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Promotion: lifestyle brand Cybex has opened a beige, monochrome flagship store in Paris as part of its continuing retail expansion strategy – nearly 20 years after the brand was founded. More
Promotion: the post-covid focus on wellness in interior design has found its strongest expression in the bathroom, according to speakers at a panel hosted by Dezeen and the tapware brand Graff at New York’s BDNY trade fair. More
Promotion: Allsteel is putting inclusivity at the heart of its design strategy, with products and applications that improve the office experience for people with disclosed as well as invisible disabilities. More
Promotion: workers are returning to the office and workplace design is set to cater to their needs like never before, according to speakers at a panel discussion hosted by Dezeen and furniture brand Steelcase. More
Promotion: natural stone by Italian company Antolini has been used throughout the interior of this apartment in Malta designed by architects Sabrina Soldà and Keith Pillow. More
Promotion: the interiors of a pet-friendly office and a wood-fired restaurant are among the five winning projects in this year’s Shaw Contract Design Awards.
The winners of the 19th edition of the award programme, hosted by flooring manufacturer Shaw Contract, feature entries from around the world, also including a minimalist workplace in China to a nature-inspired apartment block in Canada.
Top image: a wood-fired restaurant is among the winners of this year’s Shaw Contract Design Awards. Above: it features a corridor lined with firewoodThe Shaw Contract Design Awards programme takes place annually to “celebrate the optimism of design and its ability to positively impact our communities and our planet”.
It focuses specifically on interiors that make use of Shaw Contract’s products and services, as well as those the brand believes embody its own ethos and sustainability focus.
Another is a pet-friendly office in the US”These projects showcase the pinnacle of regional design excellence and align with Shaw Contract’s four core People Together Planet Forever ambitions: material health, circular economy, carbon impact, and diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Shaw Contract.
“These criteria reflect our commitment to creating spaces that are not only beautiful and functional, but also sustainable and inclusive.”
It was celebrated by Shaw Contract for its “unique pet-first amenities”This year’s top projects have each been awarded a prize called Best of Globe Winner. They were selected from almost 700 entries from 36 countries, whittled down to a shortlist of 43, each of which was named Best of Region Winners.
The first winning project is the workspace of pet food company Hill’s Pet Nutrition in the US, designed by Perspective Architecture + Design for employees to enjoy with their furry companions.
It was celebrated by Shaw Contract for its “unique pet-first amenities”, including an indoor dog park and snack stations, as well as its range of workspaces designed to cater to the different work styles of its employees.
The office also participated in the Shaw Contract Reclamation programme, which involved removing the building’s existing carpet and sending it to the company for recycling.
A minimalist office in China was another winnerNext is Kasian Architecture’s workplace in Calgary for Canadian law firm Stikeman Elliott, designed to encourage its employees back to the office after the pandemic.
It was hailed by Shaw Contract for its “focus on sophistication” but also the use of durable finishes, reflecting a desire to adopt the principles of a circular economy. This included the use of the brand’s flooring ranges, including its carpet tiles.
Another winning project in Canada is Upper West Side Condos, a 14-storey residential building designed by II By IV Design.
Shaw Contract said it was selected for the way it seeks to blend “nature with contemporary luxury”, and for the use of the brand’s Mist carpet, which it described as being “reminiscent of a country lane on a rainy day”.
Shaw Contract also recognised Upper West Side Condos in CanadaBar Kar is a small wood-fired restaurant in Malaysia by Spacemen, awarded for its cave-like interior that is dominated by warm terracotta tones and finished with wooden, metallic and stone details.
In particular, the brand enjoyed a corridor lined with firewood, which the chef uses as storage for the wood that they use to cook inside the kitchen.
“Its a locally natural material which can be replenished and reused at all times, which we have turned into a building material,” said Shaw Contract.
Another Canadian winner was a workplace for law firm Stikeman ElliottThe last project is a small workplace interior in China by Guangzhou Jenmehome Design, selected for its clean-cut minimalist design.
Guangzhou Jenmehome Design was praised for its use of “eco-friendly” materials, which Shaw Contract said included its carpet ranges.
Each Best of Globe Winner is awarded a $2,000 (£1,497) donation in their name to the organisation of their choice in addition to a handmade trophy by Singapore crochet artist Kelly Limerick.
To find out more about Shaw Contract and its design awards, visit its website.
Partnership content
This article was written by Dezeen for Shaw Contract as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
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Promotion: surfaces brand Armourcoat has launched a range of textured and eco-friendly paints for interiors, designed to celebrate the distinctive look and feel of traditional limewash.
Named Limewash, the collection by Armourcoat is intended as a surface coating suited to both residential and commercial interiors.
It has a soft matt appearance in 45 shades of limewash – a mix of lime and water used for coating walls – but has a less chalky and more durable finish than traditional forms.
Armourcoat has launched a range of textured and eco-friendly paintsArmourcoat Limewash is composed of a mix of carbon dioxide-absorbing slaked lime, clay mineral kaolinite, water, mineral pigments and natural plant additives, ensuring it is free from solvents and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
According to Armourcoat, this ensures the paint aligns it with “top-level environmental and health accreditation” in the architecture industry.
The brand claims it is the only paint of its kind with Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and Health Product Declaration (HPD) documentation, making it suited to projects striving to obtain the BREEAM and LEED sustainable building certifications.
It is available in 45 shades”Here at Armourcoat we believe material transparency is fundamental to designing beautiful interiors that have minimal impact on our planet,” said creative director Duncan MacKellar.
“Our goal as creative manufacturers is to reduce both embodied carbon and environmental toxins, and ultimately drive sustainable innovation within the built environment,” added MacKellar.
“With our Environmental and Health Product Declarations, architects and designers can be confident that all Armourcoat finishes align with efforts to create environmentally conscious, healthy interiors.”
It is intended to celebrate traditional limewashBenefiting from the properties of limewash, Armourcoat’s collection has a “naturally high alkalinity owing to its slaked lime”, a critical ingredient which makes it resistant to bacteria and mould. It is also non-combustible.
Limewash is the latest addition to Armourcoat’s collection of surface finishes developed by the brand to offer “sustainable luxury finishes” to architects and designers around the world.
To find out more about Limewash and Armourcoat, visit the brand’s website here.
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This article was written by Dezeen for Armourcoat as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
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Promotion: architecture practice Iosa Ghini Associati has renovated the 1980s headquarters of Italian surfacing manufacturer Fiandre in Castellarano, using ceramic to cover almost the entire interior from the walls and floors to the custom furnishings.
Set across three floors and 2,400 square metres, the office was originally designed by architect Quintilio Prodi in 1989 and is described by Fiandre as “vaguely post-modern”.
Iosa Ghini Associati has renovated the Fiandre officeIosa Ghini Associati has revamped and reorganised the interiors by designer Carlo Cattani to prioritise the wellbeing of employees and encourage their return to the office post-pandemic.
With this aim, the architectural studio, with offices in Milan and Bologna, introduced novelties including a hangout area in the basement complete with a football table, a “take one, leave one” bookshelf and rocking chairs overlooking the garden.
The basement houses hangout areas including a football table, and a space with music and books to be sharedOffice space and meeting rooms are spread across all three floors of the building, separated by glass partitions that allow daylight to filter into the core of the building while still providing acoustic privacy.
Different areas are also distinguished by their use of different Fiandre ceramics, which architect Massimo Iosa Ghini used across almost all available surfaces.
Ceramic surfaces define different areas”Ceramic surfaces were applied like a changing, decorative skin to floors and walls, at times adorned with precious triangular and herringbone cuts to embellish the spaces without ever overdoing it,” Fiandre said.
Fiandre’s ceramic surfacing was used to cover floors across all three storeys, as well as various walls, washbasins and custom desks, meeting tables, bar counters and coffee tables designed bespoke for the office.
The ceramics can resemble marbleTo improve indoor air quality and hygiene, Fiandre chose Active Surfaces – ceramic slabs developed by Fiandre’s parent organisation Iris Ceramica Group. The photocatalytic properties of these “eco-active ceramic surfaces use light energy to trigger chemical reactions that eliminate bacteria, viruses and pollutants, converting them into harmless substances”, the company said.
In total, the building uses 5,058 square metres of ceramic slabs, which together with the LED lights help to purify over 10,000 cubic metres of air from odours and volatile organic compounds per day, according to calculations from researchers at the University of Milan.
In the lobby, the floor is finished in a herringbone pattern formed from alternating matte and glossy slabs of the marbled Premium White Maximum porcelain.
The reception desk is flanked by two waiting areas, underscored in Pietra Grey Maxium and enveloped by two curving walls clad in fluted ceramic slabs made using the 4D Ceramics technology pioneered by Fiandre’s parent company Iris Ceramica Group and distributed by Sapiestone brand.
Pietra Grey also features in the basement, combined with terrazzo-like Seminato Beige.
Meeting rooms feature touch panels integrated directly into the stone tabletopsThe executive offices on the first floor feature walls adorned in striking blue Amazonite Maximum, while the 70-square-metre CEO office is equipped with a mini-bar and a private bathroom that features Fiandre’s highly polished Glint finish, which reflects light around the room.
The first floor also features a huge 18-by-3-metre mural by digital artist Becha, printed on ceramic slabs using the company’s Design Your Slabs (DYS) technology and reused from Iris Ceramica Group’s exhibition space at international ceramics fair Cersaie in Bologna in 2023.
Ridged table bases are created using 4D Ceramic technologyMeeting rooms scattered around the rest of the building can accommodate between eight and 20 people and feature tables with ridged and fluted bases made using the 4D Ceramic technology.
The lighting and polarised windows in the meeting rooms can be controlled with touch ceramic surfaces integrated directly into the stone surface, eliminating the need for unsightly external cover plates and switches.
Marsala Red decorates the meeting roomsAnd walls are decorated in Marsala Red with a tessellated pattern cut into the surface to provide subtle decoration.
“The colour of the furnishings and finishes adds personality, making the spaces feel more creative and more like home, while adding a sense of timeless elegance,” the architect specifies,” Iosa Ghini said.
Fiandre is part of Iris Ceramica Group. For more information on Fiandre, visit the company’s website.
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This article was written by Dezeen for Fiandre as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
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Promotion: the Barcelona School of Arts & Design has launched a 12-month master programme that will teach students how to design contemporary interiors and give them an “overview of every facet of the craft”.
As a design institute, The Barcelona School of Arts & Design (LABASAD) prides itself on having the experience and resources to teach everything in design. Its classes are limited to 25 students and taught in English by industry professionals.
Chiara Luzzato, director of the online master in interior design and hospitalityFor the online master in interior design and hospitality, students will be taught by professionals currently working in the field, led by Italian architect, stylist and art director Chiara Luzzatto.
Luzzatto is described as a professional who “loves conceptualising and constructing modern spaces and environments”. She has an extensive background in academia studying architecture in Rome and as a master in interior design in Venice. Subsequently she worked in Milan at the Elisa Ossino Studio and later in Modena to as an art director at an interior and photography company.
She is now co-founder and art director at Notoo Studio, creating interior images for international furniture brands.
A roster of artists, architects, photographers and other specialists also teach students as part of the programme.
NotooStudio creates interior images for international furniture brandsThe 12-month master, taught in English, will comprise 13 courses, grouped into five modules, and integrate project-based knowledge in the set-up and furniture sectors, as well as retail.
The programme will explore the cultural and technical aspects of design and will look at styling, design and photography, and students will also learn about 3D practices.
“By the end of the programme, students will be able to create compelling digital images for catalogues, magazines, window displays, commercial spaces, and interiors, which speaks volumes about their new skills,” LABASAD said.
One of the four objectives of the programme is to reach a deeper understanding of visual composition to create “futuristic design systems”. The course also sets out to balance “aesthetic and performance” in interior design”. Thirdly, students will “master interior industry techniques and design thinking to grasp different contexts, user needs, and business challenges”. Finally, students are expected to gain practical experience with an array of stakeholders in a project.
Students will attend classes online on a weekly basis”Besides practical aspects of interior design, the program will emphasize the importance of comfort-seeking, individual expression, social cohesion, identity creation, and modern communication,” LABASAD said.
“As an online programme, it offers students the flexibility to study anywhere,” LABASAD said. “We have students from all over the world from Spain to the UK, Germany, Mexico, Belgium, among others.”
Classes are regularly scheduled and take place every week. They can also be recorded so that if there is a day when a student is unable to attend, they can watch the class that they missed.
The LABASAD programme will prepare students for the professional worldThe programme targets students or workers who are passionate about interior design and want to delve deeper into the subject, as well as industry professionals who want to specialise in hospitality and interior design.
It is also suitable for people who work in agencies and design students and want to specialize in 3D modelling or styling, and for interior styling enthusiasts who want to start a career in the field.
LABASAD’s online master in interior design and hospitality was designed to give its students a road map and “overview of every facet of the craft”, preparing them for the professional world, the design institute said.
To find out more about the online master in interior design and hospitality, visit LABASAD here.
Photography is courtesy of LABASAD and Notoo Studio.
Partnership content
This article was written by Dezeen for LABASAD as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
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