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      Urselmann Interior renovates own office using recycled and biodegradable materials

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      Düsseldorf studio Urselmann Interior has renovated its own office interiors using biodegradable, recycled or upcycled materials, including glueless joinery and a cellulose-based wall cladding.

      The interior design studio said that it renovated its self-described “circular” office in the German city to only feature materials that are either recycled, upcycled or biodegradable.
      Urselmann Interior’s office is in DüsseldorfThese include existing wooden and terrazzo flooring that was salvaged during the renovation, as well as heaters obtained from resource-efficient building material platform Concular.
      Spread over one main workspace, a kitchen and a meeting room, the single-level office features clay paint walls and is designed to be used as both a co-working space and a showroom.
      The renovation includes a kitchen”The office also serves us as a laboratory in that we can [use it to] test new qualities, materials and construction methods,” project manager Liz Theißen told Dezeen.

      A solid wooden frame was used to create simple kitchen cabinets, which were constructed without glue so that the structure is fully demountable.
      Joinery was created without glue in much of the projectThe frame was fitted with panels formed from recycled strips of fabric supplied by textile brand Kvadrat from its Really collection.
      For its walls, the studio used Honext wall cladding – a cellulose-based material that is produced using paper sludge and cardboard waste.

      Honext develops recyclable construction material made of cellulose fibres from waste paper

      Poplar wood from a tree felled in the nearby city of Krefeld was chosen for the ceiling, which was also assembled without glue.
      Throughout the office, neutral and minimal colour and material palettes were applied to the interior design, which also includes clusters of carefully arranged potted plants and books.
      Second-hand lighting encased in wiggly orange felt from Hey-Sign adds a splash of colour to the otherwise sandy-hued atmosphere.
      Wiggly orange lighting adds a splash of colourTheißen explained that all of the components that Urselmann Interior used for the renovation have been listed in a published “material passport” that can be referred to for future projects.
      “We want to develop a new design language for ourselves, in which we smartly combine high-quality materials such as solid wood with ecological building materials as well as reusable components [to achieve] a positive footprint in the construction industry,” she concluded.
      Honext panels line the clay paint wallsUrselmann Interior is a Düsseldorf-based interiors studio founded by Sven Urselmann.
      Similar projects to the studio’s office renovation include a Madrid restaurant by Lucas Muñoz with furniture formed from site construction waste and a bar made out of recycled stereos, bottle crates and fridges by Michael Marriott.
      The photography is by Magdalena Gruber. 
      Project credits:
      Design and build: Urselmann InteriorFounder and designer: Sven UrselmannDesigner: Petra JablonickáProject manager: Liz Theißen

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      New Practice brings warmth and colour to Glasgow's century-old Kinning Park Complex

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      A historic community centre that was saved from demolition by activists – including Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon – has been given a new lease of life by architecture studio New Practice.

      New Practice founders Becca Thomas and Marc Cairns opted for a light-touch approach in the renovation of Kinning Park Complex, a century-old former school building in the southwest of Glasgow.
      A new roof dotted with skylights makes the building weather-proof againAlthough the building was in a poor state, with an extremely leaking roof, faulty electrics and a broken heating system, the Glasgow-based architects’ approach was to save as much of the existing structure and interior as possible.
      They adopted a reuse and recycle strategy, while also making subtle changes that improve the building’s functionality and accessibility.
      Pink denotes the community space on the first floorThe revamped interiors are animated by a system of colour-blocking, which helps to ensure the building can be easily navigated by people of all literacy levels.

      “One of our key aims was to keep the building feeling familiar,” explains Thomas in a video about the project.
      First-floor workspaces are picked out in yellow”Lots of people have hugely strong memories and love for the building and we didn’t want to change that too much. By taking this adaptive reuse approach, we just kept the building feeling like itself and tried to elevate that,” she said.
      “Every choice to remove something original has been taken only where we absolutely needed to remove that, for the safety and for the future of the building.”
      Kinning Park Complex was originally a school buildingKinning Park Complex first became a community centre after the school closed down in 1976, but looked set for demolition when the council announced plans to close it in 1996.
      Local residents and campaigners, including a then-25-year old Nicola Sturgeon, staged a sit-in to protest the closure. After 55 days, the council agreed to let the community take over the building’s running.
      The building stayed in use for another two decades, but over time its problems became hard to ignore.
      A reconfigured ground floor features a large community kitchenThe trustees, led by local resident Helen Kyle, approached New Practice after seeing Many Studios, a creative hub that the architects created in a converted Glasgow market hall.
      The challenge was not only to refurbish the building but also to help support the community’s ambition to buy the property, by improving opportunities for income generation.

      RCKa designs Nourish Hub to tackle food poverty in London

      Thanks to government and lottery funding, the architects were able to plan a full overhaul of the interior in collaboration with engineering firm Max Fordham.
      The roof was replaced as sensitively as possible, while the interior layout was gently adjusted to make room for a lift.
      A double-helix staircase, originally sub-divided, has been opened upThe atrium, which was once subdivided to separate boys and girls, is now opened up. The result is a space that feels generous and bright, thanks to the skylight overhead.
      Three floors of classroom and office spaces have been adapted for a range of uses. A community kitchen can be found on the ground floor, while the second level has become a co-working space.
      The building was taken over by the community following a sit-in in 1996″A key decision that we had to make was to ensure that the work that we were doing in the building didn’t sanitise this rich, abrasive history of activism and community-led dialogues and debates,” said Cairns.
      “We really tried to keep that at the forefront of our thinking.”
      Original wood floors have been rejuvenatedFlexible partitions allows the ground- and first-floor halls to be easily subdivided if required.
      Other spaces include a quiet room that could be used for anything from prayer to breast-feeding, and a series of small studios and workshops.
      The restored handrails are painted in the same burgundy they were in the pastRealising the project in the context of the pandemic proved a challenge. With the architects unable to be on site all the time, they found it difficult to fully realise their ambition to reuse as much as possible.
      Thomas and Cairns recall coming to site to find elements such as doors and balustrade railings had been thrown away by builders, despite their instructions.
      Nonetheless there are still plenty of recycled details to be found, including a framed patch of original wallpaper and a series of storage cabinets built into the walls.
      Original details, like a patch of ageing wallpaper, are celebratedThey hope the building can help to become a positive example of adaptive reuse, particularly in light of the COP26 environmental conference that recently took place in Glasgow.
      This sentiment is echoed by Sturgeon: “The challenge of refurbishing and imagining a building like this, for decades to come, is fantastically dynamic for the architecture and design industries,” she said.
      “We just took it for granted that buildings would reach the end of their natural life and then they would sort of fall into dereliction, and thankfully communities decided that that wasn’t going to happen. So we’ve learned how to reimagine things for the future and preserve for the future.”
      Photography is by Will Scott. Video is by Pretend Lovers.

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      Amity Street Residence is a “minimal but warm” New York apartment

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      Interior design studios Rawan Muqaddas and Selma Akkari have renovated an apartment in a 20th-century building in Brooklyn, New York, adding warm and natural materials to the residential space.

      Amity Street Residence is located on the fourth floor of a stone building that was built in 1910, overlooking a quiet but central corner of the city at the intersection of Amity and Clinton street.
      Amity Street Residence has been renovated into an open plan apartment. Photo by Clement PascalNew York studio Selma Akkari collaborated with London studio Rawan Muqqadas on the 1,400 square-foot interiors, which have been updated from a “neglected” apartment into a space filled with warm colours.
      As part of the renovation, the studios rearranged the rooms to create space for an additional third bedroom if required.
      Rawan Muqaddas collaborated with Selma Akkari to create a warm interior”A dialogue of opposites was the main theme behind the creation; minimal but warm, understated yet rich,” said Rawan Muqaddas, founder of eponymous studio Rawan Muqaddas.

      “We wanted to retain the essence of the 1910 building by reinterpreting the original traditional details, which we were excited to build on,” she told Dezeen.
      “The previous owners of the apartment called this their home for decades, leaving behind layers of history and some areas that were left neglected.”
      Stained oak shelves line the back of the dining areaThe two studios transformed the single floor apartment into an open-plan living, kitchen and dining area. A handful of original features, such as the decorative cornice and bold skirting, were preserved.
      The living space now boasts views across the street from the two large bay windows, which had previously been obscured.
      Cream coloured paint lines the walls. Photo by Clement Pascal”The first thing that caught our eye was the 30-foot apartment frontage composed of the width across both bay windows,” recalled Muqaddas.
      “As it stood, the windows felt shy and in hiding; we wanted to do the opposite and celebrate the curve.”
      Large bay windows were made into a focal pointFloors in the apartment have been covered in warm wood, while the walls were painted in a creamy neutral colour. A couple of contemporary chairs frame the window and let the inhabitants enjoy the street views.
      “A warm colour palette was deployed to unify the spaces by way of gentle oak floors, cream-hued walls that contrasted with dark stone, and stained wood inset bookshelves,” said Selma Akkari, founder of Selma Akkari.
      A study area sits at the back of the room and could easily be swapped for a third bedroom if necessary, the designers said.

      Rawan Muqaddas designs Sloane Street Deli to be a “classic neighbourhood spot”

      The studios also retained the apartment’s curved interior arches that run through its core. These openings help create a feeling of space.
      “To encourage a dialogue between the interior and exterior, we wanted to carry through the historic curved facade into the curved interior arches,” Akkari told Dezeen.
      “This was the guiding theme throughout the process: opening up the front area as the living and dining space and dedicating the quieter area to the more private spaces at the back.”
      The apartment has oak flooringThe apartment now has an airy aluminium-clad kitchen with an island counter and a long marble shelf in place of overhead storage cabinets.
      “We were very attracted to contrasting and unexpected colours and textures, in particular, the brushed metal counter topped with a veiny marble, with a backdrop of dark smoked oak shelving,” said Akkari.
      The same warm palette is continued in the bedrooms. Photo by Clement PascalThe warm material palette continues in the master bedroom and second bedroom, where the same flooring and beige furnishings can be found.
      More Brooklyn interiors include a townhouse with a striking staircase by New York studio Space4Architecture and a family-friendly townhouse called Bed-Stuy by Brooklyn studio Civilian.
      Photography is by Sean Davidson unless stated otherwise.

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      Four-storey spiral staircase forms focal point of BSP20 House in Barcelona

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      A towering spiral staircase and a golden kitchen are some of the features that Raúl Sánchez Architects has introduced in its renovation of this townhouse in Barcelona’s Borne neighbourhood.

      BSP20 House has been in the making since 2013, when Raúl Sánchez Architects was approached by the building’s owners to turn it into a live-work space where they could stay during visits to the city.
      A white spiral staircase rises up from the ground floorHowever, due to regulatory issues, construction works didn’t begin for another seven years. During this period the already dilapidated building fell into further ruin, and at one point was even used as a squat.
      When the renovation finally got underway in August 2020, Raúl Sánchez Architects decided to completely gut the building, only leaving behind the four exterior walls and roof.
      This level of the home also features a brass kitchen suiteAs a result, three new floor levels have been inserted, each installed in such a way so that they don’t touch the building’s front or rear facades.

      Some of the resulting gaps have been filled with panes of glass, allowing residents to steal glimpses of different levels of the home.
      The staircase grants access to each of the home’s four levelsA huge void on the right side of BSP20’s interior now accommodates a white spiral staircase that winds up through the ground, first, second and third floors, all the way to the decked terrace on top of the building.
      Positioned directly above the stairs is a glazed opening that lets natural light filter deep into the plan.
      Rooms have largely been left empty so they can be used for different purposesSeeing the building in such a bare state at the beginning of the renovation process encouraged Raul Sanchez Architects to keep its rough, time-worn brick walls.
      “Those four walls, over 15 metres high, are a museum of the building’s history, where any trace of its construction, and of its use, will be left unaltered, exposed in all its crudeness,” said the studio.
      Raúl Sánchez Architects has preserved the building’s original brick wallsA similarly hands-off approach has been taken with the rest of the interior; most rooms have been largely left without fixtures and fittings so that, if necessary, they can be used for different purposes in the future.
      On the ground floor there is a kitchen, its cabinetry crafted from lustrous brass.
      “In terms of materiality, a certain refinement has been pursued in the new elements to be implemented, in opposition to the crude expressiveness of the existing walls, conscious that the space must house a home,” explained the studio.
      Natural light seeps in from a glazed opening above the staircaseOn the second floor there is only a bathroom lined with cream-coloured lacquered wood, finished with gold-tone hardware.
      The electrics, air-conditioning system and telephone wires have also been concealed within six steel tubes that run upwards through the home.
      Pale lacquered wood lines surfaces in the bathroomWhen it came to restoring BSP20’s facade, the practice had to follow strict heritage guidelines – but it was granted more freedom in the appearance of the front door.
      It’s now clad with three different types of aluminium, and features a graphic rhomboidal design that nods to the patterned hydraulic floor tiles seen inside the house.
      The home was given a new geometric-print front doorRaúl Sánchez Architects has completed several residential projects in its home city of Barcelona.
      Others include The Magic Box Apartment, which features a huge gold wardrobe, and Atic Aribau, which has bright, stripped-back interiors.
      Photography is by José Hevia.
      Project credits:
      Architecture: Raúl SánchezArchitecture team: Valentina Barberio, Paolo BurattiniStructure consultant: Diagonal ArquitecturaEngineering: Marés Ingenieros

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      MAWD revamps lobby and atrium of Denver tower designed by IM Pei

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      Design studio MAWD has redone the interiors of an IM Pei tower in Denver, Colorado, including the lobby and an adjoining Philip Johnson-designed atrium.

      The London and US-based interiors studio redesigned aspects of the interiors at the 23-storey commercial tower 1700 Broadway in downtown Denver for Beacon Capital.
      MAWD updated the 27,000-square-foot (250-square-metre) lobby and atrium – the latter attached in 1983 by architect Philip Johnson, almost 30 years after the tower’s completion.
      MAWD redesigned both the lobby of the IM Pei tower and the attached atriumRebranded as the Atrium Campus, the extensive redesign of 1700 Broadway – which was the first skyscraper in the city – includes an update to the security desk, a lounge, and updates to the streetscape.
      Influenced by the mid-century architecture of the original design, MAWD included a massive communal fireplace with travertine accents. The coherence with the original was achieved through using repurposed stone from other parts of the building.

      The front desk was placed back and out of the way, and is surrounded by wooden louvres”We drilled into the mid-century details that were prevalent, authentic and ‘of-the-moment’,” said Elliot March, design lead on the project.
      The designers surrounded the fireplace area with long and short tables for gathering, as well as booths along the walls. Wooden louvres were placed over the welcome desk to highlight the green wall behind it.
      The seating around the lobby looks out into the atrium “streetscape”The lobby is framed by the black colonnades that define the structure from the street, which open up to the atrium.
      Johnson’s sloping atrium, which wraps around the lobby, was redesigned as an extension of the “streetscape” indoors. From the entrance is a walkway between the walls of the atrium and the open lobby, where benches, greenery and fixtures that imitate street lamps were placed.
      Steps were added in the atrium to increase social spaceThese elements lead up to an addition that the designers refer to as “Spanish steps”.
      This structure is pyramidal and works with the changes in elevation of the site to create more sitting and social areas in the atrium.

      “With IM Pei’s death, the last of the modern monument makers has passed”

      The steps climb towards a mezzanine that connects the atrium to a covered walkway over Broadway, as well as to the second floor of the building.
      On the second floor, MAWD revamped 9,300 square feet (863.9 square metres) for amenities including a gym, yoga studio, and conference rooms.
      MAWD added a lounge space on the second floorThe purpose of the design, according to MAWD was “to attract leading companies during the area’s tech boom, providing flexible and responsive spaces for the future of work”.
      The legacy of Chinese-American architect IM Pei, who died in 2019 aged 102, continues to draw interest; the Mesa Lab in nearby Boulder, Colorado, has become a focal point for architectural photographers. His structures that have received updates in recent years include Eskenazi Museum in Bloomington, Indiana, renovated by Ennead Architects.
      The photography is by Robert Benson.

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      La Firme reorganises centuries-old Montreal loft with contemporary finishes

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      Montreal architecture studio La Firme has reorganised an apartment in a 1800s textile mill, using cabinetry to shape the new interior configuration.

      The Elmire Condo was completed for a young couple in Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal area.
      “This project took a space in a mid-19th century building that’s been a textile mill, a Campbell’s soup factory, and finally a condo complex,” said La Firme, a local studio whose name means simply The Firm.
      The apartment is located Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal areaLa Firme left much of the original structure exposed, including tall, rough-hewn timber beams and brick walls with structural arches as passages between rooms.
      According to the studio, these original elements serve as a “counterpoint” to their intervention, which consists of a series of white oak cabinets that delineate that redefine the rooms, while offering an abundance of storage for the owners.

      La Firme left structural arches and brickwork exposed”These contrasting elements organise the space into a rectangular area for the kitchen and salon, and an L-shaped loft for the master bedroom and bath, with a combination gallery, conservatory and meditative space,” said La Firme.
      The studio was able to include two bathrooms as part of the renovation: one for guests and the other within the primary bedroom. Plenty of stone is used throughout the apartment, reflecting the owner’s passion for geology.
      The apartment features a raised salonWithin the ensuite bathroom, a wall is finished in Calcatta marble that was bookmatched to create a subtle geometric pattern with the veins of the stone. “Natural light comes in from the gallery space through a band of glass blocks, in a wink to 1980s condo design,” La Firme explained.
      The long kitchen countertop sits partially at bar-height, then transitions to table height due to a step in the apartment floor. “The kitchen embodies [the client’s] love of minerals and culinary passion,” said La Firme.

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      “Quebec’s geological richness is brought inside with the island countertop, a slab of Labradorite granite that extends into a table on a raised platform,” they added.
      Beyond the kitchen is the salon, which is raised a few steps higher, and enjoys clear views of the city’s Mont Royal. Within these steps, the architects included a concealed pull-out bed for guests.
      Contemporary elements contrast with the centuries-old buildingOpposite the kitchen is a counter with drawers offering flexible storage or a place to work from home.
      Through the brick arches is the conservatory, a secondary living area separated from the combined living room and kitchen.
      Two bathrooms are included in the renovation”The gallery/conservatory is the loft area’s raison d’être,” La Firme explained. “Bright and open, it puts on display the clients’ other great loves: an impressive collection of contemporary art and a space for playing music.”
      Besides the white oak cabinets and occasional stone accents, the architects kept to a relatively limited palette for the intervention.
      Other apartment renovations in Montreal include a 1920s unit that Naturehumaine renovated with curved walls and pale green cabinetry, and a residential extension wrapped in galvanised metal.
      The photography is by Ulysse Lemerise Bouchard.

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      Jorge Almazán creates minimal broken-plan interior for House in Honjo

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      Suspended ceilings and unnecessary partition walls were removed in this minimalist revamp of a house in Japan’s Saitama Prefecture, designed by Jorge Almazán Architects.

      House in Honjo was previously divided into rooms and corridors, which made it feel small and cramped.
      Removing walls created a more open ground floorArchitect Jorge Almazán and his team designed a new ground-floor layout that removed as many partition walls as possible, creating a continuous living space that offers a greater feeling of spaciousness.
      The new layout is broken-plan rather than open-plan; the space is loosely divided up into different zones by the few remaining partition walls, and a few custom furniture pieces.
      The remaining partition walls create a broken-plan layoutAs well as creating extra head height, the removal of the suspended ceiling boards reveals the steel structural beams and wooden joists, giving the home a more utilitarian feel.

      House in Honjo is home to a fashion critic who recently relocated from Tokyo for work.
      Although the 163-square-metre property did not meet her requirements, the location was convenient for her job. She asked Almazán to redesign the 97-square-metre ground floor, leaving the rest of the building intact.
      A suspended ceiling was removed to reveal structural beams”Her home had to be spacious and filled with natural light, as well as a place where she could hold family and friend gatherings,” explained Jorge Almazán Architects.
      The new broken-plan living space incorporates an entrance hall, a lounge, a dining space and a kitchen organised around an island.
      Privacy can be created by placing more items on the shelvesInformed by the client’s interest in fashion, Almazán added different material textures to each space. The kitchen features a stainless steel worktop, the dining area centres around a marble table, and the lounge features white leather upholstery.
      “Each element is ‘dressed’ with a distinctive tactile and visual experience,” said the studio.
      A new window was added in the loungeWood features heavily throughout. The flooring is birch wood, while plywood lines the walls and provides furniture, including shelves and sideboards that act as space dividers.
      More or less privacy can be created by adding or removing elements from the shelving that separates the lounge and the dining area from the entrance hall.

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      Flexibility was considered throughout. The lounge furniture can be easily moved to create room for exercise or, in the future, children’s play space, while the dining table is designed to also function as a workspace.
      Underfloor heating ensures that the space will stay comfortable during Saitama’s notoriously cold winters, while the more open layout creates more opportunities for cross ventilation in the warmer summer months.
      A plywood sideboard creates a natural space dividerA new window was installed to increase the volume of natural light in the lounge space, with a window sill that is deep enough to allow space for pot plants, while a skylight was added in the hallway.
      A new toilet and utility room was also created as part of the renovation, which helps to rationalise the layout at the rear of the ground floor.
      Plywood also lines the walls of the renovated living spacesHouse in Honjo “has proved to be especially suited for the new domestic conditions imposed by the pandemic,” noted Jorge Almazán Architects.
      “The comfort of natural light and ventilation, the rich tactility of its surfaces, and the spatial openness and versatility have allowed this renovated house to become an enjoyable interior oasis.”
      Plants can be displayed on the deep window sillsHome renovations are less common in Japan than other countries, as rebuilding is usually the preferred option.
      Japanese real estate firm Goodlife recently set out to change this, with the renovation of a compact apartment in Tokyo. Other recent examples include a minimally furnished flat in Nagoya.
      Photography is by Montse Zamorano.
      Project credits
      Architect: Jorge Almazán ArchitectsDesign team: Jorge Almazán, Javier Celaya, Gaku Inoue, Rumi Okazaki.Contractor (interior and furniture): Shibata Kenchiku Design RoomElectricity: Uchimura DenkiKitchen manufacturer: Kitazawa Kitchen

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      Pastel colours and textured concrete decorate Stockholm hair salon

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      Westblom Krasse Arkitektkontor has designed the interior for a minimalist hair salon that was informed by architect Carlo Scarpa’s geometric designs and the muted colours of 1920s swimming baths.

      Called Little Faktory, the salon was designed and renovated by the local architecture studio for hairdresser Sofia Geideby and is located in a former office in Stockholm, Sweden.
      Circle and square shapes define Little FaktoryWestblom Krasse Arkitektkontor overhauled the 220-square-metre basement space, which is over one hundred years old, to reveal its original textured concrete walls and exposed steel structure.
      As the salon is located underground, the studio explained that it also had to be “very careful working with artificial light”.
      Round mirrors hang above black chairsIts design for Little Faktory was intended to be minimalist and streamlined.

      “Our aim was to declutter the former office and create one big open space, making its four pillars the heroes of the main room again,” studio co-founder Jesper Westblom told Dezeen. “The challenge was to reduce, rather than to add things.”
      The salon features four original pillarsIn line with this pared-back approach, the firm painted the salon’s walls in a delicate, light yellow hue that intends to brighten its basement setting and maintain but soften the space’s industrial feel.
      Circles and squares are dotted throughout the salon in the form of mirrors and furniture. According to Westblom, they were informed by the geometric shapes seen in the late Italian architect Scarpa’s designs.
      The studio also drew on Scarpa’s use of contrasting colours.
      A washing station is located behind a perforated metal screenFreestanding haircutting stations are arranged in the centre of the salon’s main studio. These feature thick side tables shaped like plus-signs, as well as round mirrors mounted on powder-coated steel tubes.
      On one side of the main space, black leather chairs sit opposite a floating table that lines the concrete wall, above which embellished circular mirrors and square-shaped display shelves are positioned.
      Gustaf Westman recreated one of his mirrors in a bespoke colour for the projectA washing station can be found on the other side of the room, which is subtly separated from the rest of the area by a cloverleaf perforated metal screen that echoes the plus-shape used elsewhere.
      “The customer and the hairstylist represent one square each, on both sides, resulting in the plus shape,” Westblom explained.

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      A colour lab, VIP area and private office space are located behind bespoke, glazed double doors, while the entrance stairwell is illuminated with spidery neon lights by designer Josefin Eklund.
      Also among the salon’s bespoke elements is a rectilinear mirror with a bulbous blue frame by Gustaf Westman, a design that the Swedish artist recreated in a custom colour specifically for the project.
      LED lights illuminate the stairwell in neonAll of Little Faktory’s interiors are created in a muted combination of the primary colours of red, yellow and blue, which Westblom explained is an ode to the salon’s slogan, “the colourful kind”.
      “We looked at some early, inspirational images that set the tone of the project,” he said.
      “One image, in particular, was of 1920s public baths with beautiful cream-coloured tiles, orange and red details and, of course, a blue swimming pool. This ended up forming our main colour scheme.”
      Mirrors shaped like paint splashes liven up the customer toiletThe project’s emphasis on colour is repeated in the customer toilet, where playful mirrors shaped like paint splashes are arranged opposite each other in an attempt to create an infinity effect.
      Little Faktory’s material palette includes rubber flooring, reeded glass and dyed fibreboard, which intend to complement the salon’s existing elements and provide functional solutions to its customers’ needs.
      Little Faktory is a basement hair salonJesper Westblom and Robin Krasse founded their eponymous Stockholm-based architecture firm in January 2021.
      Other recent hair salon designs that have colour and texture at their core include Danielle Brustman’s Mitch Studio – a Melbourne salon that features yellow accents and glass partitions – and Mood, a hair studio by Casa Antillón in Madrid with bold mint-green ceilings sprayed with insulation foam.
      The photography is by Mikael Olsson.

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