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    Studio Edwards adopts zero-waste strategy for Today Design office in Melbourne

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    Melbourne-based Studio Edwards has completed a workspace for creative agency Today Design using recycled and off-the-shelf materials that could be reused in the future.

    Located on the 12th floor of an office block in Melbourne’s Collingwood neighbourhood, the Today Design Workspace features partition walls made from OSB (oriented strand board) and translucent corrugated fibreglass.
    The office provides a workspace for creative agency Today DesignFurniture was built from scaffolding poles and timber boards, while sheets of recycled denim and sail cloth help to improve acoustics.
    Ben Edwards, architect and co-founder of Studio Edwards, said the project was designed for disassembly.
    Partition walls and tables are mounted on castors for flexibility”The goal was to create a workspace that leaves zero waste in its wake, constructed entirely from readily available materials without applied finishes,” he stated.

    “This means no plasterboard, no laminate and no MDF.”
    Another key aspect of the design is flexibility. The layout incorporates spaces for individual focus work, collaboration and meetings, but it can be reconfigured if required.
    Scaffolding poles provide furniture and screensMost of the partition walls and tables are mounted on castors so that they can be easily moved around, while a track system provides flexible lighting overhead.
    The layout of the Today Design Workspace is deliberately non-linear, organised around a looping circulation route that largely follows a diagonal trajectory through the 900-square-metre space.
    Despite its irregularity, the layout was planned to ensure that all partitions match the standard material sheet size, minimising the need for cutting.
    Built-in seats feature quilted denim cushionsCasual seating areas were built into some of the partition walls.
    These were formed of custom-made quilted denim cushions rather than upholstery, which makes them easier to recycle.

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    “The arrangement of spaces within the workspace is intentionally informal, creating a contrast with the building’s rigid rectilinear column grid,” explained Edwards.
    “Circulation pathways between these spaces are purposefully designed to encourage interaction and collaboration among teams,” he said.
    Rolls of denim form a semi-circular reception deskThe colour blue is a recurring theme throughout the space.
    Much of this comes from the use of denim. Sheets of this textile cover much of the building’s exposed concrete shell, held in place by magnets, while rolls of denim form a semi-circular reception desk.
    Blue is a recurring colour throughoutA blue stain was also applied to the timber beams that provide the structural framework.
    This colour contrasts with the warm, earthy shades of the OSB and the sisal flooring that features in some of the meeting rooms.
    Two-tone project tables feature built-in “toolboxes”Studio Edwards designed furniture to suit the collaborative nature of Today Design’s workflow.
    Two-tone project tables have built-in”toolboxes” filled with pens and sticky notes, while a large kitchen table integrates a continuous task-lighting channel. These are accompanied by cast aluminium chairs.
    The kitchen includes a table with a continuous task-lighting channelOther highlights include a kitchen with a stainless steel worktop, a magazine library with a neochrome effect and a flexible gallery and events space.
    “Today Workspace stands as a testament to sustainable design and collaborative ingenuity, a space where creativity thrives in harmony with the environment,” added Edwards.
    Translucent fibreglass screens are fixed to a blue-stained timber frameworkStudio Edwards is co-directed by designer Nancy Beka. Other projects by the studio include the modular NTS Space office, also in Collingwood, and the “jewel-like” Vision Studio eyewear store in Glen Waverley.
    The photography is by Peter Bennetts.
    Project credits
    Architect: Studio EdwardsBuilding contractor: McCormackServices contractor: Aston ConsultingStructural engineer: FORM EngineersProject management: Facilitate CorporationFurniture fabrication: James McNab DesignLighting: Sphera Lighting

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      Medprostor stacks firewood for Ljubljana design biennial exhibition

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      Firewood logs were used as modular stackable elements for the scenography of the BIO27 Super Vernaculars design biennial in Ljubljana, Slovenia, which has been shortlisted for a 2023 Dezeen Award.

      Curated by Jane Withers, the 27th edition of the city’s design biennial took place at the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO) in the summer of 2022.
      Firewood was stacked in various ways to stage the BIO27 Super VernacularsThe four-month presentation explored how designers and architects are adapting vernacular traditions and value systems to respond to contemporary challenges like water scarcity, waste and declining biodiversity.
      Similarly, the brief for the exhibition design was to rethink classic parameters and consider sustainability in the context of a temporary show.
      The firewood bundles were used to display various design projects throughout MAOSlovenian architecture studio Medprostor chose to create the scenography from a readily available, locally sourced material that could be entirely reused at the end of the show.

      “Walls, planes, piles and lines of firewood are a part of the Slovenian visual landscape, as almost 59 per cent of the country is forested,” said Medprostor.
      “By only using the standard logs and non-invasive stacking and binding methods, all the material was returned to the supplier for further resale and use.”
      The logs were pre-cut to standard lengths so they could be reusedPre-cut to standard lengths, the logs were oriented vertically and bound together to create tables and platforms of varying heights and sizes throughout the exhibit areas.
      Some of the logs were notched in their tops to hold photographs and texts mounted on honeycomb cardboard sheets, which also formed flat horizontal surfaces for displaying items by participating designers.
      Photos mounted onto honeycomb cardboard were placed in notches on top of the logsBundles were also laid on their sides to act as low-lying display podiums for larger pieces.
      “The aim was to explore ways of stacking wood that are based in traditional techniques but can at the same time support new shapes and methods that evoke a sense of contemporaneity,” Medprostor said.
      Orange and grey straps recycled from the shipping industry were used to bind the logsThe grey and orange straps used to bind the wood and to hang cardboard panels from the ceiling were reused from the shipping industry.
      A few panels also incorporated video screens or served as a backdrop for projections, adding another medium through which the curated projects could be articulated.

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      Medprostor collaborated with graphic designers Studio Kruh and AA to continue the low-impact approach to the exhibition graphics and signage, which were primarily printed on-site at the museum.
      Additionally, the firewood was able to extend its drying process for the duration of the biennial, making it more energy-efficient when finally used as fuel, according to the studio.
      Hanging panels incorporated video screens and were used as projector backdrops”The drier the wood, the higher heating value and better environmental footprint it has,” Medprostor said. “While in the museum, logs can dry additionally and be returned to the supplier for further resale with a better ecological footprint.”
      “The museum becomes a part of the process of curing the wood.”
      All of the firewood was returned to the supplier when the exhibition endedThe BIO27 Super Vernaculars scenography has been shortlisted in the exhibition design category of the 2023 Dezeen Awards, along with a shrink-wrapped exhibition design by Didier Faustino and a showcase of recycled steel chairs by Daisuke Yamamoto.
      The awards will be presented during a ceremony and party in London on Tuesday 28 November 2023, with creative direction by The Unlimited Dream Company.
      The photography is by Ana Skobe and Klemen Ilovar.
      BIO27 Super Vernaculars took place at the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), Ljubljana, Slovenia from 26 May to 29 September 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      Project credits:
      Location: Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), Ljubljana, SloveniaExhibition design: Medprostor: Rok Žnidaršič, Jerneja Fischer Knap, Katarina Čakš, Teja GorjupGraphic design: Studio Kruh + AACurator: Jane WithersAssistant curator: Ria HawthornBIO27 director: Anja Radović

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      Demountable electric-blue grid engulfs On-Off store interior in Milan

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      Italian architect Francesca Perani has teamed up with design studio Bloomscape to create a reversible fit-out for this clothing store in Milan, which is dominated by a flexible gridded shelving system.

      Perani and Bloomscape installed the grid with its moveable shelves as a way to let the On-Off store effortlessly change its display arrangements.
      A gridded blue framework covers the entire interior of Milan’s On-Off storeIt was also a matter of making the store reversible, meaning that the fit-out could be easily dismantled should the retailer move on to a different site, saving waste and leaving behind a clean slate for the next occupier.
      “Too often, the world of retail is still insensitive to sustainability; its lifecycle, however, is too short to continue being ignored,” explained Bloomscape co-founder Rosario Distaso.
      Concrete chimney blocks form display plinths and benchesThe gridded framework comprises beams of poplar wood surrounded by metal frames that were anodised to produce a vivid electric-blue colour.

      The system runs along the walls and across the store’s ceiling, allowing On-Off to hang wayfinding signage.
      Shelves can be moved around in the framework to create different displaysAll of the shelves can be pulled out or slotted in at different points of the framework.
      A fixed wooden clothes rail runs between two of the columns, allowing the hung garments to appear almost as part of the store’s architecture.

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      As the team was working with a limited budget, just a handful of materials were applied throughout the rest of On-Off.
      The same metal-clad poplar wood was used to create freestanding clothing rails that appear at the edges of the store. Sheets of poplar also form the top of the store’s display plinths and bench seats, which have chimney cement blocks for a base.
      Mirrored panels clad the store’s cash register deskAt the rear of the floor plan is a mirror-clad cash register, set against a wall lined with translucent polycarbonate sheets.
      More panels of polycarbonate were used to enclose On-Off’s changing rooms, with a shiny silver curtain suspended in front of each cubicle for privacy.
      Polycarbonate walls and silver curtains feature in the changing roomsOther striking retail spaces in Milan include the Marni flagship with its very own artists’ studio and IoNoi – a hybrid store and gallery dedicated to the work of Italian designer Fabio Novembre.
      The photography is courtesy of Francesca Perani.

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