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An arched entryway and “electric blue millwork” are among the features in a rowhouse in Philadelphia’s Society Hill neighbourhood that has been renovated by architectural studio TBo. More
Brooklyn-based designer Sergio Mannino has chosen a palette of purple and silver for a Philadelphia pharmacy that helps patients affected by the opioid crisis.
Located in the Philadelphia suburb of Cheltenham, the Angel Care Pharmacy is owned by Olivia Tchanque, who wanted the design of her space to reflect the care and sensitivity offered to her patients.
Sergio Mannino designed the mauve and chrome seats that populate the waiting area at Angel Care PharmacyTchanque looked to Sergio Mannino Studio to create an environment that feels distinctive, clean and contemporary.
The pharmacy was born in part to help deal with the ongoing opioid crisis in the US, and those with addictions to OxyContin and deadly substitute Fentanyl.
Mannino designed the interiors and branding for the pharmacyIts mission revolves around “providing the community with the best medical supplies and care they need”, said Tchanque.
Mannino was responsible for the interior design and branding for the space, including its angel-wing logo used for signage and across marketing materials.
Once two separate units, the space is divided into retail and prescription areas that are connected by an open doorwayOnce two separate units, the 1,800-square-foot (167-square-metre) pharmacy is divided into retail operations and prescription areas now connected by an open doorway.
In the retail area, the designer intentionally chose colours that are bold but would not be overbearing.
The pharmacy windows are surrounded by pale purple walls with a grid overlaid”Mauve is the colour of balance: it represents tenderness and it’s frequently associated with femininity and motherhood,” said Mannino.
“White brings a feeling of safety and purity. It represents the absence of things and a sense of relaxation and clarity. Silver has always been associated with the moon, inspiring a feeling of joy and peace.”
Oak-framed shelving from Blu Dot and Hem is used to display productsTwo chairs designed by Mannino with soft purple-upholstered bases, minimal chrome backrests and oak armrests provide a waiting area for patients along with a built-in window seat.
These are accompanied by two side tables designed by Ettore Sottsass for Kartell, in violet and pink finishes.
Pharmacy waiting room in Brooklyn features calming turquoise tones
The room is decorated with silver-toned wallpaper on two sides and purple grid pattern on the others.
Shelving displays along the walls came from Blu Dot, while freestanding units in the centre of the room are by Hem – both crafted from oak.
The pharmacy is located in the Philadelphia suburb of CheltenhamThe colour palette extends to the minimalist branding, which features mauve hues, grid patterns and contemporary typography.
At Tchanque’s request, Mannino also introduced compostable vials and bags instead of plastic packaging, since “every year, each local pharmacy in the US fills 60,000 prescriptions on average,” according to the pharmacist.
The branding for the pharmacy follows the same colour palette as the interiorsSergio Mannino Studio was established in 2008, and the firm’s early projects included a showroom for footwear brand Kensiegirl and another shoe shop where the walls were covered in interchangeable panels.
More recently, Mannino completed a pharmacy waiting room in Brooklyn featuring graphic floor tiles, a pigmented cement desk and curved leather chairs.
The photography is by Sergio Mannino Studio.
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US studio Shiftspace has renovated a rowhouse in Philadelphia originally designed by Chinese-American architect IM Pei, restoring its original qualities after decades of alterations.
Designed by Pei as part of a row of houses in the 1950s, the three-storey unit in the Society Hill neighbourhood had undergone several renovations and extensions over the years.
Shiftspace was tasked with paring back these alterations to restore Pei’s original vision while enhancing it with contemporary details.
Shiftspace has renovated an IM Pei-designed rowhouse in Philadelphia”Understanding Pei’s original vision for these houses, we approached this project with a sense of reverence that allowed us to see our design as enhancements to that original vision rather than starting from a blank canvas,” said Shiftspace partner Tim Barnes.
Rowhouses are common in Philadelphia and sometimes referred to colloquially as “rowhomes”. Much of the city’s housing of this typology was built in the late-18th and early-19th centuries.
According to Shiftspace, Pei designed the Society Hill townhouses to “bridge the gap” between these brick rowhomes and his nearby condominium, Society Hill Towers.
It was originally built in the 1950sThe original exterior of the home has been retained. It consists of a mostly brick facade punctuated at the street-facing side by a large window with a small steel balcony.
At the top of the home is a band of concrete-framed clerestory windows.
Wooden louvres replace wallsInside, a central staircase that reaches from the basement to the third storey is essential to the redesign. Cleaving to Pei’s vision, Shiftspace has reoriented the home around this spiral stair and introduced a series of open-concept living spaces.
The updated floorplans follow a typical format, with public spaces on the first three floors and three bedrooms on the fourth.
At ground level, a curved breakfast nook with banquet seating leads to a kitchen that sits between the central staircase and a wall, and back into a dining area that has access to a garden patio. Here, some solid walls have been replaced with wooden louvres.
The home is oriented around a spiral staircaseAbove are a living room and a study, separated by the staircase, as well as rearranged bedrooms and bathrooms.
Two of the bedrooms on the top floor share a bathroom, while the main sleeping space has an ensuite. The bathrooms are tucked into spaces attached to the central core.
“Our design reverted back to Pei’s original concept using a centralized core for all circulation, bath and mechanical spaces while reconfiguring for a master suite, kitchen, and entry area,” said founding partner Mario Gentile.
“With IM Pei’s death, the last of the modern monument makers has passed”
The studio added a new frame to the oculus at the top of the staircase that circulates additional light to the largely windowless structure. It also added skylights to the bedrooms.
Minimising divides between rooms also allowed for further circulation throughout the home and for more light to penetrate the lower levels from the oculus.
Shiftspace wanted to honour Pei’s original visionThe design was geared towards a more active lifestyle, which led to the addition of bike storage tucked away into nooks in the basement and on the ground floor.
Shiftspace completed the renovation with a light-toned colour palette for the more public spaces and darker hues for the bedrooms and study.
Pei was born in Guangzhou, China in 1917 and emigrated to the United States in 1935, where he founded a studio today known as Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. He designed a number of noteworthy buildings including Dallas City Hall and the Grand Louvre pyramid in Paris.
Other buildings of his to be renovated include the Eskenazi Museum in Indiana.
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Design studio Local Projects has created an interactive exhibition space for the American Bible Society, which aims to present itself as a “beacon of light” along Philadelphia’s Independence Mall. More
