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      Casa Olivar is a Madrid apartment designed as a “sensorial refuge”

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      Designers Matteo Ferrari and Carlota Gallo have transformed a traditional two-storey apartment in Madrid, Spain, into a tranquil home for themselves featuring a pared-back palette of natural materials and crafted details.

      Casa Olivar is located in a typical corrala – a type of apartment building found in the old parts of Madrid, where housing units are accessed from external covered corridors.
      Matteo Ferrari and Carlota Gallo have designed their own apartment in MadridThe apartment’s interior was in poor condition when Ferrari and Gallo purchased the property, and decided to convert it into a contemporary home.
      The design retains some of the building’s historical features while reorganising the compact interior to create a series of light and bright interconnected spaces.
      Its living room is flooded with light via two huge windowsFerrari and Gallo describe the apartment as a “non-urban place, a sensorial refuge to reconnect with ourselves, regulate our emotions and disconnect from the hustle and bustle of the outside world”.

      The couple used a pared-back material palette to create a warm and comfortable atmosphere, making the most of the daylight that enters the interior through two large windows in the living room.
      Arched openings separate the dining area from the living room”The intervention is characterised by a spatial continuity and a warm minimalism,” the duo explained. “It seeks to elevate natural light and encourage the use of local craft materials, generating a close dialogue between light and materiality.”
      A central partition dividing the dining area from the living room was altered by adding a pair of lowered arches that echo the proportions of the facade openings.
      Aluminium kitchen fronts provide a counterpoint to the muted colour paletteLight from the windows passes through the openings to reach the kitchen, while the bedroom downstairs receives indirect illumination from a pair of openings in the floor above.
      Throughout the interior, the designers chose to use simple and authentic materials, featuring predominantly earthy tones.
      “The approach is to be honest with the materials, respecting their authentic appearance and textures while prioritising natural resources and local craftsmanship,” Ferrari and Gallo explained.

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      The apartment’s entrance opens directly into the kitchen and dining area, which is arranged around a sculptural table designed by the couple that features a textural Tadelakt plaster finish.
      Floors are covered with handmade terracotta tiles to create consistency between the spaces. The same tiles are used in the bathroom, with their varying dimensions giving each space a unique quality.
      The bedroom receives indirect illumination from openings in the floor aboveTables and display stands were created using stone salvaged during the renovation process, while the kitchen’s aluminium storage units provide a contemporary counterpoint to the natural tones and textures.
      Gallo designed the textiles used within the apartment to add texture and dynamism to the spaces. These include a draped nylon curtain that echoes the warm tones used in the bathroom.
      Draped nylon fabric acts as a shower curtain in the bathroomOther works of art and craft bring personality to the apartment, such as the washbasin made by designer María Lázaro and a hammock woven in Colombia using traditional techniques.
      Ferrari moved from Italy to Madrid in 2008 after completing his architecture studies at the University of Ferrara. He founded his own studio in 2015, which focuses on using simple gestures to create timeless and familiar spaces.
      The photography is by Asier Rua.

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      Aurelien Chen retains references to China's “Red Era” in renovated cultural centre

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      Architect Aurelien Chen has transformed a former miners’ canteen in Handan, China, into a multipurpose cultural centre featuring interventions that respond to the building’s communist heritage.

      The canteen was built in the 1970s to serve workers at the Jinxing coal mine in China’s Hebei Province.
      It is surrounded by office buildings dating back to 1912 that were built by German architects and feature a distinctly Western aesthetic.
      The canteen was built to serve coal mine workersThe local government engaged China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) to oversee the sustainable renovation of the site, with Beijing-based Chen asked to head up the design team.
      The site is designated as a tourist destination with a focus on representing China’s evolution during the “Red Era”, beginning with the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921 and culminating in the Cultural Revolution that took place from 1966-1976.

      Following a historical survey of the site, it was determined that the early 20th-century buildings should be restored to their original condition.
      It was renovated and refurbished by CSCEC and Aurelien ChenChen told Dezeen that he felt the canteen building should also be preserved as it complements the masterplan and style of the earlier structures.
      He explained that the brief for the refurbishment was to emphasise and recreate architectural elements that had been lost over time or were in need of significant restoration.
      The interior was developed around existing historical features”Instead of recreating a fake Red Era atmosphere, I preferred to keep the few historical traces that already existed within the building,” said Chen.
      “I developed the design and the space around them, attempting to subtly evoke the colours, materials and furniture of that time.”
      Vaults in the building were preservedOne of the most significant interventions is a flower-shaped, multipurpose furniture element located at the centre of the main hall.
      The outline of this space, which can be used as an information desk, exhibition space, stage or relaxation area, evokes a typical Red Era pattern that was painted on the original ceiling.

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      Other furniture in the versatile central hall includes wave-shaped benches and circular reading booths that are intended to provide a sense of fluidity and flexibility of use.
      The circular reading spaces are inspired by the hall’s original ceiling lights and incorporate integrated bookshelves to minimise their visual impact on the space.
      A flower-shaped multipurpose furniture piece sits in the middleExisting dilapidated internal walls were retained and became key features within the renovated spaces. A linear partition wall that was once the canteen’s serving counter was transformed into a reading desk with lamps and high stools.
      The bar area is located in a corner of the space and flanked by a concrete wall displaying Communist slogans painted in Chinese characters.
      The canteen serving counter is now a reading deskChen wanted to incorporate arches into the design to echo details found on a neighbouring historic building. This was achieved by adding a row of booths with arched canopies to the restaurant area.
      The booths also reference arched brick openings uncovered during the renovation process, as well as stone vaults discovered in the basement.
      A glass floor connects the vaults with the public areas aboveThe vaults were preserved in their original state, with minimal interventions helping to transform them into reading corners and exhibition areas. A glass floor maintains a visual connection between these spaces and the public areas above.
      Stairs leading to the basement were moved into an arch-shaped, metal-clad volume added to the facade. The external window openings were reshaped into arches that reference details found on the historic buildings nearby.
      Booths were given miniature arches in a nod to surrounding buildingsChen explained that, although the number of significant heritage details within the building were limited, each one was carefully restored and used as the basis for additions that enhance the link to the past.
      “I would say that new interventions tend to blend with the existing conditions, sometimes in a very immaterial way,” the architect added. “Their shape and space derive directly from original elements, revealing them; the materials, however, are more in contrast.”
      The interior also features undulating seatingOther recent cultural and leisure projects in China include a visitor centre with spiralling tiled roofs and the country’s biggest library, which was designed by Danish studio Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects.

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      OHLAB celebrates historical details at Can Santacilia apartments in Palma de Mallorca

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      Architecture office OHLAB has renovated a historical apartment building in Palma de Mallorca introducing contemporary elements including a meandering wooden walkway that contrast with the original features.

      Can Santacilia is a 3,300-square-metre residential development containing 15 apartments and common areas distributed across two adjoining buildings in the heart of Palma de Mallorca’s old town.
      A main central courtyard is included at Can SantaciliaParts of the existing building appear to date back as far as the 12th or 13th century, although the main building as it stands was erected in the 17th century and was subsequently modified in the 18th and 20th centuries.
      Local architecture and design office OHLAB was tasked with overseeing a modernisation project involving repairs to the existing structure, as well as the sensitive restoration of key original features including the main central courtyard.
      OHLAB oversaw a sensitive restoration process”The building was abandoned and in a really bad shape with some parts about to collapse, while the best parts did not meet the most basic living conditions,” OHLAB directors Paloma Hernaiz and Jaime Oliver told Dezeen.

      A carefully conducted restoration process placed emphasis on maintaining the historical integrity of the building whilst adapting it to meet the needs of its new occupants.
      A wooden coffered ceiling was uncovered during the renovation”We had to do a thorough and intensive renovation of the whole building,” the OHLAB architects explained.
      “The distribution was changed and reorganised, new partition walls and layouts were added to accommodate the housing proposal and new installations were required to adapt the apartments to contemporary comfort and energy-efficient standards.”
      An indoor pool is framed by arched openingsThe project preserves the original features that make the building unique, such as the wrought-iron balustrades, stone columns, traditional courtyard and a wooden coffered ceiling that was uncovered during the restoration.
      The courtyard was enclosed in the 20th century, with blank walls used to conceal a parking area. Based on other traditional buildings in the city, the architecture studio restored this space to how it might have looked in the early Baroque period.
      The courtyard’s typical staircase and porched gallery were retained and two arched openings were added – one alongside a new indoor pool and the other in front of the entrance, supported by a pair of ionic columns.
      A meandering wooden walkway contrasts with the original featuresInternally, the common areas of the two buildings are connected by a wooden walkway that mitigates a height difference of approximately 90 centimetres.
      The studio said the walkway was designed to take users on a journey, “as if discovering an archaeological ruin”, leading them past some of the building’s key historic features, including a fireplace, a stone arch, a tiled floor and ornate plaster mouldings on the ceiling.
      The same light oak forms a staircase elsewhereArchitectural interventions were implemented using a material palette that clearly separates them from the existing structure. The walkway was made from light oak that was also used for other circulation areas including a staircase and the lift interiors.
      “We added pieces that are always clearly new and contemporary,” explained Hernaiz and Oliver, “with shapes and materials that in no case want to imitate or hide the ancient ones.”
      Sculptural mirrored boxes act as partitions in the apartmentsThe contrast between old and new is also evident in the apartments, some of which feature modern mirrored volumes used to partition the existing spaces whilst maintaining their overall proportions.
      The mirrored boxes never reach all the way to the ceilings, ensuring the original wood-beam construction or decorative mouldings remain visible and uninterrupted.
      Wooden beams and decorative ceilings are left uninterrupted”The mirror box disappears in its reflection, giving back the space stolen by its presence and returning a complete image of the room,” the OHLAB architects added.
      “Only when you get closer, do you realise it’s a contemporary partition that lets you enter into another space, made of stone.”
      High-quality fixtures give the apartments a premium feelOne of the most surprising discoveries made while stripping back the dilapidated interiors was an ornate medieval ceiling made from painted wooden beams and coffers, supported by a central stone pillar.
      OHLAB claimed that this find prompted the redesign of 40 per cent of the total project, including six of the 15 apartments, in order to persevere the integrity of the coffered ceiling and incorporate it into one of the living spaces.
      The palette used throughout the public and private spaces favours natural, local materials chosen to emphasise the building’s history and Mediterranean character.

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      Stone and timber structural elements was combined with plaster and wood mouldings, mortar and lime coatings and floors in ceramic and wood finishes.
      High-quality fixtures and details in local stone, bronze, porcelain and textiles including local linen and cotton enhance the premium feel across the interior spaces.
      A palette of natural, local materials permeates throughoutHernaiz and Oliver originally founded OHLAB in Shanghai in 2007 before moving to Madrid and eventually settling in Palma de Mallorca, where they head up a team of 18 architects, interior designers and engineers.
      OHLAB’s previous projects include an apartment block in Palma de Mallorca covered with thin wooden slats that shade the interiors, and a standalone villa at a hotel on the island with a window designed to frame a panoramic view of the landscape.
      The photography is by José Hevia. 

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      London apartment features fish and chip shop-informed kitchen

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      A steel kitchen that references London’s many fast food shops takes centre stage in this apartment designed by local studio Holloway Li for its co-founder Alex Holloway, which also has a bathtub in the living room.

      Located in north London’s Highbury, the apartment is set in a converted Victorian house and was renovated to create a home-cum-photography-studio for Holloway and his partner Elle Parmar Jenkins, founder of vintage furniture store Goods In.
      The apartment includes a custom-built stainless steel kitchenHolloway Li sought to update the single-storey space while also maintaining many of its original features.
      Part of this process included removing the master bedroom entirely to create an open-plan living space from what were originally separate rooms, and adding two extra windows to illuminate this interior.
      Holloway Li looked to local fast-food shops to create this design”We exposed and retained the original timber verge beam keeping all the screws and not cleaning it up at all,” said Holloway, who founded the studio with Na Li in 2018.

      “We wanted to express the formation of the external butterfly roof internally by opening up the ceilings to show the vaulted geometry internally,” he told Dezeen.
      This triple-aspect living space contains a striking kitchen clad in circle-brushed stainless steel with a curved splashback that takes cues from the kebab and fish and chip shops that Holloway grew up surrounded by in London, according to the designer.
      Pink and orange accents feature throughout”A lot of our studio work often fuses aspects of what people might consider ‘low culture’ with a more high-brow aesthetic,” said Holloway, who explained that the kitchen was not created as a parody, but rather intends to honour the materials found in fast food outlets.
      “This is what London is – a mix of high and low always across the road from one another. It’s part of what makes it interesting, and having grown up here it was important to add those vernacular visual flavours into the space,” he added.
      “Also, I hadn’t seen that material [circle-brushed steel] used in a domestic setting before so I knew it would be unique.”
      A bathtub was inserted into the living spaceThe studio chose a neutral colour palette interrupted with pops of vibrant colours such as orange and blue, which was led by the rosy-hued exposed plaster walls that frame the space.
      Breaking with tradition, Holloway decided to insert a bathtub into the living space where the master bedroom used to be to make use of its panoramic natural light and to add an alternative touch to the apartment.
      The same resin used to create the dining table top is found in the bathroomIt is positioned next to a bespoke timber Holloway Li desk and a vintage Eames office chair that Parmar Jenkins uses when she works from home, while light-hued Douglas fir flooring and chunky geometric sconce lights add to the warm interior.
      Other furniture pieces by the studio include a chubby orange armchair that Holloway Li launched at this year’s London Design Festival in collaboration with Uma Objects as well as the dining table and a shower screen that were both formed from a gridded resin off-cut salvaged from a previous project.

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      Holloway’s favourite element of the apartment is “the windows and reflections,” he said. “It is very rare to have a room in a Victorian terrace that has windows on three out of four of its sides.”
      “The kitchen in turn – on the old side that doesn’t have a window – reflects the opposite windows so it actually feels like you are surrounded by light,” he added.
      Colours in the living space are also hinted at in the apartment’s one bedroomThis apartment is not the first of Holloway Li’s interior designs that intend to directly respond to their contexts.
      Previously, the studio dressed the Wunderlocke hotel in Munich in hues that nod to the paintings of the late Munich-based painter Wassily Kandinsky, while it designed bathroom brand Coalbrook’s showroom with industrial materials that echo the building’s original function as a tobacco-pipe factory.
      The photography is by Edmund Dabney. 

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      Butterfly House renovation contrasts traditional features with modern materials

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      British studio Will Gamble Architects has modernised a heritage-listed terraced house in south London, adding a series of bespoke joinery elements that help to repurpose the existing living spaces.

      Known under the nickname Butterfly House, the project involved the refurbishment and reconfiguration of a Grade II-listed home in Lambeth for a couple of lawyers and their two young children.
      Will Gamble Architects has renovated the interior of Butterfly House in LondonThe building, which dates back to the 1840s, was originally conceived as a four-storey family home. But it had previously been knocked through to a neighbouring property and separated vertically into flats before being returned to a single dwelling.
      Will Gamble Architects was asked to create a contemporary home that makes the most of the available space while retaining the features and character of the existing architecture.
      Micro-cement covers the chimney breast in the dining room”Despite its heritage listing, the building had been messed around with and many of the original features were ripped out,” project architect Miles Kelsey told Dezeen.

      “We were required to preserve the proportions of any rooms that hadn’t changed too much and focused on identifying the minimal permissible alterations that could have the biggest spatial impact.”
      A built-in bench provides seating in the dining areaThe scheme returns Butterfly House to its original interior layout, with the kitchen and dining area on the ground floor, living spaces on the first floor and the bedrooms above.
      In order to adapt the existing floor plan to meet the clients’ needs, the architects repositioned some of the internal openings and introduced joinery elements with built-in doorways and storage.
      The original fireplace in the kitchen was retained”Because we were restricted in what we could do with a listed building, the bespoke joinery allowed us to maximise the potential of each space,” Kelsey added.
      “The joinery also enabled us to create a really clear and coherent design aesthetic throughout the project that responds to the clients’ request for natural and honest materials.”
      A white-painted stairway leads to the upper floorsA restrained, pared-back material palette is applied throughout the interior, with the oak joinery complemented by surfaces of micro-cement and stone.
      The neighbouring property was used as a reference for reinstating original features including the architraves and skirting, which stand out thanks to the sober treatment of the modern additions.

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      “Our idea was that the traditional decorative details should sit alongside more contemporary elements like the joinery to create a strong contrast between old and new,” said Kelsey.
      “We didn’t want to overly embellish the contemporary elements in order to maintain a sense of coherence across the whole project.”
      Light permeates the living room via its refurbished French doorsThe kitchen and dining room on the ground floor are linked by a large oak-framed opening that allows a view through the house towards the windows on the other side.
      A chimney breast in the dining room was reinstated and covered with a pale-grey micro-cement finish that is echoed in the dining table.
      Built-in storage on the other side of the room conceals a new doorBuilt-in cabinetry on either side of the chimney provides practical storage while a bench positioned along the opposite wall offers seating for the dining table.
      The living room on the first floor contains large refurbished French doors on one side and a newly instated door on the other side, set within a full-height storage element.
      The home’s custom joinery is made from warm oak woodThe pared-back material palette extends to the bedrooms on the two upper floors, where the oak joinery is used to create storage, headboards and partition walls such as the one separating the main bedroom from its en suite bathroom.
      Butterfly House takes its name from the typical roof form that tops the terraced property. It also references the bowed floors and ceilings uncovered during the renovation, which were remediated as part of the project.
      Wood also features in the bathrooms of Butterfly HouseWill Gamble founded his eponymous architecture and interiors studio in 2018. Based in Barnes, London, the firms works on commercial and residential projects, often involving the adaptation of historic structures for modern use.
      The practice was longlisted for emerging architecture studio of the year at the 2022 Dezeen Awards.
      Its previously completed projects include a glass-walled extension to a Georgian red-brick house and the transformation of a ruined 17-century parchment factory into a contemporary residence.
      The photography is by Nick Dearden.

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      Wabi-sabi philosophy leads revamp of Palau apartment in Barcelona

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      Local studio Colombo and Serboli Architecture has completed a clean and contemporary renovation of an apartment in Barcelona, spotlighting some of its “imperfect” original features.

      The Palau apartment is situated a stone’s throw from the city’s Palau de la Música concert hall and backs onto a cluster of secluded courtyards.
      Colombo and Serboli Architecture has completed the Palau apartment in BarcelonaIts owner, an Italian fashion designer, had initially asked Colombo and Serboli Architecture to upgrade only the bathroom and closet storage. But the practice suggested carrying out a more extensive renovation that indulged the apartment’s lofty proportions.
      The practice also wanted to place greater emphasis on the home’s existing quirks in the spirit of wabi-sabi – the Japanese philosophy that celebrates the beauty of imperfections and the changes that come with the passage of time.
      The hallway still boasts the apartment’s original stucco walls”We decided to face the project through a wabi-sabi approach that could easily incorporate original features and imperfections while retaining the charm of the apartment,” the studio explained.

      “Shapes are kept simple and bold with recurring basic forms – squares, circles, spheres – while sturdy solid surfaces were used to combine the monumental language of existing elements.”
      Hollow steps in the new staircase hold cooking paraphernaliaThe apartment is entered via a narrow hallway, where the practice left much of the original stucco walls exposed to reveal “layers of history”.
      At the heart of the floor plan is a new multi-part staircase. It begins with a few suspended steps crafted from pale timber, followed by a micro-cement landing and a couple more timber steps.
      White cabinetry was installed in the kitchenThe bottom block of steps is painted white and dog-legs around the wall to form a planted backrest for a white boucle sofa.
      This small sitting area is dressed with a spherical paper lamp and a glass coffee table supported by terracotta orbs. Another large weathered patch of the apartment’s original stucco walls was preserved at the rear of the space.
      A 3.5-metre bookshelf towers over the living roomThe bottom section of the staircase also extends in the other direction to form a bench seat for the arched travertine table in the dining area. Steps facing this part of the home were hollowed out to accommodate crockery, recipe books and cooking ingredients.
      Nearby, an all-white kitchen suite is finished with a porcelain countertop and backsplash. A bespoke boxy kitchen hood made from brushed steel was installed above the stove.

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      Just opposite the apartment’s sitting area is a larger double-height living room, illuminated by a tall corner window.
      At its base, Colombo and Serboli Architecture created a chunky micro-cement platform where the owner can perch and take in views across the courtyards.
      On the opposite side of the room, a 3.5-metre-high gridded shelf provides space for the owner to display his ever-growing collection of books and art objects.
      The bedroom i up on the mezzanine levelThe bedroom can be found on the apartment’s mezzanine level. One side of the room is taken over by a closet, which the studio fronted with wicker doors to turn it into a “warm monolith”.
      LED lighting fitted on top of the storage draws attention to the apartment’s time-worn wooden ceiling beams.
      Wicker doors front the lengthy closetOne door of the closet has a diagonal cut-out that functions as a handrail for the stairs, while another can be pulled back to reveal a small nook containing a mirror and washbasin.
      A third door hides the apartment’s bathroom, which is clad entirely in iridescent mother-of-pearl tiles.
      “We played with different finishes, from glossy to rough, against the otherwise neutral palette,” explained the practice.
      The bed’s wicker headboard doubles as a balustrade for the mezzanineThe same wicker used for the closet was wrapped around the bed’s headboard, which doubles as a balustrade for the mezzanine. Surrounding the headboard is a thick wooden ledge that forms two bedside tables.
      The space was otherwise modestly decorated with a vintage orange leather chair and a wobbly-edged mirror.
      The bathroom is concealed behind a closet doorColombo and Serboli Architecture, which is run by Italian architects Matteo Colombo and Andrea Serboli, has revamped a number of homes around Barcelona in recent years.
      Among them is the Klinker Apartment, which features brightly-coloured paintwork, and the Font 6 flat where a porthole window peeps through from the kitchen to the bathroom.
      The photography is by Roberto Ruiz.
      Project credits:
      Architecture: Colombo and Serboli ArchitectureStyling and art direction: CaSA

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      Christ & Gantenbein adds “techno-futuristic” lobby to Oxford Street office

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      Swiss studio Christ & Gantenbein has completed its upgrade of UK House on Oxford Street, adding a baroque-influenced lobby informed by the building’s history.

      The renovation of the Grade II-listed building aims to respond to the need for communicative corporate architecture. Designed to be a welcoming “place of arrival”, the new lobby combines the baroque themes from the existing building with modern elements.
      Christ & Gantenbein has upgraded UK House on Oxford Street”We conceived this lobby as a location full of hospitality, with a unique mix of baroque and techno-futuristic elements,” said Christ & Gantenbein’s founding partner Emanuel Christ.
      “The result is a creative spatial identity and generous sequence of rooms that offer high-quality experiences for the tenants and visitors alike.”
      The studio has added a baroque-influenced lobbyChrist & Gantenbein’s renovation expands upon the building’s conversion into an office block during the 1970s.  The structure still features two of its original baroque facades, which partially inspired the design of the new lobby.

      “We worked with this history to generate our vision of corporate architecture in the 21st century: bold, futuristic, open, communicative, yet steeped with history,” said the studio.
      Its design references the building’s historyLarge windows framed by bronzed metal at the front of the building draw upon the surrounding retail facades of Oxford Street. The lobby is accessed through a pair of revolving glass doors with frames of chromed stainless steel, which offer views of the mirrored columns inside.
      Inside the lobby Christ & Gantenbein placed a front desk and a coffee point, along with an ancillary space that can be used for meetings. A work by artist Wolfgang Tilmans features on the right wall of the space.

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      A marbled floor made from black and white stone spans the space, forming a checkered pattern which references the history of the building.
      A metal grill ceiling divided into a more subtle grid mirrors the checkered pattern of the floor, spanned by linear lighting elements that illuminate the lobby.
      There is a metal grill ceilingWith “apse-like” endings that project slightly into the lobby, the walls mimic the original baroque forms of the building. The walls are covered in neutral ceramic tiles which act as a subtle backdrop to the space.
      Mirrored columns reflect the patterns from the floor through the lobby, while polished chrome elements, including the elevator doors, feature throughout the space.
      A marbled floor forms a checkered patternBeyond the lobby, the addition of new staircases and elevators has connected the entry hall to a basement space featuring a separate lobby for cyclists and a multi-level bike storage space. Black and white patterns on the epoxy floor mark the route to the bike store, transitioning into a circular pattern to mark the entry to the changing space.
      Other facilities on the level include showers and lockers, along with hyper-modern elements designed by the studio which have been arranged throughout the functional space.
      Other facilities include showers and lockersFounded by Emanuel Christ and Christoph Gantenbein in 1998, architecture studio Christ & Gantenbein was named Architect of the Year in Dezeen Awards 2018.
      Other projects recently completed by the studio include a multifunctional workspace in Germany and a museum for chocolate brand Lindt.
      The photography is by Thomas Adank.

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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.

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      “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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