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      Charlie Luxton Design reworks Oxfordshire farmhouse to create Studio Richter Mahr

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      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.

      Studio Bua transforms derelict Icelandic farm building into artist’s studio

      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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      Cake Architecture creates London office space spread across two contrasting floors

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      Cake Architecture has designed a workspace for London agency Ask Us For Ideas using materials and forms that are in “complimentary contrast” with each other.

      Split across the ground floor and basement of a building in southeast London’s New Cross, the office offers a new home to Ask Us For Ideas (AUFI) – a consultancy founded in 2010 to connect brands with creative studios.
      The Ask Us For Ideas office occupies a basement (top image) and ground floor (above) in southeast LondonThe interior consists of a crisp white street-facing gallery and office space on the ground floor, as well as a “speak-easy style” subterranean space with a meeting, lounge and bar area used for collaborative co-working.
      “We’re a business that centres around making connections,” AUFI founder Nick Bell told Dezeen.
      “The brief, in essence, was to create a space that was a physical manifestation of the role we play within the creative industry – a space for connection, somewhere that above being a beautiful place to work was a place that brought people together.”

      A white gallery and office space are housed on the ground floorOn a practical level, the brief called for office space for the company’s ten staff members alongside a street-facing gallery and concept store space for various events, plus enough room to host clients and agencies.
      In response, London-based Cake Architecture set out to create a place that “feels somewhere between the home and the office”, using a mixture of materials and textures to divide up the large open-plan areas into multiple zones.
      A grey carpet runs up the walls of the work area”There were a couple of references and key drivers pushing the concept for this project forward,” said Cake Architecture.
      “Firstly the AUFI website itself. It has this layered, multi-dimensional aesthetic and we thought it could be really interesting to try and translate this into 3D physical space,” the practice added.
      “We started thinking about this layered approach to space-making, removing all internal partitions, maximising light, space, air and experimenting with layers of material, texture, colour and form as a kind of 3D collage.”
      The same carpet coats a central volume that conceals the staircaseSolid partitions were removed and a spiral stair was inserted into the centre of the plan, unlocking the basement for use and further rationalising the layout and flow around the office.
      The two separate floors also provided an opportunity to create two very different moods and atmospheres.
      A spiral staircase runs between the two levels”For us, this project was an attempt at realising a holistic quality of space with materials and forms that are in complimentary contrast with one another,” explained Cake Architecture.
      “In this sense, the consistent theme is really an exercise in playing with contrast.”

      Emil Eve Architects retrofits own office in brutalist building in Hackney

      The crisp white gallery and office space on the ground floor features mesh panelled walls for mounting and displaying work.
      A silver-grey carpet applied to the walls and floors takes visitors through to the main office area at the back of the room.
      Custom steel-framed desks topped with Marmoleum-lined birch plywood provide workspace for the permanent members of staff.
      Darker walls and furnishing create a different atmosphere downstairsIn the centre of the room, a large monolith clad in the same silver-grey carpet conceals a spiral staircase made of galvanised steel that draws guests downstairs.
      Cake Architecture worked with interior designer Max Radford, who consulted on the project and steered the furniture selections including Robin Day’s injection-moulded Polyside chair from 1963 and upholstered swivel Howe 40/4 chairs.
      A long table provides space for collaborative work sessionsThe materials and colours used downstairs in the co-working space are warmer and calmer than those used upstairs, with the walls and ceilings finished in a dark brown limewash render.
      Dark hardwood flooring contrasts with areas of soft and shaggy carpet while mesh screens and a neon-yellow mesh curtain provide further subdivision.
      A bespoke aluminium and glass table takes centre stage in the meeting room and a long table stretching through the middle of the basement is used for collaborative work sessions. A selection of mid-century armchairs provides space for quieter moments.
      The dimly lit meeting room features an aluminium and glass tableA stainless steel kitchen and bar with a raised floor area serve as a platform for socialising before, during and after work.
      Furniture pieces include green Alky lounge chairs by Artifort from the 1970s, Handkerchief chairs by Massimo Vignelli and Howe 40/4 side chairs.
      Green Alky chairs by Artifort feature in the lounge areaLos Angeles design studio Spiritual Objects was commissioned to create a series of unexpected interventions for the space such as a hand-painted bouquet of flowers on the gallery window and a tulip-shaped door handle powder coated in fluorescent yellow.
      “The Tulip Pull door handle is an amazing illustration of the power and impact a beautifully made object can have on a space,” explained Bell.
      “It marks the threshold of the building and is the first thing you physically come into contact with. I believe these moments consciously and subconsciously impact people massively, setting a tone for their experience as they continue through the building.”
      Spiritual Objects created a tulip-shaped pull handle for the office’s main doorPreviously, Cake Architecture has collaborated with Max Radford on a subterranean cocktail bar in London’s Soho that uses colours borrowed from Indian artworks.
      The photography is by Felix Speller and the styling by Tamsyn Mystkowski.

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      Cooking Sections and Sakiya explore importance of non-human species in joint exhibition

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      Turner Prize-nominated art duo Cooking Sections and Palestinian research collective Sakiya have created an exhibition in Edinburgh called In the Eddy of the Stream, which reevaluates the significance of plants and other organisms in our ecosystems.

      The multimedia show is on display at the Inverleith House of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as part of the science centre’s three-year Climate House exhibition programme.
      In the Eddy of the Stream includes installations, performances and sculpturesSpread across six galleries, the exhibition presents a range of work from research-heavy installations to live performances, developed by Sakiya and UK-based Cooking Sections.
      The show aims to “draw attention to the breakdown of ecosystems through the removal of plants and the ensuing long-term harm to people, communities and other species,” according to Cooking Sections.
      In particular, In the Eddy of the Stream intends to highlight how certain plants and non-sentient animals like oysters have been threatened by the complex histories of land ownership in Scotland and Palestine.

      Recalling Recollection investigates the history of Palestinian plant species”The installations, performances and materials in this exhibition challenge how botany has been used as a mechanism of control and how it might identify new horizons,” Cooking Sections said.
      “We want visitors to look again at the impact of our relationship with nature and non-human species and imagine new ways, in which to develop that vital relationship to the benefit of all parties.”
      From the Shores that Found their Sea is a group of mosaics made from waste shellsOne installation, named Recalling Recollection, showcases 33 botanical specimens of edible and medicinal plants, which the British Empire classified as a threat to its wheat monocultures during the country’s occuption of Palestine in the wake of the first world war.
      Sakiya has presented the specimens alongside postcards from Palestine in both Arabic and English that share stories, anecdotes and relevant folklore attempting to reclassify the plants as vital organisms.
      “In the same gallery, an oak baseboard depicting the 33 plants lines the space in reflection and opposition to the room’s ornate cornicing,” Cooking Sections founders Daniel Fernández Pascual and Alon Schwabe told Dezeen.
      Intertidal Polyculture includes ropes and nets made from biomaterialsAnother piece, From the Shores that Found their Sea, features a collection of wall mosaics formed from terrazzo-style tiles that are made out of waste mussel and oyster shells rather than traditional carbon-intensive cement.
      The shells were sourced from restaurants on the Scottish islands of Skye and Raasay that have adopted Cooking Sections’ Climavore menu – a regenerative approach to food sourcing developed by the art duo, which is also used by eateries at the Tate and V&A museums in London.

      “Food is one of the main drivers that is shaping the ecology of the planet” says art duo Cooking Sections

      A room with electric blue walls houses Cooking Sections’ Intertidal Polyculture project, a group of nets and ropes crafted from heather, kelp and purple moor grass instead of sterile plastics.
      When placed underwater, these natural nets and ropes encourage intertidal species to attach to them and grow.
      “All of this builds up towards a new framework for collective usership of the coast, a working process to advocate for the establishment of the tidal commons in Scotland,” explained Fernández Pascual and Schwabe.
      Oyster Readings is an installation and performance pieceOyster Readings is both an experimental installation and a playful performance piece that must be booked in advance.
      Here, visitors are invited to sit on organically shaped stools arranged around a matching table, both formed from a material made from crushed oyster shells in place of concrete.
      The piece is a play on traditional palm readingsEnveloped by a green fringe curtain, this space hosts palmistry-style readings where experts reveal information about the state of Scotland’s seas by analysing the patterns of local oyster shells, in a practice similar to studying tree rings.
      “Oyster Readings foresee the future of the coast through the ridged surface of an oyster shell, allowing you to read into our common oyster futures,” said Fernández Pascual and Schwabe.
      In the Eddy of the Stream presents various multimedia installationsIn the Eddy of the Stream gets its name from the concept of an eddy, which describes “a sheltered area where water flows back upstream against the current” and, according to Fernández Pascual and Schwabe, embodies the work they created with Sakiya.
      Similar projects by Cooking Sections, which is known for its focus on climate change, include an installation in Sharjah highlighting desert plants as an alternative to water-hungry greenery in arid cities.
      In the Eddy of the Stream is on show at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival from 2 July to 18 September 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      The photography is by Shannon Tofts. 

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      The Africa Centre finds new home inside former office building in London

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      A lacklustre office building in Southwark has undergone a vibrant makeover to become The Africa Centre, designed by architecture studio Freehaus.

      The Africa Centre first opened in Covent Garden in 1964 as a “home-away-from-home” for the African diaspora in London, where people could meet, connect and enjoy cultural events together.
      After closing its doors to the public in 2013, the institution now occupies a former office building on Southwark’s Great Suffolk Street.
      The Africa Centre takes over a former office blockThe redesign of the building was appointed to Shoreditch-based studio Freehaus, which sought to create an interior that reflects the African continent’s rich array of cultures and traditions.
      To establish the key ideas and themes that would underpin the centre’s interior scheme, Freehaus embarked on a thorough research process.

      A reception was created at ground level to welcome guestsKey points of reference were the work of British-Ghanian architect David Adjaye, Burkinabé architect Diébédo Francis Kére, as well as projects by Niger-based studio Atelier Masōmī.
      The studio also visited other cultural buildings and members clubs around London to pick up inspiration.
      There’s also a pan-African restaurant called Tatale on the ground floor”The key to the brief was for The Africa Centre’s new headquarters to be unmistakably African,” explained Jonathan Hagos, co-director of Freehaus.
      “Given the breadth of diversity on the continent and among the diaspora, we were keen to avoid stereotypes and well-trodden aesthetic tropes.”

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      “At the same time, we wanted to avoid continent-sweeping generalisations – ‘Africa isn’t a country’ is a familiar response, often born of frustration at the dismissive understanding of the breadth in peoples, cultures and traditions that span the African continent,” he added.
      “We wanted to turn this misnomer into a strength,” he continued, “and envisage what an embassy for a continent might look like in the 21st century; a space that demonstrates what connects us and binds us to one another, while celebrating the dynamism of the continent.”
      Latticed banquettes and wooden tables decorate the restaurant’s interiorWith the help of engineers Price & Myers, Freehaus opened up the ground floor of the building to make way for two new entrances.
      One of the doorways opens onto the buzzy Great Suffolk Street, while the other connects the rear of the building to a couple of converted railway arches that The Africa Centre already used for events.
      Clay-plaster walls feature throughout the building, including the barThe ground floor also now accommodates a reception and pan-African restaurant Tatale. The dining space has been decked out with lattice-back banquettes, wooden tables and vibrant pendant lamps that contrast the neutral clay-plaster walls.
      Upstairs on the first floor is a bar and lounge that features patterned armchairs and a large, curved drinks counter clad with relief tiles. The following second floor contains an event space and a gallery.
      The bar is dressed with clusters of patterned furnitureThere are a further two floors in the building that, once funding is obtained, will be transformed into a learning facility and incubator for budding Afro-centric businesses.
      The extra funding will also go towards adding an ornamental screen to the centre’s black-painted facade, which will echo the ornate mashrabiya screens seen in north African architecture.
      A gallery can be found on the building’s second floorA few London cultural spots have recently undergone an update; architecture practice Sam Jacobs Studio has added a contemporary ribbed-glass entrance to the Grade I-listed V&A museum.
      Haworth Tompkins has also created a chainmail-shrouded pavilion to connect two performance spaces belonging to immersive theatre company Punchdrunk.
      The photography is by Taran Wilkhu.

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      Yabu Pushelberg designs The Londoner hotel in the spirit of film and theatre

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      Design studio Yabu Pushelberg has completed a five-star hotel in London’s Leicester Square where rooms are all dedicated to different members of a theatre or movie production’s cast and crew.

      In tribute to its location, in the heart of the city’s theatre district, The Londoner is designed to echo the different sights, sounds and atmosphere you experience during a performance.
      The Londoner’s spaces are designed to reflect the cast and crew of a film or movieDramatic lighting, intricately painted scenography and architectural models all feature in an interior that celebrates the drama of cinema and theatre.
      George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, founders of New York- and Toronto-based Yabu Pushelberg, said the aim was to create a multi-layered experience over the building’s 16 floors.
      A drawing room featured murals depicting scenes of flora and faunaIt was this that led them to create different types of scene throughout the building, representing everyone from the scriptwriter and director, to the sound mixer and visual effects supervisor.

      “The Londoner is an homage to performance, with each public space representing a character of someone essential to bringing a production to life,” said Pushelberg.
      The centrepiece of the reception area is a moon-head created by artist Andrew Rae”It was important that we create a project that is an exuberant, joyful expression of not only the hotel’s location but its cultural context,” he continued.
      “We created layers of programming up into the sky and deep into the earth, which emphasise this extraverted, alluring, playful voice,” added Yabu.
      The lobby bar is imagined as a stageThe hotel reception pays tribute to the cinematographer with a room that aims to set the mood. Details include stage models and a metallic moon-head created by artist Andrew Rae.
      In homage to the director, the lobby bar takes the form of a stage with curtain-style fluted wall panels and a mirrored ceiling, while the restaurant next door is filled with black and white graphic portraits that represent the characters created by the scriptwriter.
      The Y Bar features backlit wooden panels, suggesting symbols and charactersThis floor also includes Joshua’s Tavern, a pub-style space that uses industrial overhead copper canisters, leather furniture and scenes by 18th-century portraiture artist Joshua Reynolds to allude to the gripsman, “the muscle on set”.
      The mezzanine features a series of spaces that celebrate visual effects: a drawing room framed by mural paintings, a jewellery-box-like whisky room and a lounge bar where wood-panelled are brought to life with artistic backlighting.

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      “The atmosphere is dynamic,” said Yabu. “We broke the public spaces into multiple, smaller interconnected spaces giving each area individual personalities whilst creating connectivity through one overall design narrative.”
      “Seduction was a key design device for us to draw visitors through the hotel, which is giant,” he explained.
      The Green Room features velvet furniture, marble mosaic flooring and a bar topped by gold megaphonesMore lounge spaces can be found on the upper and lower floors.
      The sound-mixer takes centre stage in a basement bar called The Green Room, where undulating walls and curvy velvet furniture create the impression of sound waves.
      The lower levels also include a pool and spa that takes cues from set design, a series of meetings rooms filled with props, and a golden-toned ballroom designed to suit the glitz and glamour promoted by the publicity agent.
      8 at The Londoner is a restaurant, bar and terrace designed to represent a production’s performersUpstairs, an eighth-floor restaurant, bar and terrace celebrates actors and performers. It includes a rope installation intended to reference bondage, as a way of suggesting the human bodies that take centre stage.
      The only place the drama softens is in the 350 bedroom suites, which were designed with a brighter and more minimal aesthetic.
      Bedrooms have a more pared-back aestheticThe Londoner is the latest in a series of high-profile hotels that Yabu Pushelberg has designed, following Las Alcobas Napa Valley in California, The Times Square Edition and Moxy Chelsea, both in New York.
      Pushelberg said The Londoner gave them an opportunity to push the boat out further than ever before.
      Joshua’s Tavern combines copper and leather with painted scenes from the 18th century”One of the things we cherish most about the Londoner is the incredible layer of styling we were able to apply to each and every space,” he said.
      “The Londoner served as a one-of-a-kind canvas to fully explore our stylistic creativity. From custom gramophones in the club, to playful oversized slices of fruit carved from colourful stone in the spa, this final styling layer is what really brings each space to life with an exceptionally unique personality and subsequently, experience.”
      The pool and spa pay tribute to set designThe designers hope that guests will notice the careful curated views and details as they move through the interior.
      “There is a sense of veiling and unveiling, so that one can take in and absorb all the details,” said Yabu.
      “There is a real feeling of discovery as you wander through all the chambers. Guests really get to choose their own journey.”

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      Foster + Partners designs Apple Brompton Road as “calm oasis” in London

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      UK studio Foster + Partners has unveiled an Apple Store in west London that incorporates stone columns, Ficus trees and terrazzo flooring.

      Located between the Harrods and Harvey Nichols department stores in Knightsbridge, Apple Brompton Road is the latest store designed by Foster + Partners for the technology brand.
      Foster + Partners designed Apple Brompton Road. Photo courtesy of AppleIts main entrance occupies the arched entrance to the former Brompton Arcade, which was created in 1903 to connect Brompton Road with Basil Street, with the store occupying two bays on either side that were formerly shops.
      A mezzanine level was removed to create a seven-metre high space that the studio describes as a “calm oasis”.
      It has a seven-metre-high ceiling”Apple Brompton Road is a calm oasis in a bustling and vibrant part of London,” said Foster + Partners senior executive partner Stefan Behling.

      “Customers interact with Apple’s incredible range of products and experience their personalised customer service in a unique setting which incorporates historic and natural elements.”
      Stone columns and trees define a central spaceThe shop is topped with an arched timber ceiling that mirrors the four-meter-wide arched openings on the building’s historic facade.
      A series of six Castagna stone columns, along with four Ficus trees in planters that double as seating, mark out a central spine in the space.

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      Timber tables on either side of the central walkway are used to display Apple’s phones and iPads, with accessories displayed in furniture built into the Castagna stone-clad walls.
      At the rear of the store, an event space is defined by a large video wall and a mirrored ceiling.
      The store’s terrazzo floor was made from a castor oil resin, aggregate and recycled glass. It marks the first time the plant-based resin has been used in an Apple store.
      An events space is located at the rear of the store. Photo courtesy of AppleApple Brompton Road forms part of a wider redevelopment of a block in Knightsbridge, which is being led by UK studio Fletcher Priest. Along with the Apple Store, the reorganised block will include seven shops, a 10,750-square-metre office building and 33 apartments.
      Foster + Partners, which is the UK’s largest architecture studio, has designed Apple Stores in cities all around the world. Recent shops include the conversion of Los Angeles’ historic Tower Theatre and a “floating” spherical store in Singapore.
      Photography is by Nigel Young unless stated.

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      David Thulstrup brings industrial colours and textures into Borough Yards office

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      The brick arches and warehouse buildings of London’s Borough Market informed the materials and furnishings of The Office Group’s latest workspace, designed by Copenhagen-based Studio David Thulstrup.

      Located at Borough Yards, the office forms part of a new retail development designed by architecture studio SPPARC in the spaces in and around an old railway viaduct.
      The colour palette takes cues from the surrounding brick architectureInterior designer David Thulstrup and his team designed the interiors to subtly match the colours and textures of the surroundings, using earthy shades, metal details and largely pattern-free surfaces.
      The ambition was to resonate with the industrial aesthetic, but to still create spaces that felt warm and comfortable.
      Details include tinted glass screens and colour-block rugsKey inspirations were the brick railway arches and the green glass market canopy, which are echoed in details that include high-gloss green wall surfaces and block-printed rugs.

      “I really enjoy when I get to connect myself to somewhere that has a sense of a place, and that has history that I can tap into, and then extract those essences into the project,” said Thulstrup.
      “To me, the brand DNA of The Office Group (TOG) is that they allow the architects to incorporate their own design philosophy into a project. I think that’s what I’ve succeeded with here,” he added.
      The building offers a range of different workspaces and meeting areasThulstrup has worked on a number of high-profile interior projects, including the Noma restaurant in Copenhagen.
      TOG at Borough Yards is the first space that he has designed for The Office Group, which has more than 50 workspaces across London and Germany.

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      The 4,700-square-metre workspace spans two buildings – a converted former warehouse and a new brick-clad block – and is organised over five floors.
      At its entrance sits a double-height lobby, framed by a large right-angled reception desk in brushed metal and a gently curving couch.
      The lobby features a brushed metal reception desk and high-gloss green wallsThis leads up to a range of workspaces and facilities, including private offices, flexible co-working spaces, meeting rooms, breakout areas, phone booths, an audio room and a Peloton workout studio.
      Colours vary subtly between spaces; some are dominated by brown and gold tones, while others work with monochrome shades of black and grey.
      The colour palette includes a range of soft grey and brown shadesThulstrup created several bespoke furniture and lighting designs, combining different wood tones with Kvadrat textiles.
      “I like the idea of working with custom-made objects, my own productions, others’ designs, even sometimes vintage pieces – melting these different levels together creates a really beautiful atmosphere,” said the designer.
      “I want to make sure that when people come back to this place after five years that they still feel it is relevant,” he continued. “It’s about creating an inviting, inclusive, quality-driven atmosphere, and also a place where people want to stay.”
      Some spaces are picked out in blackTOG at Borough Yards is the latest in a series of workspaces that The Office Group has unveiled since the pandemic, following 210 Euston Road by Universal Design Studio and Liberty House by SODA.
      The brand aims to develop a unique design for its spaces to reflect the character of their settings.
      David Thulstrup designed bespoke furniture for the projectNasim Koerting, head of design for The Office Group, said this latest offering “respects and responds to the rich architectural and industrial history of the area without being in thrall to it”.
      “We’ve created a space that takes inspiration from its surroundings, while serving the modern-day needs of the design- conscious workplace,” she said.
      Photography is by Ben Anders.

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      Aimé Leon Dore's London boutique homages modernist architect Adolf Loos

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      New York interior designer Sarita Posada has layered “lived-in” details and rich textures inside the first London store from fashion and lifestyle label Aimé Leon Dore.

      Located on Broadwick Street in London’s Soho, the two-storey boutique is the brand’s second outpost and first international flagship, designed in collaboration with London-based West Architecture.
      Aimé Leon Dore’s first international flagship is located in London’s SohoRather than riffing on the design of Aimé Leon Dore’s first-ever store in New York, the London flagship was designed to provide a contrasting experience.
      “We imagined the next iteration of the brand’s environment as a moodier and more intimate experience,” Posada told Dezeen. “We wanted the space to evoke the feeling of some old members’ clubs you might find around London.”
      Walnut cabinetry is used to display products on the main shop floorAs well as a retail space, the shop incorporates Café Leon Dore – an all-day cafe and eatery serving Greek-inspired fare and drinks that nod to the heritage of the brand’s founder Teddy Santis.

      The dark and atmospheric interior was designed to play with Aimé Leon Dore’s vibrant colours and patterns while paying homage to the work of Austrian architect Adolf Loos, famous for designs including the Villa Müller in Prague and the American Bar in Vienna.
      Persian rugs and marble floors help to create a richly textured interiorInformed by the architect’s richly textured interiors, Posada filled the space with dark walnut wall panelling, Cipollino marble floors, mosaic tiling and brass detailing, alongside “lived-in” details like antique Persian rugs and custom furniture with leather insets.
      “The connection to Loos was originally in the materiality and how nicely these elements complemented the brand palette,” Posada told Dezeen. “Villa Müller and Knize, a renowned tailor shop he designed in Vienna, felt particularly relevant for this project for that reason.”

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      “Although we had various historical references and wanted them to read in the space, it was important to create an environment where modern furniture such as an Achille Castigiolini’s Light Ball fixture and detailing would still feel at home,” she added.
      Customers entering the store are greeted by a series of deflated basketballs mounted in a grid on the wall – a signature work by New York artist Tyrrell Winston that serves as a tribute to Aimé Leon Dore’s New York roots.
      A grid of deflated basketballs by artist Tyrrell Winston decorates the entranceMuch like the main retail space, Café Leon Dore is wrapped in walnut panelling and features hand-cut marble flooring, a brass logo inlay, Calacatta Viola marble countertops and a leather banquette.
      A private lounge finished with fabric panelling and leather banquettes is located downstairs. This is equipped with a sound system and a DJ setup, as well as a curated vinyl collection and a bar for guests.
      A dark lounge space with a sound system is housed on the ground floorPosada is a designer specialising in interiors and furniture, who began her career working with Shawn Hausman on the design of The Standard hotels.
      Since then, she has taken on a range of residential and hospitality projects including the Palm Heights Grand Cayman hotel, where she worked with creative director Gabriella Khalil and LA designer Courtney Applebaum to create an interior styled like a 1970s Caribbean mansion.
      The photography is by Harrison Boyce.

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