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      Ali Budd Interiors transforms Muskoka log cabin into art-filled cottage

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      Toronto studio Ali Budd Interiors has transformed a dated wooden log cabin into a comfortable Canadian holiday home, with a wood-lined sunroom, vintage rugs and art by Andy Warhol.The studio was asked to renovate the cottage in Muskoka, Ontario and turn it into a neutral but comfortable backdrop for its owners’ extensive art collection.
      “As the clients are big art collectors, we wanted to not only design the perfect space for the family to enjoy the surrounding nature, but create the perfect canvas to showcase their artwork,” founder Ali Budd told Dezeen.

      Top: monochrome furniture in the Great Room. Above: a crumpled newspaper artwork by Paul Rousso

      In each of the cottage’s rooms, fabrics designed to withstand an “indoor-outdoor” lifestyle are chosen for their practical but chic appearance.
      Mindful of Ontario’s extreme climate and the many visitors who are invited to enjoy a family’s second home, the studio made sure to choose materials that will endure considerable wear and tear.
      “While maintaining the charm of a cottage, we modernised the space by mixing textures, incorporating custom furniture designed by Ali Budd Interiors, and adding hints of black to give it that contemporary look,” explained Budd.

      Ali Budd Interiors chose materials for their ability to withstand wear and tear
      Ali Budd Interiors’ design choices balance this practical need with its clients’ love of both white interiors and natural wood.

      Mjölk Architekti updates Czech cottage with burnt-wood cladding and revamped interior

      In the cottage’s Great Room, the main living room, these design elements include neutral-coloured armchairs and a sofa by Ali Budd Interiors that have been fabricated by Cooper Brothers.

      Monochrome furniture surrounds a bespoke coffee table
      A pair of plush shearling ottomans from Luxe Pour Maison sits nearby, complemented by a bespoke Ali Budd white oak coffee table topped with a white Corian surface. A newspaper artwork by Paul Rousso adds colour to the room.
      The cottage also has a Muskoka room, a type of screened-in porch that acts as a sunroom. In this instance, it acts as an open-plan living room attached to the property’s dining area.

      Patterned Moroccan poufs add colour to The Muskoka Room
      The dining area is complete with a custom-made white Ali Budd dining table, and an iconic Campbell’s soup artwork by Andy Warhol. Black and white chairs from Restoration Hardware are positioned around the monochrome table.
      The Muskoka room’s panoramic windows give guests the feeling of being outside while they lounge on a custom curved grey sofa that hugs the room’s curved walls.
      “There is so much beauty outside this property, and we wanted to ensure that all of those elements shone through,” said Budd.
      Other interior highlights in the Muskoka room include a central round coffee table by Garcia Group, and vintage rugs and colourful Moroccan pous from Mellah Rugs.

      An iconic piece by Andy Warhol hangs in the dining room
      Throughout the house, colourful accents such as these poufs add bright texture to an otherwise white and minimal backdrop.
      “As we were working with a monochromatic palette, we were able to layer different finishes and textiles to create something part eclectic and part chic,” continued Budd.

      Porcelain countertops are seen throughout the sleek kitchen
      This monochrome theme is particularly emphasised in the black and white kitchen. Perhaps the most pared-back and modern of the cottage’s rooms, exposed natural beams are the kitchen’s only hint of the former log cabin.
      Durable porcelain forms the room’s countertops, and a Sonneman pendant light is suspended over the sleek kitchen island.

      An original artwork by Douglas Copeland fits between the staircase’s wooden beams
      More exposed beams above the cottage’s wooden staircase perfectly frame an original painting by Douglas Copeland, its bright colours offsetting the plain white walls on which it hangs.

      Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage saved by Art Fund campaign

      Upstairs in the main bedroom, a black woven bed from American brand CB2 continues the cottage’s overall monochrome theme, while wiggly Graffito-print cushions by Kelly Wearstler soften the room’s clean lines.

      Graffito-print cushions add pattern to an otherwise minimal bedroom
      A final standout feature is the cottage’s renovated powder room. Originally one of the most dated-looking parts of the property, Ali Budd Interiors redesigned the room with bespoke millwork and an elegant custom-made mirror.
      Ali Budd Interiors is a female-led Toronto-based firm founded in 2010.
      More cosy cottages include this off-grid cabin in upstate New York and another log cabin renovation for a lake house in Quebec.
      Photography is by Ali Budd Interiors.

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      DU Studio revamps Zhengzhou Yutong Bus headquarters

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      Dezeen promotion: DU Studio has redesigned the headquarters of Zhengzhou Yutong Bus in Zhengzhou, China, creating an updated corporate identity while reusing up to 60 per cent of the existing structure and materials.Zhengzhou Yutong Bus – China’s largest electric bus manufacturer – commissioned interior design firm DU Studio in 2017 to update its head office and create a space that better reflected company’s successful development in recent years.
      The goal was to improve the building’s spatial efficiency, aesthetics and sustainability, creating a multifunctional environment while reusing the majority of the existing structure and materials.

      A three-storey green wall towers over the main sales lobby at the Zhengzhou Yutong Bus headquarters

      Located in Zhengzhou’s Jingkai District, the headquarters comprises of a 12-storey research and development building and a 15-storey sales office – totalling approximately 60,000 square metres that encompasses multiple lobbies, public spaces, workspaces and VIP areas.
      “The main challenge of this renovation was to make the best use of the existing structure, materials, and equipment, and to upgrade the function and aesthetics of the space as much as possible so that it better fit Yutong’s corporate culture,” said DU Studio founder Zhu Ping.

      Curving room dividers and tables in the financial hall mimic the design of the brand’s buses
      The studio overhauled the main lobby of the sales building, creating a green wall that stretches three levels to bring plants into the building and underscore the renovation’s sustainability goals.
      A new sculptural reception desk features three metal rings, one on the floor as the desk itself and two suspended from a central column.

      DU Studio added improved lighting in the financial hall, including a light box to create a more human scale
      These rings symbolise the wheels of the buses manufactured by the company, and one features a bright digital display screen. DU Studio added new ceiling lights to make the space feel brighter and more welcoming.
      The studio also switched up the lighting in the building’s financial hall, putting a large light box in the ceiling to create softly diffused light. Low, curving room dividers and tables mimic the design of the brand’s buses.

      In the sales reception hall, planters represent gears and the lights are wheels
      The light box “brings the space to the human body scale, increasing the intimacy and forming a cozy waiting area,” according to Ping.
      DU Studio also channelled this mechanical inspiration into the tree-filled planter benches in the sales reception hall, which are designed to look like gears biting together.

      Black panels were added to the hall to help absorb sound
      Ring-shaped pendant lamps are suspended over this atrium and also represent wheels, while doubling as sound-absorption units. To further improve the acoustics in the hall, black panels were added to act as sound baffles and break up the harsh reflective surfaces.
      Each office floor has a dedicated coffee area for employees to use, as well as two new cafes for visitors to the headquarters.

      Wood panels fixed to the walls at different angles are influenced by the movement of gear wheels
      For the second-floor cafe, located next to the exhibition area, DU Studio used burnished metal panels to evoke machinery parts.
      Another cafe, located on the building’s 15th floor, is intended to be used by overseas business visitors. Tranquil blue hues were chosen to evoke the ocean, while white ceiling panels installed at different heights mimic clouds.

      The 15th-floor cafe for overseas visitors is designed to be calm
      Wooden panels line the atrium reserved for VIP guests, which also features trees in planters to represent growth and prosperity. “The renovation design used dense and varied wood grain grids to raise up the three-story height, unifying the visual effect and strengthening the vertical sense of the space,” said Ping.
      In the research and development building, DU Studio transformed the previously cramped lobby into a two-storey space covered with a futuristic stainless steel ceiling and glass walls.

      Wood panels and trees can be found in the VIP atrium
      Each R&D office floor is equipped with exhibition and social spaces for employees to gather in, helping to foster a sense of community.
      For the communal spaces of the offices, display shelves feature a decorative pattern of tyre tracks. Lots of different types of seating give employees a range of comfortable places to meet or work from.

      Tyre tracks are printed on the walls of the office space
      Splashes of blue, the Yutong Bus livery colour, brighten up the open-plan desk areas, which feature lots of plants too. A pattern of buses picked out in grey over a blue wall decorates the office’s storage space.
      Since its completion in November 2020, over 5,000 employees have moved into the revamped headquarters. DU Studio hopes to have created an environment in which they can work more efficiently and enjoyably.

      A motif of buses decorates the open-plan office
      “It was important to analyse in great detail the corporate structure and functional requirements of the spaces, take full use of the existing materials and conditions, and strive to achieve maximum improvement on the quality of the spaces that are functional, aesthetically pleasing, and same time provide a strong sense of comfort and well-being,” said Ping.
      The designer founded her Shanghai-based studio around the principles of developing “healthy, humanistic and happy” spaces that include retail, offices, education centres and more. Visit the firm’s website for more information.
      Project credits:
      Client: Zhengzhou Yutong BusInterior design: DU Studio (向合空间)Design director: Zhu PingInterior design group: Cai Xinhang, Jiang Yishan, Shen YiwenTechnology consultant: Yan GangLighting: BPI
      Partnership content
      This article was written by Dezeen for DU Studio as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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      Merooficina carves up former fisherman's house into two bright apartments

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      Porto architecture practice Merooficina has converted a former fisherman’s house in Aveiro, Portugal, into two apartments that blend original features with new interventions.Casa da Beiramar is located in the historic neighbourhood of Beira-Mar with its colourful terraced houses. These have long, narrow floor plans and an adobe structure, meaning they are built from bricks made of earth and other organic materials.

      Above: Casa da Beiramar is situated in Aveiro’s Beira-Mar neighbourhood. Top image: the ground-floor flat now opens up onto a patio
      Clad in traditional azulejos tiles and decorated with green ceramic flowerpots, the houses were originally built for the local fishing community.
      “This part of the city has been witnessing an interesting fusion between the old dwellers and more recent inhabitants,” explained Merooficina founders Catarina Ribeiro and Vitório Leite.

      The downstairs kitchen features yellow tiles and marble countertops

      The studio was commissioned by one of these new residents to restore a two-storey, 150-square-metre adobe house, which sits on a corner plot with two street-facing facades.
      The client asked Merooficina to create a flexible design that would allow the building to be used in multiple different ways – initially as two apartments but with a longterm view of converting it back into a single house or an office for the owner’s new psychology practice.

      The stairwell leading up to the first-floor apartment is painted blue
      “We understand flexibility as a way to enrich ageing buildings,” said the studio. “It’s a matter of adding and layering possibilities on a specific place, so the new occupation can be multiple and transformative.”
      Using the house’s two existing entrances, the studio was able to create two separate apartments – one on each floor of the building. The first-floor apartment can be reached via a bright blue stairwell, while the ground-floor apartment is accessed directly from the street.

      Palma Hideaway in Mallorca is obscured from the street by a tiny tiled garden

      A door that connects the two apartments at the bottom of the stairwell has been temporarily closed off but yellow panes of glass help to funnel light into the stairwell.
      The studio restored and reinforced the existing adobe walls and floors to improve the apartments’ thermal and acoustic insulation. Original windows, doors and other structural and ornamental elements were retained as much as possible.

      A new balcony juts out over the patio
      The biggest intervention was the addition of a new steel structure, which allowed the back of the building to be opened up. Here, the previous owners had added a haphazard extension using ceramic bricks and steel sheets, covering what used to be a patio.
      This structure was demolished to return the space to its former use, while pivot windows were added to open up the ground floor apartment to the outdoor space.
      The patio walls are clad in a gradient of yellow tiles that were painted by a local artist, in a homage to Aveiro’s long history of tile production.

      The yellow tiles from the kitchen are matched on the patio
      The patio connects to an open-plan living and dining area and a kitchen, which features matching yellow tiles, marble countertops and birch plywood cupboards.
      From the kitchen, a mirrored door leads to the bathroom, bedroom and kitchen.
      A glazed balcony was added above the new patio on the first floor, which houses a bathroom and a bathtub enrobed in a white curtain to create a barrier between the bather and the busy street.

      The bathtub is hidden from view through a white curtain
      “We wanted to mix and match the ambiences of both apartments using the tiles and other details, but they are quite different,” Ribeiro told Dezeen.
      “In the upstairs apartment, we tried to retain all of the existing features, such as the windows and wood detailing – adding only the glazed balcony in the bathroom and a new kitchen. Downstairs, however, was in a very bad state when we began the project. So here we used a cleaner, more minimal design language and organisation.”

      Pinewood flooring runs through the first-floor apartment
      In the upstairs kitchen, the architects restored the original tiles, brown rose plaster and marble as well as replacing the pinewood flooring.
      Whenever the owners want to convert the property back into a single dwelling, the apartments can easily be connected via the door at the bottom of the stairwell while the kitchen on the first floor could be converted into an additional bedroom.

      Yellow glass panes separate the two apartments
      Alternatively, the downstairs entrance, bathroom and bedroom could be closed off from the kitchen and living room and turned into an office for the owner’s work as a psychologist.
      “The mixture between the new interventions and the existing, recovered features is a liquid blend between two ways of building,” explained the architects. “One more universal – related to the new habits and comfort demands of the new inhabitants – and the other more vernacular, related to the place, the existing building and the local culture.”
      In Spain, Iterare Arquitectos used traditional construction techniques and local materials to update a 100-year-old home in a former fisherman’s neighbourhood in Valencia. The minimalist interior is designed to blend in with its historical surroundings.
      Photography is by Tiago Casanova.

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      Office S&M injects bold colours into renovated Mo-tel House in London

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      An abundance of bright hues and recycled materials were used by London studio Office S&M to renovate a Georgian townhouse in Islington.

      Mo-tel House now has a kitchen at the front
      The Mo-tel House project involved remodelling the lower ground floor of a home owned by the founder of online fashion rental service On Loan and her family.
      The company promotes reusing garments rather than buying new, so the architects took a similar approach when selecting materials for the renovation.

      Rearranging the layout created a space for dining to the rear

      These include melted, discarded milk bottles and chopping boards for bathroom counters; leftover marble chips for kitchen worktops; and crushed bricks for ceramic pendant lamps.
      “Mo-tel challenged us to see reuse as a design tool for bold new ideas, and we found value and opportunities in materials that would otherwise have been overlooked,” said Office S&M founding partner Catrina Stewart.

      Custom furniture pieces include a seating nook for the dining area, which also incorporates storage
      Overhauling the terraced north London home began with opening up the dark and cramped space at the home’s entrance level.
      Removing the internal dividing wall allowed light to enter the living area from both front and back elevations, and also afforded a change of layout. The kitchen was moved to the front of the building, and a dining and seating area inserted towards the rear.

      A wide variety of colours are applied across the open-plan space
      Larger design elements were treated like scaled-down architectural features. For example, a pale pink structure with a double-pitched “roof” was added to provide a dining bench, seating nook and storage unit.
      In the kitchen, a light blue volume with a rounded top forms a pantry and acts as a visual anchor for green terrazzo countertops made from the recycled marble.

      Pink and green house designed by Office S&M to offer antidote to London’s “dire rental market”

      An apple-green shade was applied to the ceiling, window recesses and a band around the upper walls, complementing the surface of a pill-shaped dining table.
      Office S&M, founded by Stewart and partner Hugh McEwen, is no stranger to colour. Its previous projects in London include a house extension with bright yellow accents and a property painted Millennial pink.

      A ground floor bathroom pairs pale pink and dark tiles
      At Mo-tel House, the studio also chose teal cupboards, a pink tile kitchen backsplash, and tinted mirrors throughout the home.
      Pale timber floorboards are laid diagonally and contrast with the brightly coloured surfaces, which extend to hardware like radiators, light switches, electrical outlets and door handles.

      A colourful staircase leads up to another bathroom
      The renovation, totalling 55 square metres, also encompassed bathrooms on two levels that are stacked at the back of the building.
      On the lower ground floor, the first is reached through a pink utility room and is lined with dark tiles.

      The ground-floor bathroom features yellow accents and recycled plastic counters
      The second bathroom is reached by climbing a staircase decorated in pink and yellow. This washroom was reconfigured to fit a shower as well as a bathtub, and now features the recycled plastic surfaces made from recycled plastic.
      Yellow tile grout was chosen to match the bathroom’s window frame and shower curtain, while the rest of the space is white.
      Photography is by French + Tye.
      Project credits:
      Architect: Office S&MEngineer: Foster StructuresContractor: McEllingott BuildingFurniture build: McEllingott BuildingKitchen surfaces: In OperaRecycled plastic surfaces: Smile Plastics

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      O-office Architects transforms abandoned factory buildings into Chinese tea museum

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      O-office Architects has converted several buildings on a tea plantation near Guangzhou, China, into a cultural centre featuring a rooftop garden wrapped in bamboo screens.As part of the (Re)forming Duichuan Tea Yards project, local firm O-office Architects was tasked with revitalising three disused buildings at the plantation in the Gaoming District of Guangdong Province.

      O-office Architects has converted three factory buildings into an exhibition space
      The site in Duichuan Village was established as a tea plantation in the 1950s and comprises more than 300 acres of gently rolling hills dotted with small lakes.
      O-office Architects was approached to help transform three factory buildings into an exhibition space in 2017, after the tea yard had been abandoned and fallen into disrepair when the demand for its tea declined at the start of the 21st century.

      The buildings are decorated with bamboo screens. Photo is by Huang Chengqiang

      The exhibition space is located at the heart of the reestablished production facility, which will soon begin harvesting its first new crop of Duichuan tea.
      The renovated buildings now contain exhibits offering visitors a historic overview of Duichuan tea culture, alongside a fine-dining restaurant and the tea yard’s offices.

      A new stone podium wrapping the buildings frames views of the landscape
      The three 1980s edifices are situated on a small island in an artificial reservoir that also contains woodland, with low-rise former workers’ housing nestled amongst the trees.
      Exposed concrete structures and narrow-framed steel windows were retained to evoke the buildings’ industrial heritage. The architects also sought to enhance the connection between the former production spaces and the surrounding plantation.

      The complex is surrounded by several ponds and trees
      “We tried to find a simple spatial prototype for the reconstruction of the site to load the envisioned cultural settlement,” said the architects in a project statement.
      “The design gradually approached a concept of the mixture of ‘pavilion’ and ‘podium’,” the studio added. “We tried to evolve the prototype of the ‘pavilion’ into a settlement that encompasses production and detour.”

      Roof gardens are connected by bridges
      To house the main cultural and public spaces dedicated to the history of tea production, a new podium made from blocks of dark local granite was constructed around the base of the existing buildings.
      This structure functions as a viewing platform and contains openings that redefine the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces, lending the facility a more porous and welcoming character.

      The podium is composed of blocks of dark local granite
      New roof gardens on top of the three factory buildings are connected by bridges so visitors can traverse the site whilst taking in aerial views of the plantation.
      The garden courtyards are lined with bamboo screens that also extend onto staircases at the corners of the buildings. The stairs connect the rooftop with the stone viewing platform, creating a route that leads visitors all the way around and over the site.

      The factories’ original concrete structures are exposed inside
      “This connection creates a vertical yet horizontal promenade that wraps around the original production space,” the architects pointed out.
      “We hope this tour can evoke a sense of ‘in search of a lost time’ [whilst] at the same time acting as a response against the rapid industrialisation of modern urban and rural areas.”

      O-office Architects reinterprets traditional Chinese courtyard house in concrete and steel

      The blending of the industrial buildings with the plantation is enhanced by landscaping that includes several ponds and trees that reach through apertures in the stone podium.

      The new podium contains public spaces
      O-office Architects was established by He Jianxiang and Jiang Ying in Guangzhou in 2007. The firm works on projects across various scales, from urban design and architecture to the exhibition and furniture design.
      Several of O-office Architects’ projects focus on renovation and conserving the architectural history of the Pearl River Delta. It previously worked on a residence inspired by vernacular courtyard houses found in the region.
      Photography is by Zhang Chao unless stated.
      Project credits:
      Architect: O-office ArchitectsClient: Midea GroupDesign team: He Jianxiang, Jiang Ying, Dong Jingyu, Huang Chengqiang, Zhang Wanyi, Cai Lehuan, Wu Yifei, He Zhenzhong, He Wenkang and Peng WeisenStructural consultant: Situ Ying, Luo Qiyao and Luo JiajieM.E. consultant: Bun Cong M&E DesignV.I. Design: TheWhy art x design

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      MWAI designs Mayfair apartment as if it were a hotel suite

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      From a mini-fridge to a folding desk and a concealed make-up mirror, this compact London apartment designed by local firm MWAI features a variety of space-saving solutions.Commissioned by a busy, professional client who works internationally, the architects were asked to transform a 37-square-metre, one-bedroom apartment in a Mayfair mansion block into a minimalist “pied-à-terre”.

      Top image: an open-plan area includes the kitchen, living room and workspace. Above: neutral colours were used throughout
      “We thought accommodating sleeping, living, dining and working in a 37-square-metre apartment while also delivering the feel of a spacious interior was a very challenging brief,” said the practice.
      “We decided we should not look at it like a residential project but rather like a hotel suite, where all functions are carefully and discreetly planned to provide a functional response to business and leisure travelling needs.”

      The apartment’s built-in storage includes a folding desk

      Finished in a palette of natural materials like wood and stone, the apartment features an abundance of bespoke, built-in storage.
      According to MWAI, the main challenge was to maximise the limited amount of useable space in the apartment. Restricted by sloping ceilings, the apartment had a poor existing layout and was in need of renovation.

      Walls in the bedroom are painted grey
      In order to create a more efficient footprint in the London apartment, the practice began by removing and replacing all of the walls, floors and ceilings.
      Particular attention was paid to minimising the footprint of the bathroom and kitchen by placing them into the centre of the plan, sandwiched between the living room and bedroom.

      The bathroom walls are finished in waterproof cement
      A wet room is now accessed from the bedroom, with a pivoting flush door used to separate the rooms.

      Freaks Architecture divides tiny Parisian pied-à-terre with mobile storage unit

      The bathroom walls are clad in a waterproof cement polymer render, providing a textured finish that is enhanced by recessed lighting. Sleek industrial fixtures and sanitaryware were chosen to offset the textured walls.

      The kitchen conceals appliances and features sleek hardware
      To maximise floor space in the kitchen, the architects concealed units and equipment, including a mini-fridge, behind panels in the wall lining.
      A kitchen island accommodates the hob and oven and also doubles as a dining table.

      Light flooring runs throughout the apartment
      A wall of bespoke storage is built into the bedroom, including a make-up cabinet with a concealed mirror and clothes steamer.
      In the living room, custom-made cabinets with an integrated folding desk are installed along one wall and furnishings are kept to a minimum. A simple fireplace made from Vicenza stone acts as a focal point for the space.

      The stone fireplace is a focal point
      Other architecture firms that have created clever, space-saving solutions for compact apartments include Ukrainian firm Ater Architects, which hung curtains in place of walls in a Kyiv flat.
      In Madrid, Spanish studio Husos Arquitectos designed a 46-square-metre plywood-lined apartment that features a vertical garden and sleeping pod.
      Photography is by Billy Bolton.

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      Buckley Gray Yeoman gives Panagram office in London a “retro-pop aesthetic”

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      UK architecture studio Buckley Gray Yeoman has revived a 1980s office building in Central London, creating colourful spaces using painted ductwork, translucent curtains and speckled terrazzo.The newly opened Panagram encompasses 4,830 square metres in the city’s Clerkenwell neighbourhood and offers rentable office spaces across multiple levels.

      Buckley Gray Yeoman’s renovation of the 1980s building included creating an open and informal reception area
      Using the original building’s pink granite cladding as a design cue, the team at Buckley Gray Yeoman devised a colourful scheme for the interior renovation to create a relaxed setting.
      “A retro-pop aesthetic has replaced the corporate look and feel of the building as physical and metaphorical barriers are broken down to bring about a more convivial and lively set of workspaces,” said the architecture studio.

      The foyer features subway-tiled seating but no reception desk

      To modernise the existing architecture, glazing was added along the ground floor facing Goswell Road – a thoroughfare that is home to store locations of several prominent design brands.
      Visitors enter from the street into a large open-plan foyer, furnished with custom seating elements but no traditional reception desk – hosts emerge from a behind a translucent curtain instead.

      A koi carp pond sits in the centre of the tiled bench
      The sculptural seats include a plinth clad in white New York City subway tiles, with a koi carp pond and a bright yellow steel column at its centre. Another is wrapped in leather and surrounds a ficus tree.

      Fashion Street by Buckley Gray Yeoman

      “We have tried to create an almost gallery-type space upon entry; with a series of beautiful objects set amongst planting and trees,” said Oliver Bayliss, director at Buckley Gray Yeoman.
      “These accents continue throughout the building and provide moments of joy that will hopefully lift the spirits of the people who pass through.”

      A wooden staircase with bleacher-style seating creates a multi-purpose space
      A wooden staircase that incorporates bleacher-style seating and another ficus curves down to the garden-level, combining circulation space with an informal work, meeting or auditorium area.
      Lifts illuminated with coloured lighting connect the expansive rentable office spaces on the levels above, and ductwork is painted pink and blue on alternating levels.

      Lifts to the upper office levels are illuminated with coloured lighting
      On the second floor, Buckley Gray Yeoman has designed a workspace to demonstrate the potential of Panagram’s spatial offering.
      This model office combines pale timber, soft colours and translucent materials to continue the playful aesthetic seen downstairs.

      Buckley Gray Yeoman’s showcase office for Panagram features a pale palette with pastel colours
      A casual meeting area is enclosed by a sheer yellow curtain and furnished with comfy chairs, while private booths are lined in grey felt.
      Drapes are also used to partition the wood-lined reception area and the green-themed kitchen if needed. In the bathrooms, white subway tiles are paired with tinted speckled terrazzo.

      Colour continues in the green kitchen, which can be partitioned off with a translucent grey curtain
      The open-plan office layout benefits from plenty of natural light, and is peppered with potted plants. More greenery can be found on terraces that offer City of London views.
      “It’s easy to look at a building like this and assume you have to start again,” said Bayliss.
      “We saw an opportunity to create something really different and highly sustainable. Panagram has great volume and therefore great natural light, which in turn allows the building to be extremely desirable and flexible.”

      Panagram is located in London’s Clerkenwell neighbourhood, facing onto Goswell Road
      Buckley Gray Yeoman, which has offices in London and Bristol, is known for its imaginative conversion and restoration projects. The employee-owned firm has also turned a fire-damaged former market hall in Shoreditch into Corten-clad university offices, and was profiled as part of Dezeen’s Virtual Design Festival last year.
      Photography is by Jack Hobhouse.
      Project credits:Client: DorringtonArchitect: Buckley Gray YeomanContractor: Open ContractsProject manager: Blackburn & CoStructural engineers: Heyne Tillett SteelPlanning consultant: JLLLandscape architect: SpacehubBranding and design agency: Everything In BetweenM&E consultant: Peter Deer and AssociatesQuantity surveyor: ExigereLighting Designer: Pritchard ThemisFire engineer: MLMRights of Light/Party Wall surveyor: Point2SurveyorsBuilding control: MLMBuilding app: Smart SpacesIT consultants: DP SystemsAgents: Colliers, Allsop, Richard Susskind & CompanyBuilding managers: Workman

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      Bureau de Change makes creative use of terrazzo in Frame House renovation

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      London studio Bureau de Change has used different varieties of terrazzo to create a richly textured interior for a remodelled family home.Frame House is a Victorian terraced home in south London, renovated and extended by Bureau de Change for a property developer and her family.

      The ground floor of Frame House is split over three levels
      The project involved adding a rear extension, converting the loft and completing revamping the interior. But most importantly, the client wanted to give the home a distinct character and coherency throughout.
      The architecture studio achieved this with a carefully planned colour and material strategy, and through playful use of geometry.

      The lounge occupies the extended rear of the house

      “The brief was to create a coherent journey through all spaces and floors,” explained architect Billy Mavropoulos, who co-founded Bureau de Change with partner Katerina Dionysopoulou.
      “We needed a holistic design, looking at everything from the architecture of the extension, to the layouts and the way the spaces are used, down to the joinery handles and details,” he told Dezeen.
      “The client was after a rich palette of finishes and colours, but one that would feel consistently part of the same narrative.”

      Different varieties of terrazzo were chosen for different areas
      As is common with Victorian terraces, Frame House has a split-level layout that helps to make the floor plan more efficient.
      In the new layout, the ground floor is divided over three levels, comprising the kitchen, dining space and lounge. The two split-level upper storeys contain three en-suite bedrooms, a separate bathroom and a study room.
      Terrazzo was the material that Mavropoulos and Dionysopoulou chose to unite the various spaces. It is a material the pair are familiar with, having previously used it in another residential project, Folds House.

      Different shades of taupe feature on each of the ground floor levels
      Here, they decided to work with different varieties of terrazzo to give each space its own character, while subtly tying them all together.
      On the ground floor the flooring is a taupe terrazzo in three slightly different shades – one for each level. This creates a gentle transition from light to dark, starting with the kitchen at the front of the house and ending with the lounge at the rear.

      A green marble terrazzo was chosen for the staircase handrail
      “We chose them very carefully so that they are all of the same family but vary in darkness/density,” said Mavropoulos.
      “The colour difference is very subtle as we did not want the floor to take over. But when you look closely you notice the difference.”
      Other details have been picked out contrasting terrazzo varieties: a kitchen island features shades of red and black, the staircase handrails are a green marble terrazzo, and each bathroom has its own different shade.

      The master bedroom on the first floor features an en-suite with grey terrazzo
      The geometries of the design are based around the rear extension, which gives the occupants a large living space.
      Keen to avoid the 45-degree angled roof and frameless glass typical of infill extensions, the architects opted for a more cuboidal approach. Steel frames create staggered glass boxes, which Mavropoulos and Dionysopoulou liken to museum display cases.

      The new loft bedroom features an en-suite with pale terrazzo and pink walls
      “When we looked at the cascading volumes in plan and section, we felt there was an element of fragility to them, almost like a jewel stone, so we decided to make them out of glass to enhance that feel,” said Mavropoulos.
      “These distinctly cubist glass volumes are articulated through their bold steel-frame construction, expressing each edge in a manner that creates shifting patterns of light and space, and a paradoxical sense of both levity and solidity,” added Dionysopoulou.

      The terrazzo also extends into the garden, forming cascading planters
      These cascading box forms are referenced in other places, such as the proportions of the split floor levels, or the planting boxes in the garden. There’s also a glass display case in the dining area.
      Other details contribute to the personality of these spaces. The lounge room brings together a floral-patterned rug and a large cactus plant, while the dining space features a wall of shelving filled with various objects and books.
      The architects hope the result is one of “theatre and tactility”.
      Photography is by Gilbert McCarragher.
      Project credits
      Architect: Bureau de ChangeInteriors: Bureau de ChangeEngineer: SymmetrysM&E: MWLContractor: Argyll LondonLandscape: Tulip Landscapes

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