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    Snarkitecture designs Manifest “self-care” club in Washington DC

    Design studio Snarkitecture incorporated tiled walls and arches into a club in the US capital that offers a barbershop, a coffee bar, a boutique and a speakeasy.

    Open to the public, the Manifest club occupies a slender, four-story building in Washington DC’s Adams Morgan neighbourhood.
    Manifest is entered through a courtyard lined with wooden wallsMeant to put “a sophisticated spin on self-care”, the club was conceived by the entrepreneur KJ Hughes, along with his partners Brian Merritt and Susan Morgan.
    The aim was to create a distinctive location where people could get a haircut or beard trim, grab an espresso, buy upscale streetwear and enjoy a cocktail.
    Tiled walls and arches were incorporated into the clubThe owners turned to New York’s Snarkitecture to design the project.

    “When we set out to design Manifest, it needed to be a new kind of barbershop, inviting to all people,” said Alex Mustonen, a firm partner.
    Snarkitecture added a barbershop to the project”Simultaneously, we wanted to create a sanctuary, a community space, an institution, a one-of-a-kind experience that still feels like home,” he said.
    Set back from the street, the Manifest building is entered through a courtyard lined with wooden walls.
    The studio used a largely restrained palette of materialsThe outdoor space is adorned with pockets of greenery and curved concrete benches. At the base of the benches are illuminated reveals made of LED strips with an acrylic diffuser.
    Inside, walls are clad in white tiles, and the floor is covered in large-format cement squares. For the millwork, the team used white oak with a natural finish.
    White oak was used for the millworkThe barbershop – which encompasses four stations and an area for washing hair – is fitted with chairs wrapped in buttery leather. The coffee bar features a counter with a fluted wooden base and a terrazzo top.
    In the retail zone, clothing by brands such as Engineered Garments and Homme Pliseé is displayed within arched, wooden niches. The store also sells apparel from Manifest’s own line, Of US.
    Chairs wrapped in leather feature in the barbershopStretching across the ceiling are wooden beams with embedded LED strips – a design element that contributes to the interplay of straight and curved lines in the space.
    “Unifying details throughout the space include archways – which are meant to represent the sloughing off of the old and moving into a new phase of life – while linear elements symbolise a sense of community and connection,” the designers said.

    Snark Park provides Snarkitecture with permanent exhibition space at Hudson Yards

    A “secret staircase” leads up to the speakeasy, which seats up to 30 guests. In contrast with the lower-level space, the bar has a moody atmosphere.
    Walls are sheathed in a custom green plaster, and floors are finished with dark-stained oak. Seating areas are adorned with green velvet banquettes and leather chairs from Nikari.
    The speakeasy has a moody atmosphereOverhead are arched forms that help create a sense of intimacy while also drawing a visual connection to the arches in the lower level. The arches are finished with mosaic green tile and safety glass with wire mesh.
    Throughout the club, Snarkitecture aspired to create an environment that was both comfortable and stimulating.
    Walls are sheathed in a custom green plaster”Every single element was designed to create a welcoming, intimate atmosphere that will invoke conversation and appeal to all the senses,” the team said.
    Later this spring, Manifest will expand to include a rentable apartment with a retractable glass roof and a terrace.
    Throughout the club, the atmosphere was designed to be both comfortable and stimulatingThis is not the first project in Washington DC by Snarkitecture. In 2018, the firm created a Fun House installation in the National Building Museum’s great hall that featured a white gabled house and a kidney-shaped ball pit.
    Other projects by the studio include a shop for streetwear brand Kith within a Parisian mansion, and an installation in a Manhattan gallery that consisted of 168 white spherical orbs that changed colours when touched.
    The photography is by Michael Grant.

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    Theatrical curtains drape around Dame bar by Bergman & Co

    A “rather fabulous” fictitious muse influenced the design of this richly decorated bar and restaurant in Melbourne by local interiors studio Bergman & Co.

    Dame recently opened in the IM Pei-designed Collins Place, a mixed-use complex in the East End of the city.
    Dame is located in IM Pei’s Collins Place complexThe concrete development was completed in 1981, so Bergman & Co looked to this decade for inspiration when devising a concept for the bar’s interior.
    “The narrative of Dame is centred around a fictitious 1980s muse; a powerful, well connected and rather fabulous woman,” said the team, led by director Wendy Bergman.
    A curvaceous pink marble bar counter sits in the centre of the spaceThe fictional character’s power and femininity are reflected in elements like the curved bar counter, made from blush-toned marble.

    Her portrait, painted by local Melbourne artist Stacey Rees, hangs behind the bar to tie the concept together.
    Blush curtains provide a backdrop for communal diningPale pink curtains divide the space from the building lobby and are draped dramatically to create an entryway.
    Diners are presented with multiple seating options around the restaurant’s glazed periphery.
    Glass block table legs nod to the building’s gridded architectureCommunal tables feature dark wooden tops and glass block supports, nodding to the gridded architecture of the setting.
    Above, pendant lights created in collaboration with Melbourne design studio Please Please Please are delicately suspended like pieces of jewellery.

    Pink marble and patchy concrete emulate ancient Rome in Melbourne’s Pentolina pasta bar

    Banquette seating wrapped in dark textured fabric creates cosy booths, while more casual round tables are paired with wicker-backed chairs.
    “A sumptuous banquette setting finished in rich, earthen tones creates a subtle sense of nostalgia, warming the building’s otherwise restrained palette of architectural finishes,” said Bergman & Co.
    Upholstery for banquettes was chosen to create a “sense of nostalgia””Quilted upholstery and 1980s-inspired furniture complete the aesthetic tableau, offering an elevated, all-day dining space,” the studio added.
    Glossy red table lamps and pendants are also scattered through the space, uniting a palette that feels rich and warm against the building’s grey terrazzo flooring.
    Pink marble tables are accompanied by wicker-backed chairsPink marble is similarly used at Melbourne’s Pentolina restaurant, designed by Biasol.
    Other dining and drinking establishments with notable interiors around Australia’s second-largest city include Studio Esteta’s Via Porta and Three Blue Ducks by Pattern.
    The photography is by Eve Wilson.

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    Lore Group creates seafood restaurant with “playful sense of nostalgia” within One Hundred Shoreditch hotel

    Hospitality chain Lore Group has opened the Goddard & Gibbs seafood restaurant within the One Hundred Shoreditch hotel, which occupies the former Ace Hotel London Shoreditch building.

    Lore Group’s creative director Jacu Strauss designed the restaurant within the recently opened hotel on Shoreditch High Street, London, to evoke the seaside to be in keeping with its seafood menu.
    A yellow rock sculpture and sandy artworks give the restaurant a beachy feelA gigantic yellow sculpture, created from a sketch drawn by Strauss, stands on a table at the centre of the restaurant.
    “The sculpture is based on my memories of trips to the seaside as a child and making towers from piles of rocks on the beach,” Strauss said.
    “I wanted the space to have a playful sense of nostalgia to which our guests could relate.”

    The central sculpture is based on the designer’s childhood trips to the seasideContinuing the theme, wood-panelled walls of the restaurant were adorned with “sandscape” artworks made from sand that have been painted yellow and framed.
    Parasol-like pendant lights from Herman Miller hang from the ceiling, alongside pearly spherical bulbs.
    Angled mirrors run the perimeter of the restaurantAngled mirrors around the top of the wall panelling direct attention back onto the central sculpture.
    Another bright yellow boulder is stationed in the corner of the room, while seaweed-green banquettes are interspersed among the seating.
    The walls are clad in a strip-textured wood panellingThe tabletops are fashioned from black and white aggregate terrazzo, with hexagonal tiles making up the floor.
    At the entrance to the restaurant from the street, what was formerly a flower shop has been converted into a wine bar characterised by terracotta tiles.
    A wine bar area has been set up in the street entranceThe restaurant’s dishes are intended to reference the fishing villages and seaside towns of the British coastline, with a focus on ethically sourced ingredients.
    Goddard & Gibbs opened last week as part of the One Hundred Shoreditch hotel.
    Terrazzo table tops are used throughout the restaurantOne Hundred Shoreditch occupies the same building as Ace Hotel’s London outpost, which closed in 2020 having been initially shuttered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
    Lore Group also operates Sea Containers, a hotel on London’s Southbank with interiors designed by Tom Dixon, as well as the Pulitzer in Amsterdam and the Riggs and Lyle hotels, both in Washington DC.
    With One Hundred Shoreditch it hopes to mirror Shoreditch’s “new, grown-up feel while retaining the buzz and vibrance synonymous with the area”.
    Lore Group has opened the restaurant as part of its new One Hundred Shoreditch hotelOther recently opened hotels in London include Buckle Street Studios, designed by Grzywinksi+Pons and a Room2 outpost in Chiswick designed by Project Orange, which is claimed to be the world’s first whole-life net-zero hotel.
    The images are courtesy of One Hundred Shoreditch.

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    Masquespacio puts colourful spin on traditional Italian restaurant concept

    Colourful marble accents and looming arches characterise this restaurant by Spanish studio Masquespacio, which takes cues from traditional Italian eateries.

    Called Piada, the restaurant sells Italian flatbreads and is the second of its kind to be designed by Masquespacio in the French city of Lyon.
    Piada is a restaurant in LyonThe interiors of the latest Piada blends retro design elements borrowed from traditional Italian restaurants, such as marble and gold finishes, with colours and materials that were chosen to echo the eatery’s healthy food menu.
    “First, we investigated ancient Italian restaurants and bars to bring the traditional concept into the design,” Masquespacio co-founder Christophe Penasse told Dezeen.
    Masquespacio took cues from traditional Italian eateries”Then, we sought elements that could represent a sort of healthy aspect, which at the same time have a splashy and young colour concept that represents the brand’s identity,” he added.

    A garland of lush plants and flowers is suspended above the entrance to the two-storey restaurant, under which floor-to-ceiling arched windows were designed to draw visitors in from the street.
    Bold blocks of colour define the spaceInside, guests are met with a collection of booth-like tables that offer a mixture of built-in seating, including banquette benches and rounded wooden stools.
    This area is defined by a bold palette of sugary pastel colours, ranging from pale lilac seat cushions to mint-green walls.

    Stucco walls and terracotta tiles form a winding pathway through Huesca restaurant

    Piada’s external arch motif is also continued in its interiors, where curved alcoves have been outlined with columns of bulbous sconce lights that resemble oversized Hollywood-style mirrors.
    “We used five elements to represent the traditional Italian bar and restaurant – arches, light bulbs with gold finishes, marble and mirrored menus,” explained Penasse.
    Piada’s design is also influenced by its healthy food menuIn a nod to Piada’s healthy food concept, Masquespacio added clusters of plants that spill out of backlit rounded nooks behind the seating areas both upstairs and downstairs.
    The studio also incorporated stucco on the walls and tiles with a handmade effect to create a more organic feel to the restaurant interior. All of Piada’s furniture was custom-made by Masquespacio to match the restaurant’s eclectic themes.
    The restaurant is the second of its kind in the French cityFounded in 2010 by Penasse and Ana Milena Hernández Palacios, the Spanish studio has completed a number of other interior projects with designs rooted in bright colour.
    These include a playful burger joint in Turin, multi-hued student housing in Bilbao and a colour-clashing phone repair shop in Valencia.
    The photography is by Gregory Abbate.

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    Studio Nor scatters chunky stucco walls throughout Qinhuangdao hotpot restaurant

    Thickset stucco walls hide unsightly structural panels inside this branch of restaurant chain Jin Sheng Long, which Studio Nor has designed in Qinhuangdao, China.

    Jin Sheng Long is a historic eatery known for serving hotpots and baodu – a traditional tripe dish. Since opening its first outpost in Beijing in the late 19th century, the restaurant has expanded into a chain with a number of outlets nationwide.
    Structural panels found throughout Jin Sheng Long are now enclosed by stucco wallsIts latest outpost in the port city of Qinhuangdao occupies a trio of former retail units on the ground floor of a residential tower.
    As a result, the interior is plagued by a number of awkwardly placed structural panels, which Chinese practice Studio Nor chose to retain and turn into key design features by encasing them within chunkier stucco-coated walls.
    The walls demarcate cosy dining nooksThese walls now form a labyrinth of cosy dining nooks that diners can explore, mimicking what Studio Nor describes as the “intricate and meandering” arrangement of stalls in a Chinese food market.

    Even the restaurant’s wooden tables and benches were chosen to resemble the furniture found in these markets.
    The restaurant’s tables and chairs resemble those found in a food market”We got inspiration from Jin Sheng Long’s history,” the studio said.
    “Back in the late Qing Dynasty, the founder of the restaurant started his business by setting up street stalls in Beijing’s famous old Dong’an Market – a then-popular destination full of dazzling attractions and bustling with life and activities.”
    The structural panels located in the centre of the room also serve a decorative function, with their enclosing walls set at unexpected angles and finished with curved niches for displaying bonsai trees, vases and other ornaments.

    BLUE Architecture Studio erects rocky columns inside Zolaism cafe in Aranya

    A bar is located towards the rear of Jin Sheng Long’s Qinhuangdao restaurant, in the only part of the room that is uninterrupted by structural panels.
    This area is anchored by an eight-metre-long counter, which is raised up on a stage-like brick plinth to highlight the theatricality of the drinks preparation process.
    Walls at the centre of the restaurant feature curved nichesStudio Nor expanded the restaurant’s windows to bring in more natural light and lined their inner frames with copper in a nod to the traditional cookware used to serve hotpot.
    Artificial lighting, on the other hand, was kept to a minimum in a bid to draw attention to the few illuminated areas that pop up throughout the interior.
    A brick plinth raises up the bar counterElsewhere in Qinhuangdao, BLUE Architecture Studio found another clever way of concealing unattractive structural elements when designing the Zolaism cafe.
    Here, the studio disguised the building’s support columns as huge craggy boulders.
    The photography is by Songkai Liu.
    Project credits:
    Architecture firm: Studio NORLead architects: Boyuan Jiang, Jingwen WangDesign team: Zhongyuan Liu, Wenxuan Xu, Yiming Lu, Shuo YangLighting consultant: Chloe ZhangConstruction team: QX GroupConstruction documents consultant: Shanghai C-Yuspace Design

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    Soho House Nashville opens in Music City hosiery factory

    A former hosiery factory in Nashville has been converted into a Soho House hotel and members’ club, designed with nods to its industrial setting and the city’s musical heritage.

    The launch of Soho House Nashville earlier this week marks the company’s second location in the American South, following the opening of the Austin house in 2021.
    Soho House Nashville has opened in the May Hosiery BuildingThe May Hosiery Building, constructed in the early 1900s in the Tennessee city’s artsy Wedgewood-Houston neighbourhood, now contains a series of club spaces and accommodation.
    The Soho House design team used the building’s industrial past and Nashville’s reputation as the Music City to inform the renovation and decor.
    “The house design is influenced by a strong pre-war, European aesthetic, connecting to the building’s history with Bauhaus-inspired, striking geometric patterns, bold industrial finishes, and bespoke fixtures,” said the team.

    Metal shelving divides spaces in the Club RoomPlaying on the colour of original verdigris copper doors, various teal shades were used across the different spaces to visually tie them together.
    Meanwhile, the striped tiling around the swimming pool evokes the pattern of a guitar string board.
    “Music City influences do not escape Soho House Nashville with its warm, rich textures of the rock and roll era and decorative patterns that nod to the jazz and blues genres,” the design team said.
    Striped tiling around the pool is designed to mimic a guitar string boardThe building contains three indoor and outdoor performance spaces, a pool, a health club and a screening room.
    Food is offered at Club Cecconi’s, the first in-house restaurant of the Cecconi’s chain of Italian eateries owned by the Soho House group.
    Soho House Nashville’s hotel has 47 bedrooms that vary in sizeAt the heart of the building, the Club Room is divided by industrial metal shelving into intimate spaces including a library with a fireplace and a games area.
    The Sock Room also celebrates the factory’s prior use for producing socks that astronauts wore to the moon, and now hosts live music and events.

    Soho House Austin blends Texas modernism with Spanish influences

    Referencing the machinery once housed in the space, bespoke bar lamps with an industrial aesthetic contrast softer materials like velvet and textured sheer linen.
    Soho House Nashville has 47 bedrooms that range in size, including a large loft suite that spans over three floors.
    Bedrooms all have large chandeliers and a variety of textilesThe rooms are furnished with bespoke, locally made designs and vintage accessories, as well as large chandeliers and metal screens that conceal the bathrooms.
    “Each bedroom has been designed to feel traditional and cosy with woven tapestries, made with bespoke fabric designed in Nashville specifically for the house, to hide all TVs,” said the team.
    The rooms feature a mix of bespoke local furniture and vintage accessoriesA total of 170 pieces were acquired from 41 local artists to be displayed throughout the hotel and club areas.
    They join the wider art collection exhibited in the Soho House locations across the globe, which the company has gradually added to its portfolio since its founding in London in 1995.
    Metal screen doors enclose the bathroomsAlong with Austin, the group’s outposts in North America include Soho Warehouse in Downtown Los Angeles and Dumbo House in Brooklyn.
    It’s not surprising that the brand chose to open in Nashville – one of several southern US cities that has seen a recent influx of young creative people, and therefore an expanded repertoire of cultural and entertainment venues.
    Also new to the city’s dining and drinking scene is The Twelve Thirty Club , which is owned by restauranteur Sam Fox and musician Justin Timberlake.
    The photography is by Andrew Joseph Woomer.

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    Rise Design Studio opts to “reuse and recycle” for Carousel restaurant interior

    London restaurant Carousel has moved to a new venue but taken many of its old fixtures and fittings with it, thanks to an environmentally conscious approach from Rise Design Studio.

    Founded seven years ago by brothers Ollie and Ed Templeton, the restaurant has moved into three converted Georgian townhouses in Fitzrovia, with dining rooms on two floors.
    Rise Design Studio designed the original Carousel restaurant in Marylebone, so the architects decided to be as resourceful as possible when repeating the formula in a new location.
    Carousel occupies three converted Georgian townhouses in FitzroviaSeveral design elements from the original restaurant have been repurposed in the new location.
    These include the tall metal-clad entrance door, which can now be found at the entrance to one of the dining rooms, and a copper light window that is now installed internally rather than externally. A set of Spanish wall tiles were also carefully removed and now serve as floor tiles.

    These are combined with new colours and textures, from materials such as painted brickwork and terrazzo-style tiles.
    A guest kitchen and dining room is lit from above by a large skylight”Carousel 2.0 was an opportunity to create new spaces which didn’t exist in the original Carousel,” said Rise Design Studio director Imran Jahn. “But we also did not want to lose the feel of the original.”
    “We wanted to re-use and recycle,” he told Dezeen. “We wanted previous customers and returning guest chefs to be reminded of Carousel 1.0, so we proposed to retain finishes, fixtures and fittings and use them again here.”
    Wall tiles from the previous Carousel venue have been reused here as floor tilesThe new property gives the restaurant enough space for several dining rooms and kitchens plus, for the first time, a wine bar.
    On the ground floor, the bar sits in between an all-day dining room and a space for Carousel’s ever-changing roster of guest chefs. The former faces the street, while the latter is lit from above through a lightwell.
    The all-day dining room features painted brickwork and terrazzo-style tilesThere’s also a separate diner-style restaurant space intended for new dining concept launches, which is currently occupied by Goila Butter Chicken.
    Upstairs, a subdividing lounge/events space leads through to a private dining room.
    A wine and cocktail bar is sandwiched between the two ground-floor spaces”Ed and Ollie had scoped out a draft layout of the various zones they wanted to create before we were introduced to the project,” said Jahn. “They needed our design expertise in interiors to help bring it all together.”
    A consistent element throughout the interior is the use of industrial-style Crittall screens and doors, which are infilled with fluted glass.
    Concrete counters feature slatted wooden frontsSeveral rooms feature walls finished with a type of Nordic plaster that comes in different colours and creates a smooth, durable and multi-tonal surface. The guest kitchen is a mid-grey shade, while the private dining room is soft green.
    Other details include concrete counters with wooden slatted fronts, exposed steel structural beams and formica tables.
    An events space leads through to a private dining room”The overall tone of the proposals brings together the distinct spaces but allows them to sit happily in their individuality,” said Jahn.
    “The use of Crittall screens throughout and reeded glazing provides for continuity but also an air of mystery for the viewer wanting to find out more about the partially hidden spaces within.”
    A special type of plaster gives a multi-tonal quality to the wallsThe new Carousel location welcomed its first diners in November 2021. The all-day menu, prepared by Ollie, includes a range of small plates including beef tartare toast, confit pumpkin with burrata and sage, and grilled mackerel flatbread.
    “We’ve been dreaming about this move for a long time,” said Ed. “We loved being a part of the Marylebone community, but we genuinely couldn’t have imagined a more exciting neighbourhood, or a more fitting home, to be moving into.”
    Carousel offers an all-day menu and also hosts a roster of guest chefs”You’ll find all the best bits of the old Carousel in the new space, with some fun additions like the neighbourhood wine bar, where you’ll finally be able to experience the kind of food that Ollie likes to cook, in an easygoing all-day setting,” he added.
    Other recent restaurant openings in London include Kol, a Marylebone eatery with a Mexican menu, and Maido, a sushi restaurant in St John’s Wood.
    Photography is by Joe Okpako. Video is by Henry Woide.

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    Alex Meitlis uses plaster and terrazzo to create pink tones in Ottolenghi Chelsea

    London deli chain Ottolenghi has taken a new approach with its latest venue, styled by interior designer Alex Meitlis with a palette of warm pink and red hues.

    Ottolenghi Chelsea features bare plaster walls, pink terrazzo tiles, red upholstered seating and rattan seats.
    The look is a departure from the other Ottolenghi delis, where the design is typically more bright and minimal.
    Pink and red tones feature throughout Ottolenghi ChelseaMeitlis has been behind the design of all the other delis, as well as sister restaurants Nopi and Rovi, which all feature the food of Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi and business partners Noam Bar and Sami Tamimi.
    Here the idea was to make more of a statement, using colours that match the Ottolenghi tableware collection recently launched by Serax.

    In the same spirit, the shopfront and exterior signage bring in vibrant shades of yellow, blue and turquoise.
    Clay plaster walls are left exposed”I take my approach from looking very closely at Yotam’s approach to his food,” said Meitlis, who has studios both in London and Tel Aviv.
    “It’s about taking very basic ingredients but using them in a slightly different way.”
    Pink terrazzo features on the walls and floorsThe clay plaster on the walls was made using recycled bricks, which provide the warm terracotta colour.
    The multi-tonal character of this material is emphasised by curving walls that offer a play of light and shadow.

    Cristina Celestino uses plaster and terracotta for 28 Posti restaurant interior

    Meitlis worked with artist Ivo Bisignano – who also designed the tableware collection – to create the restaurant’s distinctive floor, where pink terrazzo alternates with white tiles to create a striped effect.
    The same terrazzo also features on wall surfaces at the front of the space and behind the deli counter.
    Upholstered banquettes have a graphic feel, with cylindrical cushionsThe upholstered banquettes bring a geometric element to the design, combining blocky seats with cylindrical cushions. The choice of red fabric allows these to become the most eye-catching elements in the space.
    They are paired with white circular tables and Mies van der Rohe-designed MR Chairs, which introduce more curves.
    Curves are integrated in the wallsOther elements include the familiar deli counter, where the cakes, pastries and salads create an appetising display.
    “We usually start from scratch; almost all elements of the design are made specifically,” Meitlis told Dezeen. “The only items we bought were the iconic Mies chairs.”
    “Once again, it’s about mirroring the brand’s attitude; all the food is made in the kitchen, with few elements pre-prepared.”
    The facade features shades of yellow, blue and turquoiseOttolenghi Chelsea opened in January 2022 and is located on Pavilion Road, in a converted Victorian stable building that is now home to various independent retail brands.
    Dishes for Ottolenghi delis and restaurants are developed at the brand’s test kitchen in Holloway, which was recently overhauled by Studiomama with pops of saffron yellow and raspberry red.

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