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    Gary Card redesigns London’s LN-CC store with orange tunnel and LED-lit club

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    Designer Gary Card has given London’s LN-CC boutique a redesign that includes a sci-fi-looking wooden tunnel and a room “shaped like the inside of a foot”.

    Card, who designed the original interior of the east London store in 2011, said the challenge for him was using the knowledge he has accumulated since then to create something new.
    The LN-CC store in east London has a red facade”The question for myself this time was – can I use everything I’ve learned over the last decade to reimagine one of my most recognized projects,” he told Dezeen.
    “Each room has a very different concept,” he added. “It’s become part of the tradition now to change the temperature and colour palette with each room and encourage a journey of identity and discovery.”
    An octagonal wooden tunnel welcomes visitorsThe store is the only physical shop for LN-CC, which is mainly an online business, and is spread across the ground and lower-ground floor of a former tie factory.

    Visitors enter via an orange wooden tunnel with an octagonal shape reminiscent of the architecture in director Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
    Each room in the store has different colours and materialsIt is the third tunnel that Card has designed for the store, following its original orange tunnel and a later white version.
    “The tunnel is LN-CC’s icon,” Card explained. “It’s been with us for over a decade now, so it had to be a significant feature.”
    “We decided early on to bring it to street level and make the entrance something that had never been seen before as part of the store space,” he added.
    “It’s a brand-new design and construction. We’ve brought back the orange from the first tunnel; the white is a nod to the second version from 2014.”
    A cobalt-blue room sits on the lower-ground floorEach of the six rooms in the store has a different feel and different colours, which Card chose together with LN-CC’s buying and creative director Reece Crisp.
    “The colours we settled on really amplify what we’re showcasing, the brand’s unique edit,” the designer said.
    The store is LN-CC’s only physical spaceAmong them is the Callisto room, which has a cave-like feel and a design that was influenced by the building’s existing structures.
    “In the Callisto room, there was a circular part of a helter-skelter that used to be in the building – this used to be a tie factory and it was in the corner,” Crisp told Dezeen. “When we stripped the space back, we saw this sort of circle and that fed into how we wanted that space to be.”
    In the Atrium, Card used tile adhesive to create the structures and patterns on the room’s wide lime-green pillars, which provide shelving for the store’s accessories.
    The Atrium room has green pillars decorated with tile adhesiveFor LN-CC’s shoe room, known as the Midtarsal, Card drew on the anatomy of the human body to create an undulating, flesh-coloured interior.
    “The shoe space, the Midtarsal room, that’s engineering to an incredible degree,” Crisp said. “We love the shape – like the inside of the foot – and how that warps the room.”

    Mooradian Studio sprays London boutique interior with recycled newspaper pulp

    Throughout LN-CC, Card used a variety of different materials to bring the rooms to life.
    “The space is a juxtaposition of lots of different materials,” he said. “So MDF, perspex, wood and concrete – I sought to take small cues from the original while innovating with a refreshed lens exploring the interplay between texture, colour and materials within the newly imagined rooms.”
    The Midtarsal room has undulating shapes in a beige colourThe last room of the store is a club space, which features LED walls that can be used to turn the room into different colours or display messages.
    “The club has always been a huge part of LN-CC’s identity, ” Card said. “It was never about selling clothes – the brand was an online business after all – it was about delivering experiences. So we wanted to do something really special with the new club.”
    The LN-CC club space is lit by an LED wall”It was a bit dark and gritty before, which was cool, but we knew we needed to raise the stakes for the latest store design without it losing its edge,” Card added.
    “My right-hand man, Richard Wilkins, was the tech wizard for the space who created the lighting and amazing LED wall. The lighting totally transforms the space.”
    Other recent London store interiors include a boutique sprayed with recycled newspaper pulp and a colourful Marylebone store with handpainted murals.

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      SODA offers model for office-to-residential conversions with Roca in Liverpool

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      London studio SODA has converted a 1970s office block in Liverpool city centre into a residential building that  includes co-working and wellness facilities.

      The adaptive reuse project sees the 10-storey block, which spent decades as an office for HM Revenue and Customs, transformed into rental homes managed by operator Livingway.
      Communal spaces take up most of the ground floorRoca contains 120 one- and two-bedroom apartments, plus two floors of co-living-style amenities for residents. These include workspaces, a large kitchen, cinema room, gym and treatment rooms and a planted roof terrace.
      Russell Potter, co-founding director at SODA, believes the project can serve as a model for office-to-residential conversions in city-centre locations.
      The design includes mix of flexible lounge and workspaces”The leaps that office design has made over the past decade or two have meant that certain period properties from the 1960s and 70s are perhaps not the most desirable from a commercial point of view,” he told Dezeen.

      “But if they occupy prime city-centre locations, they can offer amazing opportunities to adapt and re-use, to reinvigorate city centres with genuinely flexible and crafted spaces.”
      A timber “activity wall” provides surfaces, seating and storageLivingway’s model is a version of co-living. By offering Roca residents access to communal spaces, in addition to their apartments, it aims to foster a sense of community.
      Many of these shared spaces can be found on the ground floor. Here, various work, lounge and dining spaces are organised around a timber “activity wall” that provides surfaces, storage and seating.
      A communal kitchen is often used for cooking classes and demonstrationsOther interior details, such as folding screens, curtains and fluted glass windows, allow the space to be casually divided into different activity zones when required.
      Sometimes these spaces host workshops or classes, allowing residents to engage with local businesses.

      Chai Guys Portobello cafe interior evokes “the colour of spices”

      “We’re introducing an element of communal activity to act as a hub at ground floor, in a similar fashion to what’s been happening in other co-living arrangements,” said Potter.
      “It means you have the opportunity to create a genuine sense of community within a city centre.”
      The building was previously an office blockOn the apartment floors, the existing floorplates made it possible to create larger homes than typical co-living units, arranged on opposite sides of a central corridor.
      Apartments come fully furnished, with bedrooms and bathrooms separate from the living areas.
      The renovation provides 120 apartments in total”Office buildings typically have slim floor plates with decent floor spans and high proportions of glazing-to-floor area, so make ideal opportunities for residential conversion,” Potter explained.
      “Likewise, floor-to-ceiling heights don’t tend to pose an issue for residential,” he added. “Typically, commercial floor heights are higher than what you expect in residential, meaning that you get better aspects of light into the spaces.”
      The apartments are larger than is typical for co-livingLivingway offers five of these units as hotel rooms, available for short stay. But guests don’t have access to all of the communal facilities; most are reserved for residents.
      Technology plays an important role in the building management. An app allows residents to book certain rooms or sign up for workshops and classes, while digital locks allow access to be controlled.
      The communal spaces feature colours and patterns that reference the 1970sThe interior design approach reflects the building’s 1970s heritage, with furniture and finishes that don’t shy away from colour and pattern.
      Standout spaces include the cinema room, an all-red space featuring large upholstered chairs, tubular wall lights and art-deco-style mouldings.
      Across the rest of the ground floor, the exposed concrete waffle-slab overhead brings an industrial feel that contrasts with the warmth of the wood surfaces and soft furnishings.
      Standout spaces include a cinema screening roomThe homes feature a more subtle palette, with muted tones rather than white, to allow residents to bring their own personalities into the design.
      A similar level of care was brought to the outdoor spaces. These include an informal courtyard on the ground floor and the seventh-floor roof terrace, which incorporates a trio of hot tubs.
      A planted roof terrace includes three hot tubsThe project builds on SODA’s experience of designing shared spaces. The studio has designed various spaces for workplace provider The Office Group (TOG), including Liberty House and Thomas House.
      The collaboration with Livingway came about after the company reached out to the studio via Instagram.
      “It is amazing to see what a beautiful result has been produced and how much our residents truly enjoy calling Roco their home,” added Samantha Hay, CEO for Livingway.
      The photography is by Richard Chivers.

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      SODA offers model for office-to-residential conversions with Roco in Liverpool

      by

      London studio SODA has converted a 1970s office block in Liverpool city centre into a residential building that  includes co-working and wellness facilities.

      The adaptive reuse project sees the 10-storey block, which spent decades as an office for HM Revenue and Customs, transformed into rental homes managed by operator Livingway.
      Communal spaces take up most of the ground floorRoca contains 120 one- and two-bedroom apartments, plus two floors of co-living-style amenities for residents. These include workspaces, a large kitchen, cinema room, gym and treatment rooms and a planted roof terrace.
      Russell Potter, co-founding director at SODA, believes the project can serve as a model for office-to-residential conversions in city-centre locations.
      The design includes mix of flexible lounge and workspaces”The leaps that office design has made over the past decade or two have meant that certain period properties from the 1960s and 70s are perhaps not the most desirable from a commercial point of view,” he told Dezeen.

      “But if they occupy prime city-centre locations, they can offer amazing opportunities to adapt and re-use, to reinvigorate city centres with genuinely flexible and crafted spaces.”
      A timber “activity wall” provides surfaces, seating and storageLivingway’s model is a version of co-living. By offering Roca residents access to communal spaces, in addition to their apartments, it aims to foster a sense of community.
      Many of these shared spaces can be found on the ground floor. Here, various work, lounge and dining spaces are organised around a timber “activity wall” that provides surfaces, storage and seating.
      A communal kitchen is often used for cooking classes and demonstrationsOther interior details, such as folding screens, curtains and fluted glass windows, allow the space to be casually divided into different activity zones when required.
      Sometimes these spaces host workshops or classes, allowing residents to engage with local businesses.

      Chai Guys Portobello cafe interior evokes “the colour of spices”

      “We’re introducing an element of communal activity to act as a hub at ground floor, in a similar fashion to what’s been happening in other co-living arrangements,” said Potter.
      “It means you have the opportunity to create a genuine sense of community within a city centre.”
      The building was previously an office blockOn the apartment floors, the existing floorplates made it possible to create larger homes than typical co-living units, arranged on opposite sides of a central corridor.
      Apartments come fully furnished, with bedrooms and bathrooms separate from the living areas.
      The renovation provides 120 apartments in total”Office buildings typically have slim floor plates with decent floor spans and high proportions of glazing-to-floor area, so make ideal opportunities for residential conversion,” Potter explained.
      “Likewise, floor-to-ceiling heights don’t tend to pose an issue for residential,” he added. “Typically, commercial floor heights are higher than what you expect in residential, meaning that you get better aspects of light into the spaces.”
      The apartments are larger than is typical for co-livingLivingway offers five of these units as hotel rooms, available for short stay. But guests don’t have access to all of the communal facilities; most are reserved for residents.
      Technology plays an important role in the building management. An app allows residents to book certain rooms or sign up for workshops and classes, while digital locks allow access to be controlled.
      The communal spaces feature colours and patterns that reference the 1970sThe interior design approach reflects the building’s 1970s heritage, with furniture and finishes that don’t shy away from colour and pattern.
      Standout spaces include the cinema room, an all-red space featuring large upholstered chairs, tubular wall lights and art-deco-style mouldings.
      Across the rest of the ground floor, the exposed concrete waffle-slab overhead brings an industrial feel that contrasts with the warmth of the wood surfaces and soft furnishings.
      Standout spaces include a cinema screening roomThe homes feature a more subtle palette, with muted tones rather than white, to allow residents to bring their own personalities into the design.
      A similar level of care was brought to the outdoor spaces. These include an informal courtyard on the ground floor and the seventh-floor roof terrace, which incorporates a trio of hot tubs.
      A planted roof terrace includes three hot tubsThe project builds on SODA’s experience of designing shared spaces. The studio has designed various spaces for workplace provider The Office Group (TOG), including Liberty House and Thomas House.
      The collaboration with Livingway came about after the company reached out to the studio via Instagram.
      “It is amazing to see what a beautiful result has been produced and how much our residents truly enjoy calling Roco their home,” added Samantha Hay, CEO for Livingway.
      The photography is by Richard Chivers.

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      Tigg + Coll Architects moves studio into converted Victorian mission church

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      Tigg + Coll Architects has converted part of an abandoned mission church in west London into a flexible studio, with the rest of the building set to be turned into homes.

      The studio, led by architects David Tigg and Rachel Coll, has completed the first phase of a redevelopment project that will see all of the Victorian church building in Brook Green brought back into use.
      The Victorian building was previously a mission churchTaking up a third of the building volume, the two-storey Addison Studios features a first-floor workspace for the Tigg + Coll team and a ground-floor space that can be used for meetings or events.
      This ground floor has a flexible layout that can function as a single space or separate zones. It includes a kitchen with an island counter, a materials library on wheels, meeting tables and pin-up areas.
      A first-floor workspace features a restored rose window”We wanted to find a permanent home for our studio that could showcase our ethos and skill sets,” Tigg told Dezeen.

      “When we heard on the grapevine that this local landmark was up for sale and looking for someone to come in and bring it back to life, we were smitten.”
      Original steel trusses are now highlighted in turquoiseLocated in a residential area, the building is believed to be 125 years old. It had been adapted many times, with numerous extensions added, and had fallen into disrepair.
      “It had great bones but sadly had been slowly left to deteriorate, with ramshackle extensions and other alterations that took away from the simple and robust beauty of the existing building,” said Tigg.
      The ground floor is a flexible meeting and events spaceTigg + Coll’s approach was to strip the building back to its original structure and find clever ways of highlighting its history and architectural features.
      Glazing was replaced including a previously concealed rose window that is now the focal point of the building’s gabled end wall.
      It includes a kitchen with a terrazzo island counterBrickwork walls were exposed but only repaired where necessary, while decorative steel trusses were uncovered and painted turquoise to stand out against the white-washed timber ceiling boards.
      “We wanted to allow the reality of the existing building and its materiality to be central to the final finish,” said Tigg.

      Ten architecture studios that designed their own office buildings

      “The principle was to pair it back and make the accents very clear,” he continued. “Nothing was to be covered up if we could help it.”
      “Any existing features not being restored were either relocated to replace damaged or missing elements or left in place and infilled to create a visible collage or quasi memorial of the building’s history.”
      The new mezzanine is built from glulam timber, blockwork and steelA new mezzanine was installed to provide the first-floor workspace with an exposed structure formed of blockwork, glulam timber joists and steel I-beams coloured in a slightly paler shade of turquoise to the trusses above.
      The floor is set back from the windows, creating a clear divide between old and new while new skylights increase the overall level of daylight that enters.
      The first floor is set back from the windowsSeveral new materials are introduced on the ground floor. The pin-up wall is formed of cork, while the kitchen counter is a custom terrazzo made using some of the site’s demolition waste.
      This space allows the Tigg + Coll team to come together for group lunches, presentations or collaborative work. It also provides opportunities for both video calls and formal meetings and could be used for events.
      A cork wall provides a pin-up space”We wanted a calm office that was uplifting, inspirational and unlike a typical work environment,” said Tigg.
      “You can spend time conscientiously working on the mezzanine and then get away from the screen time with a break downstairs. It really helps with mental balance throughout the day.”
      The design aims to celebrate the building’s historyTigg and Coll founded their studio in 2008. They specialise in residential projects, across private homes, housing developments, student living and co-living.
      Past projects include House for Theo + Oskar, designed to support the needs of two children with a rare muscular disorder, and Chapter Living King’s Cross, an innovative student housing project.
      The rest of the building is set to be converted to residentialNow that they have moved into Addison Studios, the architects are set to move forward with the rest of the conversion.
      “We are in an age where it is more important than ever to showcase how the principle of retrofit can not only be a pragmatic and cost-effective choice, but also create immensely warm, characterful and beautiful spaces for working, living and just generally enjoying,” Tigg concluded.

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      Mooradian Studio sprays London boutique interior with recycled newspaper pulp

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      Architecture office Mooradian Studio used spray-on paper pulp to create a bumpy texture across the walls and ceilings of north London menswear store Natalino.

      Taking over a former art gallery in Fitzrovia, Natalino’s first physical store was designed by architect Aram Mooradian in collaboration with design studio Mitre & Mondays to reflect the properties of the brand’s garments.
      Natalino has opened its first physical store”Nathan’s clothes use a lot of natural textures and you can often see how they’re constructed, so we wanted to capture those qualities in the interior,” Mooradian told Dezeen.
      Mooradian, who had recently travelled to Italy with a group of his students from the Architectural Association, was influenced by the contrast of rough and smooth stone surfaces at Carlo Scarpa’s famous Olivetti showroom in Venice.
      The store’s interior was designed by Mooradian StudioAfter initially looking at using a sprayed plaster finish to achieve the desired effect, he came across a spray-on acoustic material from Dutch firm Acosorb that is made from recycled newspaper.

      The material is more commonly used for sound absorption in music studios and restaurants as it helps to reduce reverberation and improves acoustics.
      Spray-on paper pulp covers the walls and ceilingsMooradian used the paper pulp to cover the store’s walls and ceilings alongside utilities such as pipes and ducting. This lends the space a feeling of cohesion in addition to providing the desired tactility.
      “I think retail spaces are often about creating a sensory experience,” the architect said. “Spraying the entire store meant that we could create this atmosphere that wraps around and immerses you.”
      The textured finish is created by blowing the compressed flaked-paper material onto the surfaces together with a non-toxic binding agent.

      Cúpla decorates Rixo Marylebone store with hand-painted murals

      When the interior eventually needs to be refurbished, the material can be easily removed by soaking it with water so it can once again be recycled.
      The use of recyclable materials also extends to the shop fittings, which were developed in collaboration with Mitre & Mondays and custom made in their Islington workshop from standard aluminium strips.
      “We used a range of techniques including bending, folding, clamping and notching to create various metal display structures that can be adapted to fit differently-sized garments,” said the studio’s co-founder Finn Thomson.
      Custom-made aluminium rails are used to display clothingThe components are attached using simple mechanical bolts, allowing them to be easily taken apart and reconfigured or recycled at the end of their lifespan.
      The display structures incorporate hanging rails and table surfaces, while angled aluminium shelves recessed into the wall are used to display shirts, knitwear and jeans.
      A fitting area in one corner of the space features a curtain made from UK-sourced waxed cotton that is suspended from a curved track.
      The aluminium was bent, folded and clamped into shapeThe graphic identity for Natalino was created by design agency Polytechnic, which also owns Bodney Road Studios in east London where Mooradian has his office.
      Aram Mooradian established his studio in 2018 after completing his studies at the Architectural Association. The studio focuses on reusing materials as part of a “gentle building philosophy” that also engages with contemporary craft practices.
      Other reversible shop interiors that have recently been featured on Dezeen include On-Off in Milan, which features a flexible gridded shelving system, and London’s Present & Correct store with its demountable wooden joinery.
      The photography is by Thomas Adank.

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      Selfridges launches The Joke Shop with playful Slapstick Generator artwork

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      London department store Selfridges has opened The Joke Shop, a “shoppable comedy store” that sells products including sneezing powder and has windows filled with whoopee cushions and slipping bananas.

      Located in the corner store space on Selfridges’ ground-floor level, The Joke Shop pop-up store was designed by the retailer’s in-house team.
      The Joke Shop has a fake entrance with nostalgic typefacesThe shop, which the retailer describes as a “shoppable comedy store”, sells joke shop products such as whoopee cushions and sneezing powder, together with fashion pieces from designers including Judith Leiber and Adam Jones.
      Selfridges worked with five joke stores across the UK to get the right atmosphere for The Joke Shop, which Selfridges executive creative director Laura Weir hoped “would platform the power of nostalgia and in-person human connection”.
      The shop sells a mix of playful toys and fashion items”The Selfridges creative team travelled the country visiting local joke shops and found institutions that were rich in inspiration and personality,” Weir told Dezeen.

      “We used more found and vintage pieces than we might usually in the space and as a result, a customer asked me ‘what did you use for the smell?'” she added. “The impression of a genuine joke shop was so strong that customers felt we had scented the space, which we hadn’t.”
      Artist Mel Brimfield created Slapstick Generators for the storeThe Joke Shop also features the Slapstick Generator, an artwork by artist Mel Brimfield that appears ready to drop buckets of paints and anvils on visitors to the store.
      A second Slapstick Generator outside the store threatens to release a boulder on the person at the Selfridges Concierge desk outside The Joke Shop, while a third sits in one of its windows.
      One appears ready to drop a boulder”I love the sheer scale of it, the detail of each mechanism and the sense of movement,” Weir said of the Slapstick Generator.
      A fake door, which fills another of the windows, was inspired by nostalgic typefaces and handwritten wayfinding.
      “Above the door, we worked with Peckham-based signwriter and mural artist Matt Rogers who hand-painted the signs to give a nod to the British joke shops,” Weir said.

      Yinka Ilori imbues Courvoisier bar with natural beauty of Cognac region

      “Some of my favourite touches were the graphic stickers on the door, which disclosed a funny rating instead of a hygiene rating, for example, subverting classic retailing tropes with funny twists,” she added.
      “Eclectic attention to detail and intentional imperfection felt important.”
      Artist Max Siedentopf designed a display of a banana slipping on a banana peelSelfridges also commissioned artist Max Siedentopf to create installations for its other department store windows, featuring his takes on classic jokes – including a giant chicken crossing a road to get to Selfridges and a trainer-clad banana that has slipped on a peel.
      “Each window pays homage to classic jokes and pranks throughout the decades – from giant whoopee cushions, a wide collection of authentic clown shoes, pie catapults and, of course, bananas,” Siedentopf told Dezeen.
      A giant whoopee cushion fills one window”I bribed a group of monkeys with bananas to randomly select jokes for me,” he added. “Each window is unique, however every single screw, piece of wood, banana and nail were carefully selected for their comedic potential.”
      Other Selfridges retail spaces featured on Dezeen include a pop-up Kim Kardashian swimwear store and a Courvoisier bar by designer Yinka Ilori.
      The photography is courtesy of Selfridges.

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      Children in social housing “sleeping on a blanket on a concrete floor”

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      Increasing numbers of people in social housing are living in inhospitable conditions because they are unable to afford even basic furniture and flooring, Dezeen reports as part of our Social Housing Revival series.

      In the UK, social-rented homes are usually handed over to new residents in a sparse state – lacking basic elements of decoration and furnishings, as well as essential appliances.
      As the cost of living continues to rise and the availability of crisis-support services diminishes, a growing number of people are unable to afford to furnish these homes, meaning they are sometimes forced to live in a harsh environment for months at a time.
      Top: before – many UK social-housing residents live with furniture poverty. Above: after – London charity Furnishing Futures makes new interiors for women who have fled domestic abuse”For the families who we work with, the point that is most distressing is the void condition – the homes are given and [social landlords] don’t bother painting the walls, and there’s absolutely no flooring down,” said Emily Wheeler, founder and CEO of Furnishing Futures.
      “Most people over time can manage to get some furniture together that’s gifted to them from the local church or friends or family or whatever, but it costs thousands and thousands of pounds to put flooring down, even in a one-bedroom flat.”

      London charity Furnishing Futures was recently established to address the issue among women fleeing domestic abuse, creating interiors to a high standard using furniture donated from brands.
      Emily Wheeler founded Furnishing Futures after realising that the poor condition of social housing was driving women back to abusive partners. Photo by Penny WincerDomestic-abuse survivors and people leaving care or who were previously homeless are particularly at risk of furniture poverty since they are less likely to have items to bring with them.
      Wheeler said Furnishing Futures is seeing increasing demand for its services as more people come under financial pressure.
      “Initially we were only working with women who were in receipt of benefits or experiencing severe poverty or destitution,” explained Wheeler.
      “But now we’re working with families who are using the food bank but the woman is a midwife, or she’s a teaching assistant, or she is a teacher, and that is new.”
      The charity increasingly encounters families living in destitute conditionsSometimes the conditions the charity witnesses are shocking, Wheeler told Dezeen.
      “People are experiencing real hardship,” she said. “We’ve frequently come across people who have no food, no clothes, no shoes for their children.”
      “The kids are sleeping on a blanket on a concrete floor – there’s nothing in the flat whatsoever,” she continued. “And those people might even be working as care assistants, or teaching assistants. So it’s really, really difficult at the moment for people.”
      Furnishing Futures seeks to deliver interiors that “look like show homes”. Photo by Michael BranthwaiteAccording to the campaigning charity End Furniture Poverty, more than six million people in the UK lack access to essential furniture, furnishings and appliances – including 26 per cent of those living in social housing.
      Only two per cent of social-rented homes in the UK are let as furnished or partly furnished, the charity’s research has found.
      Wheeler is a trained interior designer who formerly worked in child safeguarding.
      The charity decorated and furnished 36 homes in 2023. Photo by Michael BranthwaiteShe was prompted to set up Furnishing Futures after discovering that many women in social housing who had left dangerous homes were driven back to their abuser by poor living conditions.
      “When women were placed in new housing after having escaped really high-risk situations, they sometimes felt that they had no choice but to return because they couldn’t look after their children in those conditions – there’d be no fridge, no cooker, no washing machine, no bed, no curtains on the windows,” she explained.
      “People are expected to go to those places at a time of great trauma and distress, and recover, but those places are often not conducive to that because of the design and the environment.”
      Wheeler said the interiors industry could be doing more to have a bigger social impact. Penny WincerThe charity overhauled 36 homes in 2023, helping 99 women and children. It takes a design-led approach with an emphasis on finishing interiors to a high standard.
      “We professionally design them and they look like beautiful homes – they look like show homes when they’re finished,” Wheeler said.
      “And the reason we do that is because it’s really important that the women feel that they have a beautiful home and they feel safe there, that they feel for the first time that someone really cares about them,” she added.
      “It also supports the healing and the recovery journey for those women.”

      Social housing means “I can breathe again” say residents

      To help ensure quality, the charity only works with new or as-new furniture. It works with brands to source items that would otherwise be sent to landfill – usually press samples or items used at trade shows, in showrooms or on shoots.
      Donating partners include Soho Home, BoConcept, Romo Fabrics and House of Hackney.
      Wheeler is keen for Furnishing Futures to expand beyond London but the charity is currently held back by limited warehouse capacity and funding.
      “If we had more money and more space we could help more people, it’s as simple as that, really,” she said.
      The charity relies on donations from furniture brandsThe charity continues to seek donations from brands, particularly for bedroom furniture and pieces for children.
      As well as calling for social-housing providers to let their properties in a better state, Wheeler believes the design industry could be doing more to help people facing furniture poverty.
      “I do think that where the industry could catch up a little bit is working with organisations like ours,” she said.
      For example, charities are unable to take furniture lacking a fire tag – which tend to be removed – so imprinting this information onto the items themselves would make more usable.
      The charity is often in need of items for children’s bedrooms. Photo by Michael BranthwaiteIn addition, donating excess items as an alternative to sample sales could be a way to reduce waste with much greater social impact, she suggests.
      “There’s probably millions of people across the country living without basic items and yet there’s massive overproduction, but the waste isn’t necessarily coming to people who actually need it,” Wheeler said.
      “There are things that the industry could be doing that will create a huge social impact very easily.”
      The photography is courtesy of Furnishing Futures unless otherwise stated.
      Illustration by Jack BedfordSocial Housing Revival
      This article is part of Dezeen’s Social Housing Revival series exploring the new wave of quality social housing being built around the world, and asking whether a return to social house-building at scale can help solve affordability issues and homelessness in our major cities.

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      Cúpla decorates Rixo Marylebone store with hand-painted murals

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      Interior design studio Cúpla has completed a boutique for fashion brand Rixo in central London that features hand-painted illustrations and colourful zellige tiles.

      The clothing store on Marylebone High Street was revamped by Cúpla, whose creative director Gemma McCloskey is the twin sister of Rixo co-founder Orlagh McCloskey.
      The interior designer had previously designed the brand’s flagship store on the King’s Road and wanted the refurbished Marylebone location to have a similar feel.
      Rixo’s Marylebone store is covered in hand-painted murals”We wanted the store to embody everything we had previously created for Rixo’s flagship store but within its own right,” Gemma McCloskey told Dezeen.
      “A sense of escapism paired with a welcoming warmth within a boutique setting were the key emotions we wanted the customer to feel.”

      As the brand sells hand-painted prints, the designer wanted the store’s interior to feature illustrations to reflect the style of the clothes.
      It features modified vintage furniture”Understanding Rixo’s roots and the fact their USP is hand-painted prints, it felt tangible to represent the brand’s values and beginnings with the illustrations,” Gemma McCloskey said.
      “Given the space is quite small, we treated it almost like a living room space within a home and felt we could make it all-encompassing and personal.”
      Artist Sam Wood created colourful illustrations for the storeArtist Sam Wood hand-painted murals and illustrations throughout the store, which has a bright and playful colour palette and also features traditional glazed Moroccan zellige tiles.
      “We wanted the colour palette to feel really fresh and bright,” the designer explained.
      “Although there is an abundance of colours used, every line of the mural or the ‘random’ coloured zellige tile layout was methodically composed to ensure a right balance between the colours was struck.”

      James Shaw installs jumbo foot in London Camper store

      The studio added decorative arches and classical mouldings to the store in a nod to the architecture and heritage of its Marylebone neighbourhood.
      The store also features bespoke fitting room curtains with pickle-green and flora-pink stripes by fabric brand Colours of Arley.
      Moroccan zellige tiles add to the playful interiorCúpla used vintage furniture pieces throughout the store, which sells Rixo’s full collection including ready-to-wear and bridalwear.
      “We actually modified existing pieces of vintage furniture, which had been previously sourced by [Rixo founders] Orlagh and Henrietta years ago in the early days of Rixo,” Gemma McCloskey said.
      “They were the perfect fit for the space but didn’t have the functionality we required, so we decided to alter these instead or replace them.”
      The store is located on Marylebone High Street”It was much more sustainable and because the pieces were from the early years of Rixo, they had sentimental value so we didn’t want to replace them,” she added.
      Other recent London stores featured on Dezeen include a Camper store with a giant foot sculpture and a stationery store with a demountable interior.
      The photography is courtesy of Rixo.

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      V&A’s Tropical Modernism exhibition explores “the politics behind the concrete”

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      London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has launched its Tropical Modernism exhibition, which highlights the architectural movement’s evolution from colonial import to a “tool of nation building”.

      According to the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), the exhibition aims to examine the complex context, power dynamics and post-colonial legacy of tropical modernism – an architectural style that developed in South Asia and West Africa in the late 1940s – while also centralising and celebrating its hidden figures.
      London’s V&A museum has opened a major exhibition exploring tropical modernism”Tropical modernism is experiencing something of a modish revival as an exotic and escapist style popular in verdant luxury hotels, bars and concrete jungle houses,” the exhibition’s lead curator Christopher Turner told Dezeen.
      “But it has a problematic history and, through an examination of the context of British imperialism and the de-colonial struggle, the exhibition seeks to look at the history of tropical modernism before and after Independence, and show something of the politics behind the concrete,” he continued.
      The exhibition traces the evolution of tropical modernism within a South Asian and West African contextThe exhibition follows the V&A’s Tropical Modernism exhibition at the 2023 Venice Biennale, which revealed the team’s precursory research on tropical modernism in a West African setting.

      For the in-house iteration of the exhibition, additional architectural models, drawings and archival imagery have been introduced to interrogate tropical modernism in India alongside the African perspective.
      Exhibition materials line a series of rooms within the V&A’s Porter Gallery, divided by brightly coloured partitions and louvred walls referencing tropical modernist motifs.
      Archival imagery, architectural drawings and physical models line the gallery roomsThe exhibition begins by tracing tropical modernism back to its early development by British architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. Stationed together in Ghana from 1944, Drew and Fry adapted international modernism to the African climate, proposing functional over ornamental design.
      Drew and Fry would also become part of the Department of Tropical Studies at the Architectural Association (AA), which exported British architects to the colonies from 1954 in a bid to neutralise calls for independence.
      The exhibition aims to centralise local professionals who have gone widely unrecognised for their contributions to the movementThe exhibition continues by spotlighting local Ghanaian figures who worked with Fry and Drew, noting the power shifts that were taking place behind the scenes to reappropriate the architectural style for an emerging era of colonial freedom.
      Influential political leaders Jawaharlal Nehru in India and Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana are the exhibition’s key personas, framing the evolution of tropical modernism from conception to regionalisation.
      Gallery rooms are divided by brightly coloured partitions informed by tropical modernist motifs”The heroes of our exhibition are Nehru and Nkrumah, the first prime ministers of India and Ghana,” Turner explained. “Tropical modernism, a colonial invention, survived the transition to Independence and was appropriated and adapted by Nehru and Nkrumah as a tool of nation building.”
      “Nkrumah, who sometimes sketched designs for the buildings he wanted on napkins, created the first architecture school in sub-Saharan Africa to train a new generation of African architects, and this institution has partnered with us on a five-year research project into tropical modernism.”
      According to the V&A’s research, tropical modernism shifted from its western Bauhaus roots towards a localised vernacular stylesThrough a host of physical models and artefacts, the city of Chandigarh becomes the exhibition’s narrative focal point for tropical modernism in India.
      Under prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Chandigarh was the first large-scale modernist project, recruiting Drew and Fry along with French architect Le Corbusier to plan the ideal utopian urban centre.
      As with Nkrumah – who saw how the Africanisation of architecture could become a symbol of progress and change – the exhibition also aims to highlight Nehru’s ambitions for a localised modernism drawing from the Indian vernacular, rather than the Western Bauhaus style.

      Applied Arts Pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale aims to “complicate the history of tropical modernism”

      The display culminates in a video featuring 16 key tropical modernist structures, interspersed with interviews and footage explaining the social and political context behind each building’s realisation.
      “We made a three-screen 28-minute film, shot in Ghana and featuring panoramic portraits of over a dozen buildings, cut with archive footage from the time and interviews with architects like John Owusu Addo and Henry Wellington, and Nkrumah’s daughter, the politician Samia Nkrumah,” said Turner.
      The exhibition aims to address gaps in the museum’s African and South Asian studiesAccording to Turner, the exhibition begins to address gaps in the V&A’s collections and archives pertaining to architecture and design in the global south.
      “Archives are themselves instruments of power, and West African and Indian architects are not as prominent in established archives, which many institutions have now realised and are working to address,” Turner explained.
      “Tropical modernism was very much a co-creation with local architects who we have sought to name – all of whom should be much better known, but are excluded from established canons.”
      The display will inhabit the V&A’s Porter Gallery until 22 September 2024Bringing tropical modernism back into contemporary discourse was also important to the V&A as a timely investigation of low-tech and passive design strategies.
      “Tropical modernism was a climate responsive architecture – it sought to work with rather than against climate,” Turner said.
      “As we face an era of climate change, it is important that tropical modernism’s scientifically informed principles of passive cooling are reexamined and reinvented for our age,” he added.
      “I hope that people will be interested to learn more about these moments of post-colonial excitement and opportunity, and the struggle by which these hard-earned freedoms were won.”
      A 28-minute video captures footage of remaining tropical modernist structures at the end of the exhibitionThe V&A museum in South Kensington houses permanent national collections alongside a series of temporary activations and exhibitions.
      As part of London Design Festival 2023, the museum hosted a furniture display crafted from an Alfa Romeo car by Andu Masebo and earlier in the year, architect Shahed Saleem created a pavilion in the shape of a mosque at the V&A as part of 2023’s Ramadan Festival.
      The photography is courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum.
      Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence will run from 2 March to 22 September 2024 at the V&A Museum in London. For more events, exhibitions and talks in architecture and design visit the Dezeen Events Guide.

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