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    Luca Nichetto transforms Swedish villa into his own studio and showroom

    Luca Nichetto has converted a 1940s villa in Stockholm into a studio to display his designs in a domestic setting and provide a comfortable working environment for his team.

    The Italian designer’s studio was previously based out of an apartment in the city’s Midsommarkransen neighbourhood. But when the landlord wanted to raise the rent, Nichetto decided to relocate to a larger property in a nearby suburb.
    Luca Nichetto has turned a 1940s villa into his own studio”I didn’t really need to look for another space in the city centre because it’s not that important for us as we work globally,” Nichetto explained.
    “A week after beginning to search, I saw on the real estate market what is now the Pink Villa. It was simply perfect and I made the offer.”
    A blush-pink staircase leads up to the first floorThe Pink Villa is a typical 1940s wooden house with a gabled roof and a large garden. Nichetto bought the property in 2021 and began adapting the interior to make it suitable for use as a studio.

    “I didn’t want a conventional studio space but rather a space that could be a studio, a showroom and a domestic property to be used on the weekends by my family and during the week by my team,” the designer told Dezeen.
    Nichetto’s Banah sofa for Arflex sits in the living areaThe villa takes its name from its distinctive pink exterior, which was given a fresh coat of bubblegum-pink paint to maintain its characterful presence on the street.
    The property’s existing three bedrooms were transformed into a private office for Nichetto on the first floor and a meeting room and tailor’s workshop on the ground floor, which his wife uses on the weekends.
    La Manufacture’s Soufflé mirror helps to bring character to the spaceA corridor leads from the entrance to a bright living room that looks onto the garden. An opening beyond the stairs up to the first floor connects with the simple custom-built kitchen.
    Along with Nichetto’s office, the upper floor contains a second bathroom and a large open workspace that facilitates flexible use rather than incorporating dedicated workstations.
    Bright and bold colours were used throughout the interiorThe interior features a pared-back palette of materials and colours that provide a neutral backdrop for a selection of products and furniture designed by Nichetto for brands including Offecct, Cassina, Arflex and Bernhardt Design.
    “I wanted to give a touch of warmth and I did that using colour and volumes,” the designer said. “I particularly chose materials culturally connected with the south of Europe and very deliberately mixed them with Scandinavian features.”

    Watch our talk with Ginori 1735 and Luca Nichetto about their new collection of home fragrances

    In the living area, pale-pink walls and white-painted floors contribute to the light and airy feel. Nichetto’s Banah sofa for Arflex and Soufflé mirror for La Manufacture are among the playful designs that bring character to this space.
    Upstairs, the main office spaces feature furniture such as Nichetto’s Torei low table for Cassina and Nico armchair for Bernhardt Design. His office contains the Railway table for De Padova and Robo chairs by Offecct.
    Walls in the living area were painted a light pinkOne of the key qualities that attracted Nichetto to the property is the spacious garden, which includes a terrace furnished with his Esedra table and Pluvia chairs for Ethimo.
    The basement garage was converted into a self-contained guest suite called the Chalet, which includes a living room, bedroom and bathroom with a Swedish sauna.
    The house also has a self-contained guest suiteSince the renovation was completed in April 2022, the Chalet has hosted international visitors including art directors, photographers and designers.
    The property’s location close to a park and to the water was another reason it appealed to Nichetto, who said he enjoys the proximity to nature and the good relationship he has established with his neighbours.
    Ceramic tiles provide a pop of colourA housekeeper was hired to look after the studio and to prepare meals for the team, adding to the sense of it hybrid space that is both domestic and designed for work.
    “It’s like being in a family: we all have lunch together and there are no fixed workstations to work,” he explained. “Moreover, whoever comes to visit us, if he wants, can stay and sleep. The idea is to create a sense of community.”
    Ethimo’s Esedra table and Pluvia chairs decorate the terraceLuca Nichetto established his multidisciplinary practice in Venice, Italy, in 2006 and continues to run a studio there alongside his main office in Stockholm. Nichetto Studio specialises in industrial and product design as well as art direction for design brands.
    Nichetto’s recent work includes a series of home fragrances for Ginori 1735 and his first foray into fashion accessories in the form of the apple-leather Malala handbag.
    The photography is by Max Rommel.

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    Alexander May launches Sized Studio creative space in Los Angeles

    Alexander May, the founder of creative advisory Sized, has opened a flexible studio space in a former industrial building in Hollywood that will host photoshoots, events, exhibitions and more.

    Sized Studio was designed over 5,000 square feet (465 square metres) in a former industrial space. The space will host commercial projects, events, dinners, performances and other experiential marketing, as well as public-facing programming.
    Sized Studio offers a variety of bookable spaces, including a loading bay with built-in lounge seating”Sized Studio is an exciting step in the development of the Sized brand,” said May. “It’s designed to create strong collaborations with designers, brands, and creatives. Sized Studio gives another layer of access to the environments that Sized creates.”
    A variety of spaces in the former industrial building can be booked for photographers to shoot campaigns, galleries to put on exhibitions and brands to host activations.
    Located in Hollywood, Los Angeles, the venue is designed to be a blank canvasCeiling heights in the different rooms range from 10 to 30 feet (three to nine metres), and the majority of spaces are white-washed to provide a blank canvas.

    Of the larger spaces is a 1,612-square-foot (150-square-metre) loading bay, which features exposed beams and built-in lounge seating with black cushions.
    Flexible rooms in a variety of sizes are offered to clientsAnyone who rents a space will have the opportunity to enlist Sized’s advisory services, which encompass creative direction, set design, site activation and curatorial consultation.
    “There’s no limit to what kind of activations can be realized within Sized Studio,” May said. “What’s unique about Sized Studio is that it’s adjacent to Sized, which allows the people who use it to become closer to the larger culturally conscious community that Sized embodies.”

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    Although the studios officially open on 17 October 2022, Kim Kardashian’s underwear brand Skims has already utilised the studio, while upcoming public progamming includes a planned showcase of Andy Warhol photography.
    May founded Sized in 2021, following a career in creative direction across a wide variety of locations and industries.
    The majority of the former industrial building interior is white-washedHis collaborators have ranged from interior designer Kelly Wearstler to fashion house Rick Owens.
    Prior to this venture, May founded and provided creative direction for art non-profit Fondazione Converso in Milan from 2017 to 2020.
    Ceiling heights vary from 10 to 30 feet (three to nine metres)Similar creative hubs to Sized Studio elsewhere include Spring Studios in New York, located in a Tribeca telephone exchange building converted by AA Studio.
    Brooklyn venue A/D/O by MINI hosted multiple creative events and installations before it was shuttered due to the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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    In Common With opens lighting studio and showroom in Brooklyn warehouse

    Lighting brand In Common With has opened a studio, showroom and production facility inside a Brooklyn warehouse.

    The 3,500-square-foot (325-square-metre) space is located in a former industrial building in Gowanus, which was recently renovated by Morris Adjmi Architects and is home to a variety of creative companies.
    In Common With founders Nick Ozemba and Felicia Hung gave their showroom a residential feelBringing all of In Common With’s operations under one roof, the set-up allows founders Nick Ozemba and Felicia Hung to assemble and showcase their products in a residential-style setting.
    The opening of the space also coincides with the launch of In Common With’s 20-piece glass lighting collection, Flora, which was created in collaboration with French-American designer Sophie Lou Jacobsen.
    Lighting from the brand’s Flora collection join vintage and contemporary furniture”Five years ago, Felica and I set out to create a different kind of lighting brand based on a collaborative model with other makers and centered around material exploration,” said Ozemba.

    “Our new space will allow us to push this approach further, grow our team and take on more ambitious projects.”
    Plastered walls and custom millwork contribute earthy tones to the interiorThe showroom presents new and previous lighting collections – designed with ceramicists, glassmakers and metalworkers from around the world – amongst a mix of vintage and contemporary furniture.
    A Mario Bellini sofa and a Tapestry Chair by Giancarlo Valle anchor a living room area, lit by a chandelier and a floor lamp from the Flora range.

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    Plastered walls and custom millwork join the exposed wooden ceiling, uniting a selection warm earthy tones.
    Artworks by Charlotte Hallberg, Al Svaboda and more were also commissioned for the showroom.
    The studio and production space features custom workstations”Highly tactile and hand-crafted details create an immersive environment while celebrating the architectural details, generous proportions, and ample light of the industrial building where they are based,” said the team.
    In the studio, custom work tables, oak shelving, storage and technical lighting were all installed to aid production.
    There’s a dedicated area for prototyping new productsComponents for In Common With’s modular Up Down Sconce and Alien Orb Pendant are arranged by colour on the shelves. There’s also a dedicated area for the team to prototype new products.
    Ozemba and Hung met while studying at RISD, and founded their brand in 2017 before debuting a range of handmade clay designs a year later.
    Components for In Common With’s Up Down Sconce are arranged by colour on oak shelvingBrooklyn is home to a thriving creative community, with many artists and designers living and working in the New York City borough.
    Other workspaces that have opened there recently include a series of historic factory buildings converted by Worrell Yeung, and retailer Radnor’s studio and showroom in another former factory.
    The photography is by William Jess Laird.

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    Form Us With Love designs perforated steel furniture for its Stockholm studio

    As part of Stockholm Design Week, Swedish design firm Form Us With Love has opened the doors to its new studio space featuring modular furniture informed by pegboard walls.

    Perforated steel units are dotted throughout Form Us With Love’s (FUWL) Stockholm studio, which is housed in a former travel agency.
    Form Us With Love’s Stockholm studio has furniture made from perforated steel”We’ve been dealing with this space for a good year and a half, and thinking about it for a good ten years,” FUWL co-founder John Löfgren told Dezeen.
    “It’s definitely a place that is a catalyst for what we’re doing – and we’re doing quite a lot of different things, so we need a really flexible space and we need a mobile space,” he added. “We tried to be smart about how you store things and logistics in general, really being economical with each square metre.”
    Large hangar doors can be used to divide the interiorThe 200-square metre studio space, which was created in collaboration with architecture studio Förstberg Ling and branding studio Figur, was designed to suit the needs of the FUWL team.

    Large floor-to-ceiling hangar doors hide an office area, workshop and kitchen while allowing the front of the studio to be sectioned off from the remainder of the space.
    The studio is showcasing material experiments on wheeled cabinetsThis allows the area to be used as an exhibition space, where FUWL is displaying some of its ongoing projects during Stockholm Design Week.
    Among these is a project that explores how toxic glass – a waste material from the glass industry – can be treated to separate the toxins from the glass.
    Five low, wheeled cabinets made from perforated steel were used to display the projects.
    FUWL has created multiple different storage unitsThese are just some of the storage units and room dividers that FUWL has made for the studio, drawing on materials found in its own workshop.
    “We have these boxes that were derived from the workshop, like ones you would have in the garage,” Löfgren said.
    “We started wondering what would happen if we move these things out in the open,” he added. “It started off as dividers and walls, but add some wheels and all of a sudden we are in the open space.”

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    The studio is currently using the modular units as a material library, a tool wall and storage for personal and studio use, as well as experimenting with new functionalities.
    Produced by Tunnplåt – a company that normally supplies lockers to schools, gyms and other public-sector interiors – the containers have a pattern of symmetrical holes.
    A material library is housed in their drawersThis was designed to make the reference to pegboard walls immediately recognisable.
    “We definitely experimented with patterns,” Löfgren said. “We still wanted people to have a smile on their face like: I can see where it derives from.”
    The pegboard-style furniture was informed by tool wallsRealising that the perforated steel units could be used to create a flexible interior was just a coincidence, Löfgren said.
    “I think it’s definitely a tool that incorporates how we want to work in the interior,” he said. “And I think that’s just been a coincidence.”
    “We were always looking for something that would help us have this kind of full flexibility, and still be able to do something both fun and functional,” he added.
    The studio was designed to be both practical and flexibleIn the future, the studio said it might also create the units in other colours. For its own office, soft grey tones were chosen to aid concentration.
    “We worked with tones of grey as a backdrop throughout the space to put focus on the creative processes taking place within,” architecture studio Förstberg Ling said.
    Form Us With Love has previously launched products such as Forgo, a soap designed to minimise carbon emissions and an IKEA chair made from recycled wood.
    The photography is by Jonas Lindström Studio.
    Form Us With Love’s studio is open to the public between 5 September and 9 September 2022 as part of  Stockholm Design Week. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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    Charlie Luxton Design reworks Oxfordshire farmhouse to create Studio Richter Mahr

    Composer Max Richter and visual artist Yulia Mahr have set up a multimedia production studio inside a former farmhouse in Oxfordshire, which Charlie Luxton Design has updated with more sustainable features.

    Bordered by 31 acres of forested woodland, Studio Richter Mahr will serve as a space where both emerging and established creatives can come to develop their work.
    Studio Richter Mahr is a multimedia production studio in a former farmhouseRichter and Mahr – who are collaborators as well as a couple – first had the idea for the site some 20 years ago.
    “Studio Richter Mahr is about dreaming the future into existence, a better way to live and work,” said Mahr. “It’s about forward motion and borderless creativity. It’s about offering time and opportunities for people to really experiment.”
    The studio occupies a farm building that had already been modernised to a decent standard but needed adjusting to reduce the operational carbon footprint of the new amenities on site. Local practice Charlie Luxton Design was assigned to the task.

    New skylights allow natural light to flood the facility’s interiorThe building’s roof now accommodates solar panels that provide electricity to the site and several skylights to reduce the need for artificial lighting.
    To keep the building warm, air-source heat pumps were installed alongside a ventilation system powered using recovered heat.
    A large picture window features in the orchestral recording studioCharlie Luxton Design preserved the building’s original steel framework to conserve its embodied carbon and celebrate the site’s agricultural past.
    The existing concrete floor slab was also retained and strengthened in some areas.
    Inside, the studio houses a series of state-of-the-art creative spaces devised with the help of sound specialists Level Acoustics and Studio Creations. This includes a video editing suite, programming room, art studios and a Dolby Atmos sound mixing room alongside an exhibition area and a cafe that creates dishes from produce grown on-site.

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    The plan culminates in a spacious orchestral recording room fronted by a huge picture window that offers uninterrupted views across the rural landscape.
    Charlie Luxton Design applied a restrained material palette throughout the interior.
    Most of the walls were washed with textured lime plaster or overlaid with Dinesen oak boards while the building’s exterior was clad with simple black metal to contrast the surrounding greenery.
    “The brief was always to be very simple, using quality materials,” founder Charlie Luxton told Dezeen.
    Many of the studio’s rooms are clad with timberGoing forward, Richter and Mahr plan to add more amenities including an on-site creche with the aim of hosting artist residencies and composer labs.
    This isn’t the first time a farm building has been repurposed for creative pursuits. Last year, Studio Bua converted a derelict Icelandic barn into an artist’s studio and holiday home.
    The workspace sits inside a double-height gabled volume that was erected within the site’s existing time-worn walls.
    The photography is by Lorenzo Zandri.

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    Konishi Gaffney converts 1950s garage into artist's studio with a sense of “civic grandeur”

    Architecture studio Konishi Gaffney has overhauled a 1950s garage in an affluent Edinburgh suburb, adding a rhythmic facade made up of wooden battens.

    The Scottish studio was challenged with turning the existing concrete garage into a functional artist’s studio, while being sensitive to the existing Georgian property in The Grange.
    The converted garage sits beside the original stone Georgian houseKonishi Gaffney devised a scheme that involved filling in the existing garage door, raising the structure’s roof to match the height of the house’s ground floor and incorporating the property’s side gate into the facade.
    These changes unified the structure’s appearance from the road creating a sense of contemporary “civic grandeur”, as well as facilitating secure side access to the back garden.
    The grid of battens frame a window and conceal a side gate”As a practice we’ve been exploring ways of expressing the structure of cladding in projects,” said Konishi Gaffney.

    “We started by setting up the vertical timber battens and horizontal cladding in a rhythm of fins across the facade.”
    Windows and skylights allow plenty of natural light to enter the studioTimber was selected for its affordability, sustainability and its capacity to weather appealingly.
    The battens were carefully orientated to allow water to drain off them and prevent water from pooling, as well as to catch light and form interesting shadows across the facade.

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    The existing structure was insulated and the walls and ceiling punctuated by two aluminium clad windows and a skylight, providing the studio space with ample natural light for the artist to work in during all seasons.
    The creative function of the structure’s interior is referenced in the facade, which was intended to read “like a musical score,” and “continue beyond, separated from the house, like a stage-front.” according to the architects.
    Wooden elements feature in the studio’s interior as well as on its exteriorThe wooden composition of the frontage continues on into the garage’s interior, which has a ceiling clad in dark stained wood with protruding beams.
    Other garage-related projects featured on Dezeen include an orange-painted timber-framed garage extension by McCloy + Muchemwa and a garage in Amsterdam that was transformed into a family home by Barde + VanVoltt.
    The photography is by ZAC and ZAC.
    Project credits:
    Architect: Konishi Gaffney ArchitectsStructural engineer: EntuitiveJoiner: Andrew MacdonaldCladding supplier: RusswoodWindows: VelfacPhotographer: ZAC and ZAC

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    Emil Eve Architects retrofits own office in brutalist building in Hackney

    London studio Emil Eve has retrofitted its Hackney office to include a striking green-painted floor and modular birch plywood furniture designed to be “reconfigured or adapted as the needs of the users change”.

    The architecture firm created the studio space, which it shares with design practices OEB Architects and Material Works, in an existing brutalist building with an exposed concrete structure in Hackney, east London.
    The studio was renovated so that no alterations were made to the buildingCalled Regent Studios, the office was carefully designed so that no changes had to be made to the fabric of the building, according to Emil Eve.
    Instead, the firm created a “family” of modular, CNC-cut birch plywood furniture that fits into the space without having to be fixed to the existing structure.
    A vivid green-painted floor defines the space”The furniture is freestanding so that it can be reconfigured or adapted as the needs of the users change,” Emil Eve co-founder Emma Perkin told Dezeen.

    As well as linoleum-lined desks and small shelving units, this group of furniture includes a standout floor-to-ceiling “sample library” where the architects display and interact with a range of material samples.
    Emil Eve created a floor-to-ceiling “material library”Shallow upper display shelves are combined with deeper, lower storage compartments to create a unit that takes cues from the design of kitchen cabinets.
    “We knew we wanted the material library to be the main focus of the space, with everything visible to hand,” said Perkin, who designed the system to replace “inefficient” stacked boxes.
    Desktops are lined with linoleumThe architect also explained why the firm used the CNC process to create the furniture, which was fabricated by Natural Buildings Systems.
    “The process enables complex shapes to be cut from sheet materials,” she said. “Here, we used slits cut into the shelves to create an interlocking design that creates a hierarchy between framing, horizontal and vertical elements, which brings a rhythm to the whole.”

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    Emil Eve chose bold green paint for the flooring, which was used for its cost-effectiveness and ability to transform the mood of a space, according to the firm.
    This colour was also decided upon to complement the windowsill herbs and various potted plants scattered around the studio, as well as to contrast with a cluster of bright yellow chairs positioned around a communal work table.
    Yellow chairs contrast with the green floorAs a small design agency, Emil Eve explained the benefits of sharing a co-working space with other design companies in the interest of sharing collective resources – a decision the architects called “economical as well as sustainable”.
    “It’s always more fun to make things rather than buying furniture off the shelf if you can!” added Perkin.
    Visitors are invited to touch the materials on displayEmil Eve Architects was founded in 2009 by Emma and Ross Perkin. The firm has completed a number of architecture projects, including many in London.
    Recent projects range from a monochromatic pale pink loft extension and a timber-framed residential extension filled with light.
    The photography is by Mariell Lind Hansen.

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    Frederick Tang Architecture transforms New York loft into light-filled wellness studio

    Interior architecture and design studio Frederick Tang Architecture (FTA) has updated Moxi, a wellness studio and acupuncture centre in Soho, New York by re-arranging its interiors around an expansive oval skylight.

    Frederick Tang Architecture, based in Brooklyn, was tasked with reordering and redesigning the open-plan, top-floor studio into a space that accommodates a reception area, six treatment rooms, offices, bathrooms, herb dispensary and pantry.
    Frederick Tang Architecture wanted to capture natural lightThe studio took the 1901 mercantile building’s skylight as the starting point for the refurbishment of the rectangular-shaped space.
    Its dense urban context required an innovative solution to increase the floor area while introducing natural light throughout.
    Moxi is arranged around a central skylight”Architecturally we wanted to organise the many different components in a plan that felt logical and complete which was difficult with space constraints,” said Frederick Tang, director of design and principal architect at Frederick Tang Architecture (FTA).

    “We started by organizing the plan around the sources of natural light,” he told Dezeen.
    An office space has been added to the interiorVisitors enter the wellness studio and arrive at a reception area framed by four arched windows overlooking Broadway.
    Here, a custom bench crafted from white oak slats and copper detailing curves along two walls while sculptural pendant lights hang from the ceiling.
    To maximise space and take full advantage of the natural light, this area doubles as a site for gatherings and classes.
    The reception is flanked by four arched windowsFTA reconfigured Moxi’s rooms as well as softened corners and created arches that echo some of the existing architecture of the space for the client who wanted the interior to feel “holistic, natural, calm and inspiring”.
    A single corridor leads to all six treatment rooms, which were also coloured in shades of green.
    The walls were lime-washed in a soft cypress green, with wainscotting wooden panels painted in a darker shade of the same hue.

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    FTA wanted the colour to contrast traditional wellness studios which are often white and feel more clinical.
    “The predominant colour was green –lime washed in a cypress and deep forest – chosen for its property to heal, critical at the front where the patron first experiences the space,” said the architects.
    Each acupuncture treatment room has a different wallpaperThe treatment rooms, which are the most intimate sections in the studio, contain two bedrooms and a bathroom arranged around the lightwell.
    The green was offset by hints of pale peach throughout the interior and natural finishes including terrazzo, concrete, boucle and ribbed glass add depth and texture.
    A kitchenette is located at the end of the central corridorAt the end of the corridor, a second archway opens into a back-of-house area, where FTA has inserted a new office, herb dispensary, staff pantry, and bath.
    Other design-focused wellness spaces include the Shelter wellness centre in Sydney, which is located in a former restaurant and Yoko Kitahara spa in Israel, which was transformed from an Ottoman-era home.
    The photography is by Gieves Anderson.

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