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    Note Design Studio enriches Stockholm apartment with “cloudy” ceiling stucco

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    Note Design Studio has updated this formerly characterless apartment in Stockholm to feature bespoke Douglas fir joinery and curvy stucco ceilings designed to suggest cloud formations.

    Although the Cloudy Outlines apartment sits within a building dating back to 1842, Note Design Studio says the interior had been stripped of any historic charm and “traces of craftsmanship” during previous renovations.
    Douglas fir joinery appears throughout the Cloudy Outlines apartmentIt also had a poor layout, with a living area that could only be accessed via a dark, lengthy corridor snaking around the back of the apartment while the remaining rooms were awkwardly shaped and difficult to furnish.
    The studio decided to redesign the home from scratch, knocking down all of its internal walls to form a more cohesive floor plan.
    The apartment’s corridor was repositioned to allow for more natural lightThe corridor was repositioned to run parallel to the building’s window-lined facade and, as a result, is now flooded with natural light.

    Rooms were classically finished with white-painted walls and Douglas fir flooring.
    Curved stucco gives the ceilings a soft, cloud-like qualityBillowy stucco moulding was added throughout to give a soft “cloudy” quality to the ceilings and provide a contrast with the “rationality and material robustness” of the apartment, the studio explained.
    “With the previous interior and finishes removed, a new holistic design was developed with a limited amount of design principles, all with a timeless ambition,” Note Design Studio said.

    Note Design Studio draws on Swedish Grace style for Habitat 100 apartment

    In the kitchen, Douglas fir was used again to create simple cupboards and a striking circular cover for the extractor fan.
    The countertop, on the other hand, is overlaid with a sleek metallic finish.
    Furnishings in pastel hues disrupt the otherwise neutral colour schemeAll of the apartment’s doors, as well as its window sills, are also made from Douglas fir.
    The material palette only deviates slightly in the bathroom, which features grey-tile surfaces and flecked terrazzo-like flooring.
    The stucco effect can also be seen in the bedroomThe Cloudy Outlines apartment is one of several residential renovations that Note Design Studio has completed in the Swedish capital, where the firm is based.
    Among them is Habitat 100 – an apartment littered with references to the Swedish Grace movement – and the Mantelpiece Loft, which is distinguished by its colour-block bedrooms.
    The photography is courtesy of the studio.

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      Note Design Studio draws on Swedish Grace style for Habitat 100 apartment

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      Local firm Note Design Studio has overhauled a 1920s flat in Stockholm, adding sound-absorbing marble floors, mouldings informed by the eaves of the building and custom-made furniture.

      The studio renovated the apartment, which is located in a building designed by architecture studio Höög & Morssing in the early 1920s, to create an interior that “might pass for the original”, it said.
      The original interior of the apartment informed the renovationThe studio made significant changes to the floor plan for its renovation of the 350-square-metre Habitat 100 apartment.
      “The biggest changes were made to the practical spaces and the reception rooms,” Note Design Studio architect Jesper Mellgren told Dezeen. “The entrance was awfully tight in relation to the size of the residence, so we rearranged the floor plan in order to create a generous atrium with clear guidance in how to navigate the apartment.”
      Note Design Studio added new floors in the whole apartmentNote used greyed wood to mark the private spaces in the flat and separate them from the atrium, lowered the ceiling and removed the floors to create better acoustics.

      “To reach the anticipated level of acoustical improvement all floors had to be removed in order to strengthen the joists and put in 100 tons of marble gravel,” Mellgren said.
      “Then we casted a new floor in the whole apartment to glue the new wood and marble floors upon. For the ceilings, we needed to create new ones detached from the original slabs.”
      Ceilings were lowered throughout to improve the acousticsLocated in central Stockholm, the house that the apartment is in was built during the Swedish Grace era, a romantic, refined style movement in the 1920s.
      In terms of interior design, Swedish Grace was “very much about the architectural promenade — implementing new findings while exploring a floor plan,” Mellgren explained.
      The Habitat 100 apartment features a mix of wood and marbleNote Design Studio nodded to this idea in its renovation of Habitat 100, which also features multiple references to surrounding buildings.
      “Walking through the apartment is very much a journey of discovery where every space has unique qualities influencing its design,” Mellgren explained.

      Note Design Studio creates “unexpected” restaurant in historic Stockholm food hall

      “We borrowed a lot from the immediate surroundings for obvious references to the style of the building and its context,” he added.
      “For instance; the radiator covers are balcony railings from the neighbouring building, the ceiling mouldings are similar to the eaves of the building, and the floor patterns are inspired by entrance door ornaments in the area.”
      Note Design Studio custom-made a number of the furniture pieces for the home, including this deskThe studio used a materials palette of marble and different types of wood to create a calm atmosphere in the flat and match the other materials used in the building.
      Swedish Ekeberg and Brännlyckan marble was used in parts of the flats in a nod to the communal stairwell, which is clad in Italian marble.
      Wood was also used throughout the flat. “As a contrast for social spaces and bedrooms we used oak to bring warmth and calmness,” Mellgren said. The studio stained the oak to achieve the right colour.
      “Two precious woods, mahogny and wenge, circles the cross-patterned oak floors to mimic traditional Swedish floor laying,” the architect added.
      Different types of wood were used throughout the interior, for which Note Design Studio also made the bedside tablesNote Design Studio also aimed for the furniture chosen for Habitat 100 to add “another layer.”
      “We were fortunate to be trusted with designing a lot of custom-made furniture for the different spaces; nightstands, desks, mirrors, tables and washstands, which gave us more control in the creation of a vivid coherent expression,” Mellgren said.
      The studio used LED light strips, hidden beneath the ceiling mouldings, to create gradients of light and shadow on the walls.
      The apartment has a clean, light interiorThe aim for Habitat 100, so called because it was designed almost exactly one hundred years after the building was completed, was for it to never be demolished.
      “This project is very much about restoring the residence to something genuine and appropriate for its original architecture,” Mellgren said.
      “The main goal is for this interior detailing never to be demolished or replaced, still being personal to the client and exploratory for us in finding a contemporary interior that was conceivable 100 years ago.”
      Marble in the communal hallway informed the choice of material in the apartmentOthe recent projects by Note Design Studio include a restaurant in a historic Stockholm food hall and a warm-hued wine bar that doubles as an office.
      The studio has also designed a number of furniture and lighting pieces, including the streamlined Sprinkle pendant lamp for Zero Lighting.
      The photography is courtesy of Note Design Studio.

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      Note Design Studio creates “unexpected” restaurant in historic Stockholm food hall

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      Off-kilter tiles set in thick blue grout clad the bar of the Tysta Mari restaurant in Stockholm, designed by local practice Note Design Studio.

      Tysta Mari is one of several restaurants set within the city’s recently renovated Östermalms Saluhall – a historic food hall housed in a brick building from 1888.
      Tysta Mari is a restaurant in the historic Östermalms SaluhallThe two-storey eatery serves up fresh seafood and Swedish dishes using ingredients sourced from the indoor marketplace that surrounds it.
      Local design firm Note Design Studio was invited to renovate the interior with the aim of creating a “welcoming environment that feels effortless, unexpected and full of charm”.
      Pale blue accents pop up in the eatery’s bistro tables and in the grouting of the barThe design team used a light, tactile material palette for the interior featuring mirrors, gauzy fabrics, textured walls, glazed ceramics and stainless steel.

      An eye-catching bar is located on the restaurant’s ground floor, visible both from the street and from inside the food hall. Designed to draw customers into the interior, this area is clad in glazed tiles surrounded by thick blue grouting and finished with detailing in polished stainless steel.
      A black metal staircase leads up to the second floorA black metal staircase leads up to a bistro and a private dining room with a large sharing table and balcony providing views of the entire food hall.
      Note Design Studio’s interior scheme was based on the four elements of earth, air, water and fire, according to the practice’s co-founder and design manager Cristiano Pigazzini.

      Note Design Studio creates warm-hued wine bar that doubles as an office

      This theme is picked up in the earth tone and texture of the restaurant’s walls, the smokey hue of the oak furnishings, the gauzy curtains and the ceramic tiles, which were designed to look almost wave-swept.
      “The light half-transparent textiles diffuse the incoming light to give an airy, soft accent to the other hard, heavy materials,” Pigazzini told Dezeen.
      This floor houses a private dining roomFounded in 2008 by Pigazzini and Johannes Carlström, Note Design Studio works across the fields of architecture, interiors, products, graphic design and design strategy.
      Other recent projects from the practice include a warm-hued wine bar that doubles as an office and a collection of pendant lights that recall cake sprinkles.
      All photography is courtesy of Note Design Studio.

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      Note Design Studio creates colourful interiors to “break the grid” of 1930s office building

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      Stockholm-based Note Design Studio used neutral colours and contrasting bright hues to reinvigorate the interiors of the Douglas House office building in London.Note Design Studio designed the Douglas House office space, which has 700 desks spread over six floors, for office developer The Office Group (TOG). It had previously designed the Summit House property for the company.

      Note Design Studio used natural materials and bright colours for the interiors of Douglas House
      The Swedish studio aimed to “break the grid” of the 14,235-square-metre 1930s office building, which has a vertical layout and red brick-facade.
      “As a building, Douglas House is very ‘rational’ in its architecture,” designer Johannes Carlström told Dezeen. “Even though it stretches quite far horizontally, it was vertical in its structure and spatial program.”

      Pieces by contemporary design brands are used throughout the space

      “We realised early that we wanted to ‘break the grid’ of the building and deliver an interior less predictable than what is expected from the industrial appearance of the facade,” he added.
      “That also related to a more abstract idea about breaking the conformity of our everyday lives, to design a place that actually shakes you up a bit when entering for your workday.”

      The studio focused on how the space would make users feel
      While many office spaces are designed to enhance productivity, Note Design Studio said its focus for Douglas House was more on creating the right feeling and mood.
      To create a space that would, in the words of the studio, bring a “gentle punch” to office design, it used contrasting colours and materials throughout the space.
      “The palette ranges from deep ochres to brisk light blues, calm chalk tones, popping reds and vivid blues,” Carlström said.

      Meeting rooms are painted in calm blue nuances
      The studio aimed to keep as much of the original details as possible but had to replace a lot of materials that were in poor condition. The original wooden floors, however, were lifted, renovated and put back into place.
      “We have worked with giving the building a more defined character by using materials that will live long together with the building itself,” Carlström said.

      A curvilinear glass wall connects the main spaces and adds privacy to meeting rooms
      A curvilinear wall made from glass blocks has been added to the ground floor to connects its three main public spaces.

      Note Design Studio includes recharge room in central London co-working space for TOG

      “It stretches through the whole building giving spatial richness to the promenade between different functions of the ground floor as well as a vivid backdrop enhanced by the activity of the meeting rooms that are blurred through the glass blocks,” Carlström explained.
      “The curve also creates unique footprints for the meeting rooms and the three communal spaces, which with a straight wall would have been more or less identical to one another in terms of space.”

      Materials such as ceramic tiles were chosen for their durability
      Other materials used for the project were chosen for their durability, as office buildings experience extensive wear and tear, and their reusability. They include steel, glass and ceramic tiles, as well as 100 per cent recyclable Tarkett IQ plastic wall and floor coverings.
      Douglas House was also given solar panels and a green biodiverse roof to further enhance its sustainability credentials.

      The Douglas House reception features a desk clad in Ettore Sottsass’ veneer
      Note Design Studio also added a number of design touches to the interior, including a reception desk in Ettore Sottsass veneer for Alpi in a striking blue-grey colour, and pieces from brands including Artrex and Muller van Severen in bright hues.
      Newly commissioned pieces from artists and designers including Jenny Nordberg, Jochen Holz, Wang & Söderström, Philipp Schenk-Mischke, James Shaw, Mijo Studio and Studio Furthermore also fill the building.

      Pale blue chairs contrast beige tiles and dark wood
      Douglas House also includes an “oxygen room” – a plant-filled space where the idea is that workers can relax and connect with nature, the “recharge room”, gym, cafe and a mothers’ room which is dedicated to nursing mothers.
      “We have worked with the whole building and designed small or big things on every square metre basically,” Carlström said. “A lot of the office spaces are done in the same manner, but the public and communal spaces all have their unique design attributes.”

      Earthy, warm hues create a welcoming feel
      Douglas House has 700 desks for over 1,000 employees and opened in November 2020. Note Design Studio thinks the final design has succeeded in creating a different kind of office space.
      “From our point of view it differs on many levels – it has a lot more expression than you normally see in an office space, a diversity of tempos and functions allowing people to choose what suits them best that specific day,” Carlström said.
      Among the studio’s other recent projects are the pastel-coloured Mantelpiece Loft interiors in Stockholm and a reusable trade fair stand for Vestre.
      Photography is courtesy of The Office Group.

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