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    Klymax nightclub by OMA was designed as a “sonic sweet spot”

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    Architecture studio OMA has collaborated with DJ Harvey on a nightclub at the Potato Head resort in Seminyak, Bali, where optimised acoustics and a sprung dance floor elevate the experience for partygoers.

    After completing the resort itself in 2020, OMA returned to work with the Potato Head Design Studio on the interiors for Klymax, which are acoustically treated to turn the entire dance floor into a “sonic sweet spot”.
    OMA has completed the Klymax nightclub in Bali’s Potato Head resortEnglish DJ Harvey Bassett, known as DJ Harvey, also contributed his knowledge gained from four decades of experience working in nightclubs.
    He aimed to distil “the most unique and significant elements of the world’s foremost parties and venues — past and present — into what he considers the most rewarding nightclub experience imaginable”, the design team explained.
    “At Klymax, the sound comes first,” the team continued. “It just so happens that when constructing a room to present the music in the best possible way, the design is visually appealing.”

    Built-in leather seats on one side of the dance floor match the warm brown tones of the wood panellingThe walls and ceilings of the club are panelled in teak veneer, perforated with over 2.6 million holes that help to “tame errant frequencies” by preventing the sound waves from reflecting and altering the audio.
    The panels are fitted on top of equally perforated plywood sheets and a layer of Rockwool insulation, creating a buffer in front of the 20-centimetre-thick concrete exterior walls.
    A disco ball measuring one metre in diameter hangs over the sprung dance floorA 208-square-metre sprung dance floor, similar to the one at London’s Ministry of Sound, is designed to reduce fatigue and stress on dancers’ joints.
    Also found in ballrooms and basketball courts, the technology comprises four layers of a wooden lattice structure with 50 millimetres of foam between each intersection.
    The speakers are mounted on concrete pads that absorb vibrationsKlymax’s audio engineer George Stavro worked with fellow engineer Richard Long, who was responsible for the sound at legendary Manhattan venues Studio 54 and Paradise Garage.
    “It’s a classic disco nightclub system based on a blueprint established in 1970s New York clubs,” the team said.

    OMA completes Potato Head Studios resort in Bali

    To absorb vibrations, the speakers sit on 11-centimetre-thick concrete padding that is also engineered to be separated from the sprung floor to avoid rattling.
    “Rich, finely poised and immaculately detailed, the system creates a vast sonic sweet spot, presenting the music exactly as it was intended to be heard with every nuance intact – perfectly pitched to optimise the audio experience,” said the team.
    Lighting was devised in collaboration with Tokyo’s Real Rock DesignA floating DJ booth is sound-isolated from the dance floor so that the music doesn’t bleed in, while a reflective pond on the Klymax roof also prevents noise from leaking through the roof.
    Lighting was devised in collaboration with Tokyo’s Real Rock Design, the same studio behind Japan’s Rainbow Disco Club festival.
    Staircases illuminated in red lead down to the dance floorA raised lounge area with leather seating is located on one side of the room, while a disco ball measuring one metre in diameter hangs from the ceiling in the centre.
    The club also has a “muted bar”, at which cocktails are served on tap to avoid the noise of shakers and bottles.
    The building has 20-centimetre-thick concrete exterior wallsThroughout May 2024, DJ Harvey will partake in a month-long artist residency at Potato Head, which will encompass several all-night sets at Klymax as well as a curated programme of movie screenings, surfing and mindfulness sessions.
    A line-up of international residents and DJs including HAAi, Dave Clarke, Sophie McAlister and Jonathan Kusuma is also planned for the nightclub.
    The club is accessed via a bunker-like entranceOMA completed the Potato Head Studios resort in 2020 as part of the Desa Potato Head village in Balinese beach town Seminyak.
    The firm has previously lent its expertise in nightclub design to a pop-up venue for fashion brand Miu Miu via its research arm AMO.  And in 2017, the studio revealed its design for a shapeshifting new venue for Ministry Of Sound, which won a competition in 2015 but was scrapped shortly after.
    The photography is by Tommaso Riva.

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      OMA designs Tiffany & Co pop-up in Paris to take visitors on a “journey across time”

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      Architecture studio OMA has created a pop-up shop for Tiffany & Co in Paris that showcases an assortment of pieces from the jeweller’s 185-year history.

      The pop-up is located in the eighth arrondissement and functions as a cross between a boutique and an exhibition, spotlighting Tiffany pieces from both past and present.
      Visitors enter the Tiffany & Co pop-up in Paris through a blue rotunda”Tiffany & Co has a rich history both in making jewellery and in product design,” said OMA partner Ellen van Loon. “For us, it was important to showcase that history.”
      “More than an occasion to discover Tiffany’s latest collection, a visit to the store also becomes a journey across time.”
      The room displays archival jewellery piecesUpon entering the store, visitors walk into a deep-blue rotunda where Tiffany & Co is showcasing some of its archival jewellery designs.

      The pieces are presented within wall niches or inside pyramidal glass cases that sit on chunky plinths. Tall screens display blown-up imagery of the designs so visitors can take a look at their finer details.
      A gold-toned room showcases Tiffany’s current jewellery collectionA short corridor takes visitors through to a gold-toned room, where Tiffany & Co’s current collection is put on show. At the periphery of the space, a small seating nook provides a place to rest alongside a couple of pale-pink armchairs and poufs.
      The room is anchored by an antique stained-glass pendant light that echoes the lamps designed by Tiffany & Co’s first design director Louis Comfort Tiffany in the early 1900s.
      In keeping with this theme, faux stained-glass panelling was also added to the pop-up’s facade.
      Stained-glass lamps and pink soft furnishings decorate the spaceA velvet-lined archway looks through to the shop’s final room, where high-jewellery appointments are held.
      This smaller, more intimate space features faceted metallic walls and powder-blue carpet that, in an ombre effect, gradually deepens to a darker blue as visitors make their way back to the front of the store.
      A consultation room lies at the rear of the pop-up shopTiffany & Co’s Paris pop-up will be open until May 2023 and will be subtly updated throughout the year to reflect the brand’s new collections as they are put on display.
      OMA is also currently working on a major renovation of the jewellery brand’s flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue. The project will see a three-storey glass volume added to the building’s roof, providing space for exhibitions and events.
      The photography is by Benoit Florençon, courtesy of OMA.
      Project credits:
      Design: OMAPartner: Ellen van LoonProject architect: Giulio MargheriTeam: Jacopo Bellina, Sebastian Bernardy, Miguel Herreras San José, Mateusz Kiercz, Philippe Le Quellec, Mingda Zhang

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      OMA designs glass volume to top Tiffany & Co's New York flagship store

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      OMA New York, led by Shohei Shigematsu, has unveiled its design for a glass addition to top the historic Tiffany & Co store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.The project involves the preservation of the jewellery brand’s 80-year old flagship location, a renovation of its ground floor and the construction of a rectangular glass volume that will span three storeys, adding space for hosting exhibitions and events.
      Built in 1940 by Cross & Cross, the existing limestone facade of the Tiffany & Co building is marked by its grid of windows and scalloped edges. In 1980 an upper volume was added to the building to house offices, which will be demolished and replaced by the new glass structure as part of this latest renovation by OMA.

      “Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue Flagship is more than a retail space, it is a destination with a public dimension,” said OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu. “The new addition is informed by programmatic needs of the evolving brand – a gathering place that acts as a contemporary counterpart to the iconic ground level space and its activities.”

      “The floating volume over an existing terrace provides a clear visual cue to a vertical journey of diverse experiences throughout the building,” he added.
      OMA’s design plans to form the new volume using two stacked glass structures. The lower one will comprise a recessed box covered with glass windows, while the upper portion will be wrapped with slumped glass walls modelled after the building’s decorative parapet.

      OMA adds iridescent glass escalator to New York’s Saks Fifth Avenue

      The ridged glass requires minimal vertical support and has a reflective surface designed for viewing the city from the interiors while offering privacy looking in from the exterior.
      An outdoor patio for hosting events surrounds the lower, two-storey volume. The existing space is furnished with tables and plants that overlook Fifth Avenue and on to Central Park. Its double height walls are wrapped with smooth glass panes and vertical silver frames to tie the two volumes together.
      “The two spaces of the upper volume that make up the new addition is a moment of clear but complementary contrast to the original flagship,” the studio added. “It is a symbolic ending to the building that reflects an evolved luxury experience that is more a journey than a destination.”

      The project is currently under construction and is expected to complete in Spring 2022.
      Shigematsu leads OMA New York with fellow partner Jason Long. The outpost is intended to function independently from the studio’s international offices, including Rotterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Doha and Australia, as part of an initiative of founder Rem Koolhaas.
      Last year the studio installed a multicoloured escalator inside the renovated Saks Fifth Avenue department store.
      Other recent projects by the New York office include a plan for the 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington DC and a series of galleries inside Gio Ponti’s Denver Art Museum.

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