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      Nendo completes Marsotto showroom in Milan with dimpled marble facade

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      Passersby can perch in the facade of Italian marble brand Marsotto’s new showroom in Milan, which has been designed by multidisciplinary studio Nendo.From afar, the front of Marsotto’s showroom in Milan’s Brera district looks as if it’s sealed up by blocks of veiny white marble.
      To achieve this, Nendo lined the entire facade – including the flush front door – in marble tiles, being careful to set them in line with the existing stonework on the building.

      Top image: people can perch in the showroom’s facade. Above: the facade appears to be sealed up with marble
      At one point the tiles dip inwards to form a small nook where passersby on the street can sit.

      “Because the traffic circle facing the showroom will soon be greened and turned into a small park, part of the facade was made into impromptu street furniture with a soft recess on it, in the hopes that neighbours might sit as if on a bench and rest for a spell,” Nendo explained.

      A flush-set door can be pushed back to reveal the showroom’s entryway
      Beyond the showroom’s front door lies a small white-painted entryway. Pale marble has been used again here to cover the floor and to form a screen which obscures the staircase leading down to the basement.
      The screen is made up of two overlapping slabs of 10-millimetre-thick marble, each punctuated with holes that measure 65 millimetres wide.
      “The partition’s tempered transparency and lightness reduce the oppressiveness of the marble constitution, softly drawing visitors to the basement exhibition space,” the studio added.

      A perforated marble screen hides the staircase to the basement
      Downstairs, the showroom has been divided into four different rooms. To keep a majority of the floor area free to accommodate different exhibitions, Nendo created three-sided display plinths that sit in the corner of the rooms.
      Each of them is backlit with bright-white strip lights.

      Products are presented on three-sided display plinths
      Some of the plinths dramatically curve inwards to form a half-moon shape. One of these has been used to present sample blocks of different types of marble that Marsotto offers.
      Stool seats in matching finishes are displayed in a row underneath.

      Steel and concrete steps cut through facade of Stairway House by Nendo

      Another room in the basement has been kit-out with one of Marsotto’s dining tables and wall-mounted shelves so that, when necessary, it can be used to host lunch meetings.

      Some of the display plinths curve inwards into a half-moon shape
      This isn’t the first time that Nendo has worked with Marsotto. For the 2016 edition of Milan Design Week, the design studio created an exhibition space for the marble brand that was half white, half black – furniture was arranged to match.
      Four years ago Nendo also came up with the Sway table for Marsotto. Designed to “provide a new expression of agility to marble”, the table looks as if it’s tilting to one side.
      Photography is by Hiroki Tagma.

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      Patagonia granite and wooden logs decorate Off-White's first store in Milan

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      Fashion brand Off-White’s first store in Milan uses natural materials to add warmth to a paired-back store that has white walls broken by Patagonia granite cabinets.Located on Via Verri in Milan, the 400-square-metre Off-White store opened in September and will sell menswear, womenswear and homeware. According to the brand, which is led by fashion designer Virgil Abloh, the boutique “embraces earthy yet elegant minimalism”.

      Top: a wooden log adds an organic feel to the entrance. Above: wall niches are clad in Patagonia granite
      Organic materials were used across the store, with a “fallen” tree log placed near the store’s entrance and granite cabinets used to display products.

      The theme is carried through into the second ground floor room, where wooden plinths were used to create an installation to showcase Off-White accessories and shoes.

      Wooden plinths show Off-White accessories
      Throughout the ground floor womenswear section, travertine flooring is partly covered by rose-coloured rugs featuring the brand’s logo.
      Display cases were kept simple and modernist in polished steel and glass, but the brand chose wall niches clad in Patagonia granite to add interest to the clean walls and underline the organic feel of the space.

      The menswear floor features green hues
      The upstairs floor houses the menswear section, which has a different colour palette to differentiate it from the womenswear section.
      Floor rugs are evergreen instead of rose and a pale green hue is picked up in the wall niches.

      Wooden blocks are used for seating
      Wooden and marble blocks and granite plinths show off the brand’s accessories, while the men’s ready-to-wear is displayed on steel racks.

      Virgil Abloh and AMO design flexible flagship Off-White store in Miami that “can host a runway show”

      The final room in the store, which houses Off-White’s homeware collection, features silk wallpaper and travertine flooring as well as wooden display stands and wall niches.

      The homeware section has simple wood display cases and stands
      Though this is the brand’s first store in the city, Off-White’s design studio is already based in Milan.
      “With a design studio based in Milan, Italy, the label harnesses the history and craftsmanship within the country yet offers a global perspective in terms of design and trends,” said the brand.

      Off-White Milan is on Via Verri
      Off-White also recently unveiled its first Miami store, a flexible flagship that “can host a runway show”.  In addition, Off-White opened the doors to its first stand-alone store in London in September.
      Abloh, who was a judge for the 2019 Dezeen Awards, works on numerous projects outside Off-White and recently teamed up with Mercedes Benz to create a conceptual version of the Mercedes‑Benz G‑Class car.

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      New York clothing store Nanamica is designed like a Japanese house

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      Woodwork form the frame of a gabled house inside this clothing store in New York designed by Japanese architect Taichi Kuma.

      Tokyo-based Kuma designed the store cn the city’s Soho neighbourhood for Japanese clothing brand Nanamica.

      Large mirrors reflect the gabled structure
      Marking its second outpost following another in Tokyo, the store was designed to draw on the brand’s Nanamica, which means house of seven seas. Working with the brand founder, Eiichiro Hommam, Kuma developed the interior design to take cues from a Japanese beach house.

      Shelving is made from matching wood
      The aim is to express “the free and relaxed feeling of the seaside, but with a distinctly Japanese aesthetic sensibility meaning the true highlight is the nanamica products”, according to the brand.

      Shelving and clothing rails tucked outside the wood frame
      A key part of this is a series of gabled structures made from light oak that are intended to outline a house. The frame is slightly smaller that the store to leave space on the outside for shelving for handbags and plants, and clothing rails built on the walls made out of matching wood.
      Wooden shelving for clothing and benches for customers to relax are also arranged inside the house-like structure. The free-standing shelving is backed by a translucent, recycled corrugated plastic matching the wall of the material at the front of the store and the rear, where it shields changing rooms placed behind.

      Corrugated plastic shields changing rooms at the rear
      Two large mirrors are placed on columns that protrude into the space creating the illusion of more room. White spotlighting is arranged along the top of the gable running down the middle of the space.
      Kuma and Hommam stripped back the initial space to create Nanamica New York, creating a bare backdrop for the simple intervention. Walls and ceiling beams are painted white, while the floor is polished concrete.

      Nanamica is located on Wooster Street
      Other recently completed stores in New York City include ONS Clothing store, which features a stage with a green curtain for hosting events, and Los Angeles clothing brand Lunya’s space in Nolita, which takes cues from “upscale New York” apartments.

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      Linehouse uses typically urban materials inside Xiamen's JNBY store

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      Concrete, steel and fluted glass merge inside this shop that design studio Linehouse has created for fashion brand JNBY in Xiamen, China.Chinese cities were a key point of reference for Linehouse, which has decked out JNBY’s Xiamen store with materials often seen in dense urban settings – concrete, glass and steel.
      The interior aesthetic of this JNBY store will be rolled out across all of the brand’s future locations in China – one branch has already opened in Chengdu, and another is set to open in Changsha.

      The JNBY store features a coffered concrete ceiling
      The ceiling of the 100-square-metre store is entirely covered with concrete coffers. Each one is bordered by bright-white LED strip lights.

      A curved, steel-frame screen inset with panels of fluted glass runs around the periphery of the space, set back from the structural walls. The partition balances on chunky cylindrical blocks made from recycled concrete pavement.

      Panels of fluted glass form a screen around the edge of the store
      The urban materiality of the store is interrupted by a couple of ceramic display stands, which Linehouse formed by wrapping convex tiles around steel poles that extend from the floor to the ceiling.
      Some of the stands have been fitted with a metal ring where garments can be hung, while others have small shelves where accessories can be put on show.

      The screen’s glass panels are held within a steel framework
      Convex tiles also clad the front of JNBY’s service counter. When viewed up close, customers will be able to see a myriad of cracks, which Linehouse made visible by adding Chinese ink into the tiles’ glaze.

      John Anthony restaurant by Linehouse is “British tea hall turned Chinese canteen”

      The sculptural bases of the store’s low-lying display tables are made from grainy wood or concrete that the studio has cast against pieces of fabric.

      Convex tiles with subtle cracks clad the store’s service counter
      “The brand sought a modern approach to capture its core values, focusing on material exploration while guiding urban dwellers in appreciating the surprise and poetry of everyday life,” explained Linehouse.
      “So we wanted to contrast the urban represented by the concrete, steel and textured glass with the notion of crafted imperfection represented in the ceramic and timber detailing… they have the qualities of the handmade; variation and contrast.”

      The same tiles form a couple of vertical display stands
      Linehouse was established in 2013 by Alex Mok and Briar Hickling, and works between offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
      The austere material palette of the JNBY store in Xiamen is a far cry from the studio’s recently completed project, Basehall – an upscale food court in Hong Kong. Inside, the venue features walls lined with pink-metal rods, brass light fittings and a blue metalwork ceiling.
      Photography is by Dirk Weiblen.
      Project credits:
      Architect: LinehouseDesign lead: Alex Mok, Briar HicklingDesign team: Cherngyu Chen, Jingru Tong, Celine Chung

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      Alice D'Andrea creates industrial coffee roastery in Vancouver steel foundry

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      Coffee roasting and tasting takes place in this industrial-style coffee shop in Vancouver, which local studio Alice D’Andrea has designed inside a historic factory building. Located in Vancouver’s Railtown neighbourhood, the space was built in 1923 as the Settlement Building, a steel foundry for manufacturing machinery parts, and then later used as a warehouse for lighting company Bocci.

      The roastery features existing industrial windows and ceiling beams
      It now forms the headquarters for speciality coffee company Pallet Coffee Roasters with space for team training, a tasting area, roastery operations, seating and merchandise.

      Douglas fir beams punctuate the ceiling, large, industrial-style windows bring natural light to the back of the building, and exposed concrete runs throughout, providing a nod to its history.

      Seating is set under a large skylight
      “The main goal for this project was to design a ‘destination’ for coffee lovers,” said Alice D’Andrea. “A place where customers could enjoy their coffee while being educated on the process and the passion that goes behind their product.”

      Williamson Williamson places office above Pilot Coffee roasting warehouse in Toronto

      The 7000-square-foot (650-square-metre) open space has been separated into different areas. To the rear of the space the roastery is furnished with a long table made of reclaimed fir, which is used for coffee tasting and team training.

      An L-shaped counter divides the open space
      An L-shaped coffee counter, patterned with black-stained oak planks in a herringbone pattern, forms the centre of the space. A gridded glass partition that echoes the former foundry’s industrial windows rises from the middle of the counter to offer glimpses of the production area at the rear.
      “The glass partition between the counter and the production leaves the view open on the production, on the machinery and the people working behind the scenes,” the studio said.

      Black-stained wood patterns the counter
      “Customers can enjoy their beverage while watching how raw beans from around the world turn into their favourite drink; a truly unique customer experience,” the studio added.
      The black volume is broken up by glass volumes that form display cabinets for pieces on sale and nooks for seating.

      The roastery occupies the rear
      Large copper pendant lights hang overheard to complement the warm hues of the wooden ceiling beams. Other copper detailing can be found in the counter kick and shelving.
      Customers can sip their coffee on a seating alcove under a huge skylight, or on wooden benches either side of large planters and stools. Decorative elements are provided by coffee bags piled atop pallets, and pops of greenery.

      Copper details add warmth
      Pallet Coffee Roasters HQ’s entrance has white-painted walls, greenery and pendant lights from Bocci – the building’s previous owner.
      Other coffee roasteries on Dezeen include Pilot Coffee roasting warehouse in Toronto that Williamson Williamson recently extended with offices and the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Tokyo designed by Kengo Kuma.
      Photography is by Andrew Fyfe.

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      Sella Concept brings retro feel to Sister Jane Townhouse in London

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      Fringed furnishings and velvet walls feature inside the west London headquarters that design studio Sella Concept has created for fashion brand Sister Jane, which includes a showroom, restaurant and roof terrace.Sella Concept said it drew upon “untapped maximalist style” to design Sister Jane Townhouse, which takes over a prominent corner property on Golborne Road in the affluent neighbourhood of Notting Hill.
      Having outgrown their old studio on the nearby Portobello Road, the fashion brand had been keen to move into a larger space that could offer a more immersive retail experience.

      The ground floor of Sister Jane Townhouse has a restaurant called Cha Cha’s
      The three-storey townhouse incorporates a restaurant, a showroom and an office where employees can plan and design future clothing collections. On the roof there is also an outdoor terrace where visitors can gather for drinks.

      When it came to developing the interiors, Sella Concept sought to reflect the retro style of Sister Jane’s billowy blouses and dresses. The studio’s co-founder, Tatjana Von Stein, particularly found herself referencing the aesthetics of the 1970s.

      Furnishings in the restaurant feature fringed detailing
      “I must admit that I am always inspired by the ’70s forms, shapes and use of space,” Von Stein told Dezeen.
      “There is a movement and warmth in its design history that I love to employ with a contemporary twist.”

      A collage wall in the restaurant displays campaign photos by Sister Jane
      On the ground floor of Sister Jane Townhouse is the restaurant, called Cha Cha’s, which serves up a roster of Latin-fusion brunch dishes.
      The space has peach-coloured walls and is dominated by a huge hexagonal, brass-edged bar counter. It’s surrounded by a series of Deja Vu stools by Masquespacio that boast tiers of mauve, cream and beige fringing.

      Sister Jane’s clothing showroom is on the townhouse’s first floor
      Fringing also skirts the burnt-orange seating banquette that winds around a corner of the room, and runs along the edge of the six-sided dining tables. Mustard-yellow lamps with fringed shades have additionally been dotted throughout as decor.
      Cha Cha’s includes a collage wall which will be plastered with different striking images from Sister Jane’s fashion campaigns.
      The wall runs directly beside a brass-tread staircase – the steps had previously been closed in by a partition wall, but Von Stein knocked this down to encourage diners to explore the showroom on the first floor.

      Garments hang from bespoke walnut rails in the showroom
      Upstairs in the showroom, surfaces take on a pinkish hue.
      Some clothes are displayed within a veiled pod that sits at the centre of the room, enclosed by sheer white curtains. Other garments hang from custom-made walnut rails or are presented on mannequins which perch on a curvaceous platform covered in teal-blue carpet.

      An adjacent showroom will display Sister Jane’s Ghospell clothing line
      A short walkway leads through to a room that showcases Sister Jane’s Ghospell line, which offers pared-back clothes with sculptural silhouettes.
      This space has aptly been given a slightly more minimal finish – walls here are either clad in steel or upholstered with buttery yellow velvet, while the changing room is entirely lined with mirrored panels.
      Wooden flooring that runs throughout the rest of the townhouse has also been replaced here by micro cement.

      Walls in this showroom are clad in steel and yellow velvet
      Above the showrooms are the offices for Sister Jane staff, followed by the roof terrace dressed with comfy cushioned benches and green wire-frame chairs.
      Guests can alternatively relax in the secret ground-floor garden room, which is accessed via a door disguised as an antique armoire.

      The customer changing room is entirely lined with mirrored panels
      “We have a true inclination for concept spaces which indulge in all the senses and offer the design challenge to seam together a variety of experiences and brands,” explained Von Stein.
      “But it was tricky – in essence, we had 2-3 clients on one building.”

      An antique armoire hides a door leading to Sister Jane Townhouse’s secret garden room
      Sella Concept was established by Tatjana Von Stein and Gayle Noonan. Previous projects by the studio include Public Hall, a plush co-working space that occupies the former office of the UK secret intelligence service, and Night Tales, a pink-tinged cocktail bar.
      At the end of last year the studio also debuted its first furniture collection, which comprises a series of curvaceous stool seats.
      Photography is by Genevieve Lutkin.

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      O shop in Chengdu is a lifestyle store by day and a bar by night

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      A series of mirrored panels obscure the cocktail bar that lies inside this shop-cum-cafe in Chengdu, China created by design studio Office AIO.The shop, which is unusually called O, was named by its owner and the co-founder of Office AIO, Tim Kwan.

      Taking the first letter from the word “object”, Kwan and the shop owner felt that O was the “perfect shape representing eternity – it has no beginning nor end, no direction nor a right way round”.

      The looping shape of the letter O also nods to the shifting function of the 68-square-metre shop: by day it’s a cafe that sells and showcases a curated selection of lifestyle items and designer furnishings, while at night it turns into a bar.

      Down one side of the shop runs a lengthy sandstone counter where the cafe’s coffee machine is kept. Just in front is a long wooden table where the barista can prepare drink orders.
      The base of the counter has been in-built with a fireplace, which can be switched on as night falls to evoke a cosier mood within the store.

      On the other side of the store is a silver-metal shelf where products are displayed and a row of fold-down seats upholstered in tan leather.

      Chengdu cafe features interiors inspired by Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel

      The rear of the store appears to be lined with mirrored panels, but these can be drawn back to reveal the night-time drinks bar. Liquor bottles line the inner side of the panels.

      Surfaces throughout the rest of shop O have otherwise been kept simple. A patchy band of exposed concrete runs around the lower half of the walls, but off-white paint has been applied to the upper half.
      Interest is added by a handful of potted plants and a sequence of arched screens that have been suspended just beneath the ceiling.

      The last screen has been fitted with an LED strip light that can be adjusted to imbue the space with different colours.
      “[The screens] bring a sense of character to the store without occupying any footprint,” explained the studio.
      “We hope that this space will encourage quality ideas, objects, and people to interact and exchange, and ultimately reach a wholesome experience that is objectively desirable,” it concluded.

      O by Office AIO is longlisted in the small retail interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.
      It isn’t the first day-to-night venue that the studio has created – two years ago it completed Bar Lotus in Shanghai, which boasts emerald-coloured walls and rippling rose-gold ceilings. The project won the restaurant and bar interior category of the 2019 Dezeen Awards, when judges commended its mix of contemporary and traditional references.
      Photography is courtesy of WEN Studio.
      Project credits:
      Designed by: Tim Kwan/Office AIOConstruction: Sichuan ChuFeng Architectural Decoration

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      Norm Architects balances “richness and restraint” in refresh of Alsterhaus' menswear department

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      Oak, grey stone and yellow-tinted glass are some of the materials that Norm Architects has used in its minimal makeover of the menswear section of German department store Alsterhaus.Alsterhaus is situated at the heart of Hamburg and first opened its doors in 1912. Spanning 24,000 square metres, the department store offers a mix of fashion, accessories, beauty products and homeware.
      Norm Architects was tasked with refurbishing the long-standing store’s menswear section, which featured lack-lustre white walls and herringbone walls.

      The practice was keen to create a “unity of different universes” across the men’s section that would offer customers a richer experience than shopping online – but also wanted the architecture and material palette of the space to look inherently “pure”.

      The work of American-German architect Mies van der Rohe and Austrian-Czech architect Adolf Loos became a key point of reference.

      OMA wraps glass public walkway around Galleria department store in Gwanggyo

      “A department store is a visually busy place and we realized early in the process that the design needed to be pared down and clear conceptually – ruling out strong patterns and ornamentation,” said Sofie Thorning, associate partner at Norm Architects.
      “We looked to Mies van der Rohe and Adolf Loos for inspiration on natural materials with inherent characteristics that form textures and colours while evoking sensations of warmth, cold balancing feelings of soft and hard to the touch,” she told Dezeen.

      The menswear section is now orientated around a colonnade comprising a sequence of oakwood frames.
      It leads off to various brand concessions that are each fronted by gunmetal signs denoting their name.

      While some areas boast plush carpeting, a majority of the floor has been clad with pale-grey Ceppo di Gre stone tiles.
      “This balance between richness and restraint affords the user a unique and engaging shopping experience, relying on a considered quality of materiality and space,” added Thorning.

      Garments hang from rectangular black-metal frames that descend from the ceiling, while smaller accessories like shoes or lifestyle items are presented on bespoke steel or dark-wood shelving units.
      Pops of colour are offered by yellow-tinted glass clothing stands and blocky display plinths crafted from milky-green natural stone.

      Norm Architects has been established since 2008 and was founded by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen and Kasper Rønn Von Lotzbeck. Its most recent projects include the creation of a Copenhagen hotel that doubles as a showroom and the refurbishment of a pair of Tokyo apartments.
      The practice also is longlisted in the interior designer of the year category in this year’s Dezeen Awards.
      Photography is by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen of Norm Architects.

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