost. More
