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  • Clothing racks move along wheeled tracks in Los Angeles athletic store Reigning Champ

    Vancouver studio Peter Cardew has designed this store in Los Angeles for an athletic wear clothing company to allude to the aesthetic of a gym.The Reigning Champ store at 115 South La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles features walls covered in white glazed tiles, concrete floors and wooden clothing rails – simple materials chosen by Peter Cardew to follow the style of a gymnasium.

    “In order to connect the customer with the product the design of the Los Angeles store obliquely alludes to the domain of a gym, providing an harmonious setting appropriate for the display of athletic clothing,” the studio explained.

    “The choice of materials reinforces the relationship to sporting activity with the use of functional and utilitarian white glazed tile as wall and bench surfaces, polished concrete floors, and display fixtures fabricated using western hemlock, a plentiful economic wood with a straight grain efficiency,” it added.
    “All culminating to convey a functional place of activity akin to any effective sporting milieu.”

    Piles of folded clothes are stored in the base of the wooden clothing racks that are suspended on rails from the ceiling.
    The wooden structures, which are braced with metalwork, have wheels fitted the top of the wooden structures so they can be easily moved around the store.

    “In keeping with this active rather than passive environment the display fixtures are infinitely mobile being suspended from concrete beams attached to wheeled tracks which easily allows for changing seasonal configurations,” the studio added.

    Commune designs Serra marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles to be airy and luxurious

    “In addition, to facilitate yet more changes these fixtures are simply bolted together so that they can be removed for special events, celebrations, or exhibitions.”

    Photograph by Andrew Latreille
    The materiality continues into the changing rooms, whose doors feature an opening with a built-in wooden shelf so customers can swap clothes with Reigning Champ salespeople.
    Reigning Champ spans the ground floor of its building with two large windows offering views and natural light into the space.

    The project, which is longlisted in the large retail interior category of Dezeen Awards 2020, marks the first in the US for the Canadian clothing brand. It is its fifth in total following two in Vancouver and two in Toronto.
    Other shops recently completed in Los Angeles include a marijuana dispensary Commune designed to be airy and luxurious, and a dramatically narrow, runway-like space Bernard Dubois designed as the first store for sneaker brand APL.
    Photography is by Mike Kelly, unless stated otherwise.

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  • Studio Collective revitalises modernist LA tower for Hotel June

    Los Angles practice Studio Collective has renovated a mid-century building in the city designed by modernist architect Welton Becket in the 1960s to create a laid-back hotel.Hotel June is a 250-room property in a white, 12-storey tower designed by Los Angeles architect Welton Becket in 1968.

    Becket built a number of modernist buildings in the city, including the rounded Capitol Records Building, Koreatown’s Equitable Life Building skyscraper and the Los Angeles Music Center’s Ahmanson Theater near Frank Gehry’s metallic Walt Disney Concert Hall.

    This building, which is in Los Angeles’ beachside community of Playa Del Rey on Lincoln Boulevard, was previously another hotel before it was overhauled by Studio Collective.
    While the exterior was left intact, the interiors are refreshed with many built-in oak pieces, terrazzo floors and woven accents. Pink and green details add a pop of colour.

    The interiors have “a sense of the new and dynamic through coastal influences and a true California spirit” said the studio. The hotel features a pared-back feeling with natural materials and subtle use of colour.

    A lobby has cream terrazzo floors, a wood-clad ceiling and a bright painting on a wall designed by Brooklyn artist Alex Proba. Becket’s granddaughter, Alexandra Becket, also created wallpapers for other areas of the hotel.
    Hotel rooms have white walls, woven carpeting and a mixture of modernist and more contemporary furniture pieces, including Hem sofas. Bright blue and grey are integrated into the suites for visual contrast.

    “Hotel June is at once airy and cosy, blending clean lines and warm natural woods, earthy finishes, and custom furnishings,” the studio said.

    Lush courtyards surround 1 Hotel West Hollywood in Los Angeles

    White oak closets, custom platform beds and wooden daybeds are intended to evoke mid‐century designs, like those by Charles and Ray Eames and relate to the building’s history.

    “Guestrooms and corridors play with colour-blocking geometries (that recall the work of local mid-century industrial designers Charles and Ray Eames),” Studio Collective said.
    Bathrooms have black fixtures and showers are clad in small, square tiles in grey with dark grout.

    In the hotel’s restaurant and sitting area, glass walls are shaded by slatted oak wood screens to help filter natural sunlight. A white, curved sofa and a large woven light fixture decorate the lounge, while the dining area has dark terrazzo floors and wood furniture.

    Hotel June is complete with an outdoor swimming pool, patio, an outdoor bar and restaurant, a fire pit and indoor gym.
    The property, which is called Hotel June to reflect new beginnings and California’s year-round summer sensibility, is the brainchild of Proper Hospitality co-founders Brian De Lowe and Brad Korzen.

    The Proper hotels in California, which are designed by Kelly Wearstler, include Santa Monica Proper with a similarly relaxed style and San Francisco Proper overflowing with colourful art and furniture.
    Hotel June joins a number of hotels recently completed in Los Angeles, like Ace Hotel, the West Hollywood Edition Hotel by Ian Schrager and John Pawson, Arts District Firehouse Hotel and 1 Hotel West Hollywood.
    Photography is by The Ingalls.

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  • Commune designs Serra marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles to be airy and luxurious

    Oak and brass display cabinets fill this cannabis dispensary in Los Angeles that local studio Commune designed to look like a jewellery store. Commune designed the store for Portland brand Serra that sells and produces cannabis products, from caramel treats to pre-rolled joints. Serra, whose Portland flagship was designed by OMFGCo and JHL Design, tasked […] More

  • McLaren Excell channels church interiors for The Splash Lab's LA showroom

    Arched doorways, altar-like tables and a nave-style display area feature in this Los Angeles showroom that McLaren Excell has designed for bathroom brand The Splash Lab. The Splash Lab’s showroom takes over a converted factory in LA’s Culver City area that was originally built back in the 1930s. As this is the bathroom brand’s US […] More

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    Los Angeles church transformed into The Ruby Street co-working and event space

    Stained glass windows feature alongside contemporary furniture in this multipurpose space in Los Angeles designed by Francesca de la Fuente and Working Holiday Studio. The Ruby Street venue occupies an Arts and Crafts-style building that was constructed in the late 19th century in LA’s Highland Park neighbourhood. The building has a storied past, having served as […] More

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    NeueHouse opens Los Angeles co-working space inside landmarked Bradbury Building

    Canadian studio DesignAgency incorporated “soft and graceful flourishes” into NeueHouse’s latest co-working location that occupies a full floor in a 1890s structure in Downtown Los Angeles. Founded in 2011, NeueHouse describes itself as a “cultural home for creators, innovators and thought leaders”. The company’s new workspace in Los Angeles joins two other locations in New […] More

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    Terracotta brick and stucco create rustic aesthetic in Mexican restaurant Loqui

    Wick Architecture & Design chose materials “that could be found on a construction site” to decorate this Mexican restaurant in Downtown Los Angeles. Located in the Art District neighbourhood, Loqui occupies part of the ground floor inside a four-storey concrete building that is being converted into office, restaurant and retail space. Local studio Wick Architecture & Design […] More

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    Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura opens in Los Angeles

    Fashion label Gucci has opened a restaurant at the top of its store in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, which serves up a selection of Italian dishes. Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura occupies the rooftop of the brand’s store on Rodeo Drive, a two-mile-long street in Beverly Hills that is host to a parade of luxury […] More