Oskar Kohnen

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    Oskar Kohnen fills “well-curated” London office with mid-century modern furniture

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    London studio Oskar Kohnen has outfitted a Mayfair office with mid-century modern furniture and contemporary pieces, which “are so well curated that no one would ever dare to throw them away”.

    Spread across three floors, the office is housed within a rectilinear building in London’s Mayfair neighbourhood with a gridded facade.
    Oskar Kohnen designed the office in London’s Mayfair area”It has a townhouse feeling,” studio founder Oskar Kohnen told Dezeen of the office, which he designed for developer Crosstree Real Estate.
    At its ground level, Kohnen clad the entrance hall with dark-stained wooden panels and added sconce lights to subtly illuminate the space.
    A cream Djinn sofa was placed in the entrance hallAn amorphous Djinn sofa, created by industrial designer Olivier Mourge in 1965, was placed in one corner.

    “We worked a lot with vintage furniture, and as for the new pieces we sourced, we hope they are so well curated that no one would ever dare to throw them away,” said Kohnen.
    The first floor features a living room-style space”Warm and inviting” interiors characterise a living room-style space on the first floor, which was created in direct contrast to the industrial appearance of the exterior.
    An L-shaped velvet and stainless-steel sofa finished in a burnt orange hue was positioned next to white-stained brise soleil screens and a bright resin coffee table.
    Terrazzo accents were chosen for the kitchen”The social spaces have an earthy and calm colour palette – yet they are lush and dramatic,” explained Kohnen.
    A pair of low-slung 1955 Lina armchairs by architect Gianfranco Frattini also features in this space, while floor-to-ceiling glazing opens onto a residential-style terrace punctuated by potted plants.
    Oskar Kohnen added a bright gridded ceiling to one of the meeting roomsSimilar tones and textures were used to dress the rest of the rooms on this level.
    These spaces include a kitchen with contemporary terrazzo worktops and a meeting room with a red gridded ceiling that was set against cream-coloured panels and modernist black chairs.

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    The second floor holds the main office, complete with rows of timber desks and an additional meeting room-library space characterised by the same reddish hues as the low-lit entrance hall.
    “The idea was to create an office space that had soul to it and would offer a more personal take on a work environment, rather than the usual corporate spaces we are so familiar with in London,” Kohen concluded.
    The second floor holds the main officeFounded in 2011, Kohnen’s eponymous studio has completed a range of interior projects, including a mint-green eyewear store in Berlin and a pink-tinged paint shop in southwest London.
    The photography is by Salva Lopez.

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      Pink-tinged paint store Lick pays homage to London's art deco buildings

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      Dusky pink surfaces appear throughout the Lick store in southwest London, which local practice Oskar Kohnen Studio has designed as a “deliberate celebration of paint”.

      Lick’s store is nestled among a parade of boutiques on Northcote Road and is the first brick-and-mortar outpost opened by the paint brand since its launch in 2020.
      Lick has opened its first physical store in LondonTo honour the occasion, Oskar Kohnen Studio wanted to design the 55-square-metre store as a “deliberate celebration of paint”, which he describes as “one of the most immediate and most intuitive ways to create a space”.
      “We live in a time where interiors are full of marble and precious finishes and I wanted to do the opposite,” said the studio’s titular founder.
      Pink paint was applied to the store’s ceiling and part of the wallsPink-tinged paint store Lick pays homage to London’s art deco buildings

      Lick’s facade, ceiling and a majority of its walls were therefore painted a bespoke dusky pink hue called Northcote 65 that the brand created specifically for the opening.
      Walnut wood trims run around the central tableKohnen says this largely monochromatic colour scheme is a nod to the Northcote Road of the past.
      “Looking at old pictures of the high street shops from the 1950s, every one of those stores used their own simple colour combination to give identity,” he explained. “It’s so beautiful how colour was used back then.”
      The store’s floor has white and grey tilingIn the store’s central room, the lower half of the walls was painted off-white to create a contrast with the ceiling and in turn draw more attention to the loftiness of the space.
      This room was designed to have a distinctly art deco feel with the help of a handful of clean, shapely details. At its centre is a white oval table with walnut wood trims and a curved metal pendant lamp suspended directly above.
      “Northcote Road pretty much ends at the iconic Battersea Power Station, which has exactly those deco elements,” said Kohnen. “I’ve always been a fan of London art deco, which is somehow less fancy and simple, quite often just painted simple ornaments.”

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      Lick’s paint tins are showcased on a custom shelving unit, with one side finished in pegboard panels for mounting brushes, rollers, finishing tape and other handy tools.
      “I wanted to create the feeling of a workshop or atelier,” added Kohnen. “I wanted to stay true to the Lick DNA, making sure the store was a place one could not only pick colours but also try them out and get creative.”
      In this spirit, the store’s grey-and-white tiled flooring mimics that seen in the Atelier Martel – an art studio that architect Robert Mallet-Stevens completed for sculptors Jan and Joël Martel in Paris in 1927.
      Products are mounted on pegboard panellingShould customers want a more in-depth consultation with one of the Lick team, they can head to the back of the store. This area is centred on a vintage steel-legged table by Danish designer Nanna Ditzel and black editions of the curved 3300 chair by Swiss designer Bruno Rey.
      Another small seating area located near the storefront features a duo of sage-green velvet armchairs.
      Vintage furnishings feature throughout the interiorAnother striking paint store to be featured on Dezeen is Helsinki’s Cover Story, in which a number of unfinished details are meant to evoke thoughts of renovation and home improvement.
      Previous colour-focused retail projects by Oskar Kohnen Studio include a mint-green eyewear store in Berlin with towering floor-to-ceiling cabinets.
      The photography is by Alexander Edwards.

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      The Standard and Oskar Kohnen design island hotel to reference “golden age of Ibiza”

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      Boutique hotel group The Standard has housed a hotel in Ibiza in a former movie theatre with interiors designed by its in-house design team and architect Oskar Kohnen.

      Located in the heart of Ibiza Town in a former movie theatre, The Standard Ibiza contains 67 guest suites, restaurants, a rooftop bar and a swimming pool with panoramic views of the island. The project was overseen by architect and interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán.
      The Standard Ibiza was designed by its in-house design team and Oskar Kohnen”The specific location was the former site of an old movie theatre in the heart of town,” The Standard International’s chief design officer Verena Haller told Dezeen. “It was a place where locals came together throughout the year.”
      “Inspired by that, we knew we wanted to create something which would revive that energy for the local crowd, which is also always a hallmark of what we do so it was a good match in that regard.”
      The hotel is housed within a former movie theatreWhen designing the interiors, The Standard team and London-based interior architect Oskar Kohnen drew on the “lore and sensibility” of the island’s bohemian and “flower power” history, which emerged from Ibiza’s role as a haven from Spain’s dictatorship and the Vietnam War draft.

      This design choice was a “perfect nod” to the island’s style and provided a juxtaposition with the starker exterior of the former movie theatre, said Haller.
      The interiors take cues from 1960s bohemian design”Our team rallied around this direction because it felt spot-on for us and it’s something that has been lost over time despite it perhaps being the golden age of Ibiza in a way,” Haller added.
      Kohnen and The Standard designed the guest suites as a respite from the business of the town and the hotel’s public spaces. The suites have a pared-back beach-villa look with retro-informed furnishings that speak to the hotel’s bohemian identity.
      The hotel is located in the heart of Ibiza townTones of white, grey and beige were used for the walls and floors.
      The furnishings and fixtures are made with natural materials and light woods.

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      The team used the “layering” of texture, furniture and plants to bring dimension to the interiors and play off the Spanish sun, which enters the hotel through its shutter-lined windows.
      “It is important to see layering and pattern, textures and colour, the shadow play of the plants inside and out through sunlight during the day and warm temperature lights at night,” said Haller.
      Natural materials were used throughout the hotelContrasting to the hotel’s guest suites, the hotel’s public spaces, which include Jara, a ground-floor restaurant, and Up, a rooftop lounge and pool, were designed with more of a maximalist look.
      Retro-style shapes and patterns were incorporated throughout the interior of the ground-floor restaurant while seating was upholstered in rich greens and tropical leaf-printed fabrics.
      Public spaces employ a maximalist look”We wanted the interiors to convey the feelings we love about Ibiza,” said Haller. “The effortlessness of a chic holiday on the island with your closest friends. Not the mega clubs!”
      “The public spaces are a clear departure from that, filled with rich layers of colours, patterns and textures and the type of casual vibrancy that only The Standard can create.”
      The hotel opened in AprilIn 2o19, The Standard opened its first UK hotel inside the former Camden Town Hall Annexe, a brutalist building in King’s Cross, which featured colourful interiors.
      Elsewhere in Ibiza, architecture studio Marià Castelló designed a retreat that is formed of five bright white volumes and linked by glass corridors.
      Images are courtesy of The Standard.

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