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      Curtains for minimalism as John Pawson goes maximalist

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      Minimalist British designer John Pawson has ditched his pared-back aesthetic in favour of full-blown maximalism, Dezeen understands.

      Pawson, who is not an architect, had become famous for his minimalist designs and was awarded a CBE in 2019.
      But a source close to Pawson informed Dezeen that he has now embraced bold colours, clashing patterns and animal-print furnishings after a dramatic change-of-heart.
      British designer Pawson has historically been known for his minimalist designs”I went to the Pawsons’ place in the Cotswolds recently and it’s like night and day,” the source said. “They’ve wallpapered over the white-brick walls and stuck some garish curtains over the windows.”
      “And the soft furnishings, my god. You can barely move for patterned rugs and blankets.”

      Possible social-media link
      However, not-an-architect Pawson appears to have chosen to maintain a minimalist approach in his relationship with the media.
      Asked if he could explain his reversal in tastes, he replied: “No.”
      The source speculated that Pawson’s shift in style may be linked to social media.
      Pawson has now transformed his Cotswold home into a maximalist colour-festIn 2018, he surprised some by releasing a book of vivid photographs, telling Dezeen at the time that he had discovered a love of colour through Instagram.
      “Maybe he’s moved on to TikTok,” the source said.
      Maximalism has been a re-emerging trend over the past couple of years, partly driven by its popularity on the video-gallery platform.
      His studio declined to answer questions about whether Pawson – who, again, is not an architect and Dezeen would never suggest anything to the contrary – will apply his new-found personal partiality to maximalism to commercial projects.

      John Pawson designs his own minimalist rural retreat

      However, a spokesperson said: “When are you doing another Hot List? John would really like you to do another Hot List.”
      Pawson, whose most high-profile projects include the Novy Dvur monastery in the Czech Republic and the Design Museum in London, ranked at number six on Dezeen’s Hot List of newsworthy designers and brands in 2017.
      Last week, a Deyan Sudjic-authored biography of Pawson’s life and work was published, but did not mention his switch to maximalism.
      The photography is by Gilbert McCarragher, with additional input from Studio Merlin.

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      Citizens Design Bureau adds “volcanic colours” to arts and circus space in former church

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      UK studio Citizens Design Bureau has given a colourful retrofit to Jacksons Lane, an arts and circus centre in an old church in London, with the aim of decluttering and simplifying its interior.

      The studio aimed to improve the functionality of the grade II-listed building, which used to be a church but has been a community hub and “leading centre in contemporary circus arts” since the 1980s, Citizens Design Bureau said.
      The Jacksons Lane building has a colourful interior”The previous layout was a real jumble of spaces that didn’t work from a functional perspective,” the studio’s director Katy Marks told Dezeen.
      “Our approach was to declutter the old church building, so that the original structure was more visible, giving a sense of the symmetrical cruciform of the original plan and using the drama of those spaces to full effect, improving acoustic separation, functionality as well as making the building fully accessible,” she added.
      Spaces were rearranged to create a more functional interiorThe venue in Highgate, London, had a dated interior with more than 20 different levels.

      While reconfiguring its spaces to make them more functional, Citizens Design Bureau added a cafe and hireable studios in the former church’s double-height transept.
      Red and teal colours brighten up the spaceNew details that make Jacksons Lane more functional include acoustic windows, as well as ramps and lifts that create easier access to the different spaces.
      It also restored some parts of the church that had been hidden under more recent interventions. This included reinstating the main entrance of the building to the original church porch, which had been boarded up.

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      “You would often see people still climbing the steps up to the original, boarded-up door, trying to push it open,” Marks said.
      “In a grade II-listed building, we had limited scope to make big changes to the exterior, so we felt that opening up the original and intuitively obvious entrance was the most impactful move we could make, to make the building much more legible and welcoming to everyone,” she added.
      Citizens Design Bureau retrofitted the arts centre in HighgateInside the centre, Citizens Design Bureau introduced a warm colour palette of deep reds and oranges with teal accents, which complements the existing brick, stone and dark-wood details.
      “The building has undergone many changes over decades of use, so the internal fabric in particular has a layered history,” Marks said.
      “We have used colour to express those layers – white for the church structure, a teal blue for elements that were added in the 70s, and then volcanic oranges, reds and purples for completely new insertions with pops of other colours in the lighting, reflecting the playfulness of its current function as a creative space, specialising in circus arts.”
      Whitewashed walls contrast dark-wood floorsThe studio clad some of Jacksons Lane’s ceilings with a pale-green concertina form that improves acoustics.
      Lamps with bright orange cables add another colourful touch to the space.
      The former church is now used as an arts and circus hubJacksons Lane is used by a lot of people in the local area and Marks said the feedback so far has been “wonderful”.
      “We hope that what we have done really expresses the ethos and character of Jacksons Lane with clarity and a bit of joy, raises a smile and is the kind of place that people really want to hang out in,” she said.
      Citizens Design Bureau has previously added a “delicately perforated” Corten extension to Manchester Jewish Museum, for which the studio was longlisted for a Dezeen Award in 2021.
      The photography is by Fred Howarth.

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      Thirdway transforms Georgian townhouse into women-only members' club in London

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      American members’ club Chief has set up its first London outpost inside a centuries-old townhouse in Bloomsbury, with cosy interiors conceived by design studio Thirdway.

      Established in 2019, Chief has locations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, where women working in senior leadership roles can connect, learn from industry peers and find ways to drive more women into positions of power.
      Thirdway has completed the Chief members’ club in LondonWhen it came to designing the club’s first overseas branch, Thirdway was asked to maintain the homely aesthetic established across its US outposts while also speaking to the unique architecture and location of the townhouse.
      “We wanted a mix of what felt like Chief but with a London stamp on it, while also being sympathetic to the age of the building and the local London area,” explained Alex Hodson, a senior designer at Thirdway.
      A gridded ceiling and leafy plants nod to the look of an English conservatoryThe club occupies a Grade I-listed townhouse in Bloomsbury, which Thirdway extended by connecting it to an adjacent four-storey mews house via a glazed walkway, allowing enough space for all of Chief’s amenities.

      Members enter via a forest-green reception area that’s anchored by a wooden desk.

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      Arched panelling fronts the table in a nod to the townhouse’s curved windows, while its fluted detailing references the grooves on the building’s original fireplaces.
      Rich hues go on to appear in the club’s other rooms. In the bar, for instance, the drinks counter is clad with glossy, emerald-green tiles. Here, the arch motif also reappears in the form of the storage cabinets holding the bar’s glassware and wine bottles.
      Some of the club’s rooms feature wood-lined wallsPlump teal and mustard-yellow sofas were dotted throughout the sunroom on the lower-ground floor, alongside poufs covered with the same fabric that was used to upholster seats on London’s Piccadilly underground line in the 1990s.
      To emulate the look of a traditional English conservatory, a white grid was installed across the ceiling while a number of leafy potted and hanging plants were dotted around the space.
      A grand piano takes centre stage in one of the roomsAnother events room on site was given a slightly more sophisticated feel with wood-lined walls and vermillion-red velvet seating.
      Other women-only members’ clubs in London include Allbright in Mayfair, where the walls are exclusively covered with works by female artists.
      All images are courtesy of Peter Ghobrial Photography.

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      Child Studio blends mid-century modern and art deco details in Mayfair pied-à-terre

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      Local practice Child Studio has designed a house in a mews courtyard in London that mixes mid-century modern furniture with custom-made pieces in a nod to fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent’s home.

      Child Studio designed the home, which was created for a hotelier and restauranteur, as a space for dining, entertaining and hosting parties.
      A white curved fireplace sits at the centre of the loungeIt centres around a spacious lounge that was informed by the grand salon in fashion designer Saint Laurent’s Paris home.
      Informed by the way Saint Laurent’s residence displayed his collection of artworks, the Mayfair home is a cornucopia of furniture pieces by iconic mid-century modern designers.
      Sculptures and vintage furniture decorates the space”We worked closely with the client to create a space that reflected his personality and interests, encompassing art, design, literature and travel,” Child Studio founders Che Huang and Alexy Kos told Dezeen.

      “This approach made us think of Saint Laurent’s salon – an eclectic interior where design objects and art pieces from different eras and parts of the world are assembled together, forming a highly personal environment.”
      Wooden shelving divides the roomA large open space in the residence, with narrow full-length skylights on each side, was given a vintage feel through the addition of wooden library walls.
      These divide it into a lounge area as well as spaces for dining and studying.
      “We were interested in finding an authentic design language for this project, balancing the art deco references with the 1960s and 70s modernism,” the studio added.
      Child Studio designed a wooden table for the roomAmong the furniture and lighting used for the residence are Japanese paper lamps by industrial designer Ingo Maurer and the “Pernilla” lounge chair by Swedish designer Bruno Mathsson, which have been juxtaposed with furniture designed by the designers themselves.
      “We paired vintage Scandinavian furniture by Bruno Mathsson and Kristian Vedel with playful lights by Ingo Maurer and Alfred Cochrane,” Huang and Kos said.
      “The cabinetry and tables were designed by Child Studio to unify the interior and accommodate all functional requirements.”
      The dining area has a glass-brick wallThe lounge also contains a fully functional, half-moon-shaped fireplace created by the studio, with a decorative shape that matches two ornate urns and a pair of art-deco-style floor lamps.
      “We designed the adulating fireplace to bring a sense of scale and permanence to the space,” the designers said.

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      “The plaster finish seamlessly blends in with the surroundings,” they added.
      “The fireplace is placed below the skylight, and the soft shifts of sunlight throughout the day contribute to the tranquil atmosphere.”
      Armchairs by Charlotte Perriand sit around the dining tableIn the dining area, dark-wood shelving holding glassware, books and vases surrounds a circular wooden table with dining chairs by French architect Charlotte Perriand.
      “The material palette of this room draws inspiration from the modernist Villa Muller by Adolf Loos,” the designers said.
      “The combination of dark mahogany wood, patterned marble and green upholstery feels so chic, yet warm and unpretentious.”
      The study also features natural materialsA kitchenette next to the dining area was separated from the space by a glass-brick partition designed to filter the daylight.
      Behind the library shelves, Child Studio created a wood-panneled study for the homeowner. The studio aimed to use natural materials throughout the project.
      “We enjoy working with natural materials, such as solid wood, stone and plaster,” Huang and Kos said.
      “Child Studio often designs custom furniture pieces for projects, and we find that these simple and timeless materials are incredibly versatile and ideal for creating bespoke hand-crafted objects.”
      The reisdence is located in a historic mews in MayfairChild Studio used an “understated” colour palette for the residence to create a warm, relaxing environment that it hopes will continue to evolve.
      “Our goal was to design an interior that will continue evolving over time as the owners add new art pieces and bring heirlooms from their travels,” the studio said.
      Also in Mayfair, architecture studio Laplace renovated The Audley pub and filled it with art and MWAI designed an apartment as if it were a hotel suite.
      The photography is by Felix Speller and Child Studio.

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      Running brand On models London trainer store on “shoppable science museum”

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      Swiss brand On has opened its first UK shop on London’s Regent Street, complete with steel fixtures and a robotic arm.

      For its debut outpost in the United Kingdom, On aimed to showcase the science and technology behind its running shoes and clothing.
      On has opened a trainer store on London’s Regent Street”Our concept was a shoppable science museum in the sense that one of the main things we want to share is that what we do is science-based,” said On’s head of brand environments Nicholas Martin.
      It is performance-run culture that is infused into everything we do.”
      The store’s ground floor is defined by three circular steel tables, used to display the brand’s latest products.

      The store contains three circular steel tablesEach of the tables, which can be raised and lowered, is surrounded by a curved steel wall that can be rotated to create a variety of layouts within the store.
      The table at the store’s entrance also holds a robotic arm that mimics the action of running to showcase On’s running shoes.
      The upper floor houses steel shoe cabinets”The first thing you actually see is our robotic arm,” Martin told Dezeen. “We want people to touch and explore. So you kind of get to see the movement.”
      “And then we also try to add different layers of storytelling,” he continued. “So you can compare the different shoes.”
      On describes the cabinets as a “magic wall”The first floor is defined by a pair of steel cabinets, described by On as a “magic wall” that runs the length of the store.
      It contains all of On’s products in all available sizes so that customers can instantly try on trainers.
      “Our goal was to revolutionise the way shoe try-ons happen,” said Martin. “At our stores, we let the product speak for itself. Our technology is something you feel once you put a product on.”

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      Contrasting the steel fixtures, the store’s walls were finished in natural clay sourced from Cornwall, which was applied by hand.
      On the ground floor and in the basement-level event space, the walls are painted in a muted shade of grey while on the upper floors, they are finished in green.
      The cabinets contain all sizes of On’s shoes”Swiss engineering means for us loving technology and the natural world,” said Martin. “Technology makes the store look sleek, nature helps us to give the store a more imperfect and warmer look.”
      “The store green is a nod to the legendary British racing green – a colour culturally saturated in movement, speed and engineering,” he continued.
      The store is On’s first in the UKFounded in 2010, On is known for its lightweight running shoes and is reportedly the fastest-growing running brand worldwide. Its stores form part of On’s wider efforts to build its brand internationally.
      “They offer a space for our fans, community and new customers to explore and get to know the brand,” said Martin. “We see the store as a media channel that connects our fans with the brand.”
      On previously created a reflective mountain cabin in the Swiss Alps to mark the launch of its first hiking shoe.
      All photography courtesy of On.

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      Trewhela Williams adds louvred oak facade to London mews house

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      Architecture office Trewhela Williams has completed a minimalist renovation of a mews house in north London, adding a bespoke timber facade to animate its street-facing elevation.

      The home, which is set in the Belsize Park Conservation Area, originally featured a disused garage that took up a sizeable portion of the floor plan on the ground floor and blocked off any connection to the street outside.
      Trewhela Williams has renovated a mews house in north LondonTrewhela Williams was brought on board to optimise the home’s ground floor and convert the garage to provide additional living space.
      The project focused on opening up the dark and insular interior to views of the quiet mews at the front and a small private courtyard in the rear.
      The studio created bespoke timber louvres to animate the home’s exteriorExisting walls enclosing the garage were removed to allow this space to be incorporated into an open-plan living area that now extends across the full depth of the property.

      The former garage door was replaced with a facade crafted from white-oiled oak that retains the proportions of the old door but provides greater visual interest when viewed from the mews.
      The oak louvres were angled to provide privacy while also letting light into the house”The existing garage doors along the street create quite a closed and guarded frontage,” Trewhela Williams told Dezeen. “We wanted to create something that’s visually animated and provides a more open and engaging elevation.”
      Angled oak fins positioned in front of the large window function as a brise soleil, allowing daylight to enter and providing limited views of the street from inside while maintaining privacy.
      A small courtyard is located at the rear of the propertyFrom the entrance to the mews, the fins appear to form a solid wooden volume covering the window. But their geometry seems to shift and becomes more permeable as people approach the house.
      The bespoke joinery forms a pared-back structure comprising simple planes, volumes and edges that was influenced by the minimalist wooden sculptures of American artist Donald Judd.
      The interior has a minimal material paletteTrewhela Williams specified a frameless glazing unit with concealed fixings to enhance the sculptural simplicity of the carpentry.
      The windows include an espagnolette mechanism that allows them to tilt to facilitate cross-ventilation through the house or pivot open so the family’s pets can go outside.

      Echlin uses broken-plan layout to create spacious interiors within London mews house

      The studio applied a pared-back material palette with a focus on tone and texture to create a minimalist interior scheme.
      Walls and ceilings are rendered with a subtly textured Danish plaster that is complemented by the warm Douglas fir flooring and terrazzo tiles speckled with marble aggregate.
      Textured plaster walls and Douglas fir flooring finish the interior spacesA worktop made from cloudy white Mugla marble extends along the full depth of the property – from the entrance hall and storage area at the front to the galley kitchen, dining space and snug towards the rear.
      “Whilst the interior is pared back and displays the traits of minimalism in its simplicity, there is real harmony and beauty in the details,” Trewhela Williams explained.
      “There are very few materials and details within the home, so each one has been meticulously chosen to harmonise and create a space that feels warm and calm rather than being cold or sterile.”
      The kitchen worktop is made from cloudy white Mugla marbleAn existing courtyard at the back of the house is now visible and accessible through an enlarged opening, which fills the full height and width of the rear elevation.
      A minimal pivot door can be opened to create a seamless connection between the interior and the courtyard that also functions as a lightwell drawing daylight into the adjacent living spaces.
      The courtyard is paved with large-format concrete tiles and is enclosed by walls covered with natural clay plaster, harmonising with the textural palette of the interior.
      A pivot door opens onto the external courtyardThe courtyard houses a simple linear bench and a cylindrical plant pot, with their geometric forms providing visual structure while a lone acer tree adds a burst of colour.
      Despite being situated in a conservation area, the bold design for the new facade was complimented by the local planning authority, which said it provided a positive precedent for neighbours considering similar conversion projects.
      A bench and circular plant pot add geometric forms to the courtyard”It was a big relief,” said Trewhela Williams. “A lot of conversion and extension projects focus on the rear of the property but here we were working on the front so we had to tread very carefully.”
      “Thankfully the planners were very supportive,” the studio added. “We’ve also been contacted by some of the neighbours about doing something similar with their properties, so there is an appreciation for what we’ve achieved here.”
      Previously, the studio has created an extension to an Edwardian house in north London featuring a brick wall that extends out from the kitchen into the garden.
      The photography is by Lorenzo Zandri.

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      The Mint List fits out London office with mid-century-style movable furniture

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      Bespoke furniture with a mid-century feel can be rearranged to alter the use of this office space in north London, which interior design studio The Mint List has created for a music management company.

      Camilla Kelly and Lucy Tudhope of The Mint List designed the headquarters for management company Everybody’s, which recently upgraded to larger premises on the ground floor of a former shipping depot.
      Everybody’s office is located in a former shipping depotArchitect Duncan Woodburn developed plans to reconfigure the large, light-filled unit as an open-plan workspace including a high-ceilinged entrance along with a kitchen and dining area.
      For the interior scheme, The Mint List focused on retaining the building’s existing character and creating a flexible workspace with a midcentury feel.
      The Mint List designed custom joinery to divvy up the interior”We wanted to ensure that we respected the modernist nature of this industrial site, whilst integrating a sense of creativity that was absolutely key for the client,” Kelly said.

      One of the main challenges was zoning the large space to create different functional areas. This was achieved using custom-built joinery to separate self-contained yet open-plan spaces.
      Modular furniture features throughout the office interiorMuch of the joinery is modular, allowing the space to be reconfigured if required. Large storage units at the entrance are accessible from both sides and completely movable so they can be rolled away to create an open event space.
      Most of the time, the units serve to separate the office from the entrance area and provide staff with a degree of privacy from visitors.
      The office also houses a lounge for playing musicThe main workspace is flooded with light that enters through the building’s glazed frontage. It contains desks and bespoke oak credenzas that can also be easily moved to completely clear the open-plan room.
      At one end of the office is a kitchen with built-in storage, including coloured drawers and cupboard fronts that complement the African sapele wood joinery.

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      The kitchen contains bar seating next to the windows and a dining space arranged around a three-metre-long leather-topped artist’s table.
      A full-height glazed wall specified by the client separates the workspace from private offices and a cloakroom on the ground floor, as well as a mezzanine that houses an acoustically sealed meeting room and a lounge for playing music.
      Glossy tiles feature in the stairwell”The brief was a seamless, vertical grid of glass,” explained Kelly. “So we helped to translate that in terms of the finishes – textured glass to obscure vision through to the office and a beautifully finished oak frame that complements the midcentury scheme.”
      Throughout the project, The Mint List applied a palette of tactile and honest materials including sapele wood, oak, concrete and burnished brass.
      The Mint List added wood surfaces and brass detailsA colour scheme based on natural hues including greens, creams and earthy browns adds visual richness to the spaces.
      The office’s Marmoleum flooring is a custom design that subtly separates the space into different zones. The renewable material was chosen for its excellent acoustic properties in order to help absorb sound within the open spaces.
      The bathrooms are playfully decorated with colourful tilesBathrooms located on the ground floor feature retro sanitary- and brassware complemented by playful tiles, with each wall laid in different patterns and colours.
      Other recent office makeovers in London include Office S&M’s self-designed studio inside a former paint-making workshop and creative agency Ask Us For Ideas’ Soho office, which is split across two diametrically opposed floors.
      The photography is by Dave Watts.

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      Gonzalez Haase AAS evokes Iceland's volcanic landscape at 66º North store

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      Architecture studio Gonzalez Haase AAS has completed a store on London’s Regent Street for Icelandic clothing brand 66º North, featuring curved walls and freestanding plinths made from rammed earth.

      The Berlin-based studio headed by Pierre Jorge Gonzalez and Judith Haase set out to create a holistic concept for the store that represents Iceland in an original way, rather than relying on stereotypes.
      The shop interior was informed by Iceland’s volcanic landscapesGonzalez Haase AAS let the natural elements and the country’s geology inform key design features such as curved grey walls that evoke the shifting weather and rammed-earth islands that represent the earth.
      “The weather in Iceland is a very real and prominent feature in the land and we classified this as static (the island) and forever changing (the weather),” the studio explained. “The static island of Iceland stands still in comparison to the constantly evolving and adapting weather, but this influences the perception of the island.”
      Rammed-earth islands add colour and texture to the shop’s interiorUpon entering the space, visitors encounter a series of curved walls rendered in natural pigmented clay sourced from Cornwall in the south of England.

      The designers said the use of different grey tones represents the changing weather: “the immaterial, movement, changing, blurry and informal”.
      Grey walls represent Iceland’s shifting weatherThe curved walls vary in height and frame different views within the store. At the entrance, one of the walls stretches back 18 metres, drawing the viewer’s gaze into the space and offering a tactile introduction to the experiential interior.
      “These curved walls create different perspectives and atmospheres,” the design team added. “They sit in front of the existing white walls to create a dramatic foreground of rolling soft curves.”

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      A series of monumental rammed-earth islands are inserted throughout the floor plan, adding colour and texture that evokes the earth and magma of Iceland’s volcanic landscape.
      The islands were created by artist Lennart Frank, who cast and sculpted them from an aggregate mix of different lava rocks to create a layered effect.
      The islands were made from an aggregate mix containing different lava rocksA combination of pigmented aggregate and sand gives the islands their reddish-brown hue, while the rugged texture brings a tactile element to the space that complements the brand’s clothing.
      The earthy tones are echoed in the metal clothes rails, as well as in the colour of a carpet applied to the surfaces within a more intimate space at the rear of the store.
      Earth-toned carpet was used in parts of the shopA custom-made mesh ceiling was designed to evoke a misty white sky, while also concealing lights and technical equipment.
      Mirrors and screens displaying films of the Icelandic landscape help to define the flow of movement through the space and add a playful dimension to the shopping experience.
      The shop is located on Regent Street in LondonGonzalez and Haase founded their Berlin-based studio in 1999. The firm works on commercial, residential and cultural projects, developing spatial concepts and experiences that foreground the interplay between light and architecture.
      Previous interiors designed by Gonzalez Haase AAS include a minimal office for a Berlin communications firm and a sparse, white-walled concept store in Lisbon that occupies a disused warehouse.
      The photography is by Thomas Meyer, Ostkreuz Photography.

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