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    Olson Kundig's New York office includes a timber cityscape table

    Earthy tones and a wooden table in the shape of a cityscape feature in the Olson Kundig’s first New York office, which was designed with sensitivity to the 100-year-old building it occupies.

    Located in Midtown Manhattan, the office is spread across the 10th floor of a mid-rise tower constructed in 1923.
    The office features a central living room with a sculptural tableOlson Kundig – a studio with its primary offices in Seattle – created the interior to be its first New York City hub with a material and colour palette that responded to the building’s 100-year-old history.
    The open-plan office is defined by a central “living room” that features a 144-square-foot (13-square-metre) wooden table on wheels with a statement geometric cityscape.
    The cityscape was informed by the office’s New York locationCreated from raw timber offcuts, the table is divided into quarters for different configurations. It was designed by studio principal Tom Kundig and fabricated by Spearhead.

    “The design was the result of a conversation Alan [Maskin] and I had about our teacher, [the late architect] Astra Zarina, and our fond memories of gathering around the table at her home in the centre of Rome,” Kundig told Dezeen.
    “She always had a big pile of candles in the centre of the table, similar to the abstract masses at the centre of our table.”
    “We want to foster the same spirit of conversation and sharing between colleagues and collaborators in this new office space, so it was a natural place to draw inspiration.”
    An unenclosed kitchen is also located adjacent to the stationsA series of wooden workstations are arranged across the open-plan office, while conference rooms feature around its perimeter. An open kitchen is also located adjacent to the stations.
    Platforms are positioned above the workstations offering a display area for sculptures and models. According to the studio, this continues its tradition of integrating art into everyday life.

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    The office interior was designed to reflect its Manhattan location, rather than mirror the firm’s flagship office in Seattle, according to Kundig.
    “The existing shell of the office was largely concrete and glass. We added wood and warmer tones to soften the space, with natural materials to add texture and interest,” explained Alan Maskin, partner at the studio.
    Artwork is displayed around the officeA mixture of vintage and contemporary furniture was sourced locally from locations in Brooklyn and Tribeca.
    Like the Seattle office, the New York space will also host various art events, tying the otherwise-unique locations together.
    Wooden elements define the spaceOlson Kundig was founded in 2000. The firm has completed multiple international architecture projects including a beach house with louvred shutters in Sydney and a timber floating home in Seattle.
    Another practice that designed its own studio is Urselmann Interior, which created its office using only biodegradable and recycled materials.
    The photography is by Angela Hau.

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    Light and Air updates Financial District apartment with open floor plan

    Brooklyn studio Light and Air has renovated a loft in New York City’s financial district by removing partitions to create an open, inviting space.

    Occupying the 12th storey of a converted commercial building in one of Manhattan’s historic neighbourhoods, the apartment has generous windows and floor area, but previously made poor use of these qualities and felt cramped.
    The apartment occupies the 12th storey of a Manhattan building”The existing conditions stifled the unit’s access to light and air,” said the design team. The owners tapped Shane Neufeld, of  Brooklyn-based Light and Air Studio, to rethink the space.
    “The space featured a low-hanging storage loft that hovered over the entry and a sprawling closet that loudly commanded the center of the space, disrupting any potential for meaningful visual connections,” said Neufeld.
    It was updated to have an open floor plan”Our goal was to maintain the functionality of the storage loft while creating a more generous entry and rethinking the programming and materiality of the apartment in its entirety,” the designer added.

    The team removed many of the apartment’s internal walls and reduced the footprint of the overhead storage loft to allow taller ceilings. Within the reconfigured welcome area, custom closets, shelving, and a sculptural wooden bench provide plenty of storage, some behind a slatted wooden wall.
    A minimal material palette was used throughoutLight and Air also updated the flooring in this area, marking the transition between the concrete of the building’s corridors and the apartment’s hardwood. The polished concrete is also found in the kitchen and bathroom.
    Within the 1,200 square-foot (111-square-metre) apartment, Light and Air partitioned the space using open shelving, allowing some perspectives to stay open between the living room and bedroom.
    Custom desks were built into the space”Our strategy took the shape of an open floor plan with minimal partitions and reducing the existing material complexity through a more straightforward approach,” said Neufeld.
    The living and dining room is positioned in the corner of the unit and has windows facing in two different directions.
    “Two exterior walls with multiple southeast and southwest exposures allow for significant natural light and impressive views of lower Manhattan,” said Neufeld.

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    These spaces were connected to the kitchen, which remained in the same location, but was updated with matching cabinetry, new appliances, and an additional sink that provides more functionality.
    Throughout the apartment, the designers employed a minimal palette. The walls have no base moulding, there is flush cabinetry, and custom, built-in desks.
    Wood takes centre stage in the project”As one moves in and around the different elements (some floating effortlessly off the ground), its functional variety and formal character become more readily apparent,” Neufeld concluded.
    Light and Air studio, also known as L/AND/A, was founded in 2017. The firm also designed a townhouse in Brooklyn, with a skylight illuminating a central staircase.
    Other New York City apartment renovations include a “minimal but warm” apartment that was designed by Selma Akkari and Rawan Muqaddas, and a loft on Broadway that local studio Worrell Yeung reconfigured to meet the needs of a growing family.
    The photography is by Kevin Kunstadt.

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    Park Slope condo becomes New York City's “largest mass-timber building”

    Local studio Mesh Architectures has completed Timber House, a condominium in Brooklyn that developer The Brooklyn Home Company claims is “the largest mass timber building in New York City.”

    Timber House is made of glue-laminated timber, a type of structurally engineered wood used to make mass timber structures, and is the largest mass-timber project in New York City in terms of square footage and height, according to The Brooklyn Home Company.
    It is also the first condominium project in the city to be built using mass timber, the developer said.
    The building has 14 condos”Timber House started with the simple notion of creating a sense of life in a building, which engages, stimulates, and at the same time, calms us,” said Eric Lifton, founder and principal of Mesh Architectures.
    “The way we do that here is by using a plant as the primary building material.”

    The building’s columns, beams and floor plates are all mass timber, while the core had to be made of concrete masonry because of city restrictions, the studio said.
    The apartments stretch across the length of the structureTimber House is located in the residential Park Slope neighbourhood in Brooklyn and comprises 14 condos that stretch from the street-side to the back of the building.
    According to Mesh Architectures, the building was “constructed with passive house principles”.
    While not passive-house certified, it was built with solar photovoltaic panels on the roof to provide energy, and mineral wool and polyisocyanurate insulation to reduce the need for air conditioning.
    Heating and air conditioning is provided by air-source heat pumps.
    The building was developed in collaboration with The Brooklyn Home CompanyIt also features passive house-quality windows with triple glazing, and the 10 parking spaces in its ground-floor garage each have an electric charging station.
    The building’s facade is characterized by a flat face made with Danish brick that, according to the team, was chosen to integrate the building into the mostly brownstone neighbourhood.
    On the upper levels, the envelope is sculpted into jutting windows and recessed balconies with glass railings. The balconies’ undersides are wooden, giving the exterior palette a touch of the timber within.
    The floors are also made of woodA rooftop terrace provides views of Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan.
    Inside, wooden walls and ceilings line the corridors, which have hexagonal tiling on the floor that was designed custom by Mesh and produced in Turkey.
    The condos have 11-feet-tall (3.3 metres-tall) ceilings and feature exposed timber beams with LED lights that are integrated directly into the wood.

    The Dezeen guide to mass timber in architecture

    The timber beams also extend down from the ceiling to frame some of the walls and windows, providing insight into the building’s structural makeup.
    “The exposed wooden beams present in the home create a style reminiscent of city living in the 1960s and ’70s when we picture those large loft-style residences, which is really special,” said Bill Caleo of The Brooklyn Home Company.
    “As a city, if we want to lower our carbon footprint we need to prioritize mass timber.”
    In addition to the ceiling and beams the condos have wooden accentsFlooring in the living areas is wood, while the kitchen is floored with white tile to match the white cabinetry – accented with natural wood tones – and a long, white island.
    Other recently-announced designs for mass timber structures include the world’s tallest timber building designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen and a Henning Larsen-designed Volvo experience centre in Sweden.
    The photography is by Travis Mark. 

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    Magdalena Keck employs “warm minimalism” for interiors of glazed house in Hudson Valley

    Interior designer Magdalena Keck has filled a glass-and-steel home in New York with a restrained but eclectic mix of furnishings that are meant to complement the existing architecture.

    The Hudson Valley Glass House is located in Westchester County, about an hour’s drive from New York City.
    The home has floor-to-ceiling glazing all aroundThe modernist home was designed by architect Robert Fitzpatrick and built-in 1967. Rising two levels, it contains a public zone on the upper level and three bedrooms and a family room down below.
    The clients – a couple with a young daughter – recently purchased the home and tapped Magdalena Keck, who runs an eponymous Manhattan studio, to oversee the interior design. For their full-time residence, the owners desired furnishings that were modern, function-driven and meaningful.
    The dwelling’s interiors intend to complement its modernist architecture”The clients, a family of three, are well versed in design and art, and it was important to them to have a personal connection to each of the items selected for their home,” the studio said.

    Drawing upon her penchant for “warm minimalism”, Keck chose a range of pieces that complemented the architecture and the existing finishes, including wood flooring and vanilla-hued window drapes.
    Magdalena Keck framed a brutalist-style coffee table with a grey bouclé sofa”Magda likes to think of the home as a glass envelope, serving as a vessel for the furnishings, lighting, art and objects that she has worked carefully with the client to fill the space with,” the studio said.
    In the living room, she placed a grey bouclé sofa by French designer Christophe Delcourt and an octagonal, brutalist-style coffee table in resin.
    A hyper-realistic painting is in the dining spaceIn the adjacent dining area, beech-and-fabric chairs by Sergio Rodrigues surround an Extenso table from Desalto.
    Rather than hang a light fixture over the table, the designer added a Mito floor lamp by Tom Fereday and a 1960s Tripod Cocoon floor lamp to provide illumination and visual interest. A large, hyper-realistic painting of choppy water by Ran Ortner rounds out the dining space.

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    Downstairs in the family room, the atmosphere is casual and cosy. The space is adorned with a sofa by Piero Lissoni for Living Divani, Scandinavian nesting tables in rosewood, and a side chair by Børge Mogensen. Underfoot is a Soumak rug from ALT for Living.
    Audio and visual equipment is housed in a cabinet made of waxed aluminium by Jonathan Nesci.
    The Hudson Valley Glass House is located in Westchester CountyIn the main suite, there is a king bed from Camerich, Danish rosewood nightstands and two Bauhaus table lamps by Wilhelm Wagenfeld.
    The daughter’s room is fitted with custom pieces designed by Keck’s studio, including a  bed platform in oak and a desk with modular storage pullouts. There is also an Adorno wall lamp made of wood and brushed brass, and an astronaut painting by American artist Michael Kagan.
    Large windows provide views of the surrounding sceneryThe home’s guest bedroom features a bed by Lawson Fenning, a ceramic-painted nighstand by Reinaldo Sanguino, and a rare Valet chair by Hans Wegner dating back to the 1950s.
    Keck’s furnishing work also extends to the backyard, where there is a patio and swimming pool. Furnishings include a sofa and coffee table from Unopiù. A rounded, white dining table by Eero Saarinen is paired with white chairs by Harry Bertoia.
    Other projects by Magdalena Keck include a stark-white residence in a Four Seasons tower in Lower Manhattan, and the outfitting of a Catskill Mountains home, where she fused Danish and Japanese design.
    The photography is by Jeff Cate.

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    Esme Hotel in Miami draws on the “bohemian grandeur” of its past

    Saturated tones, Mediterranean patterns and decadent furnishings are found throughout this renovated boutique hotel in Miami with interiors by New York studio Jessica Schuster Design.

    Originally built in 1927 as a cultural hub for artists, the building, formerly known as Spanish Village, is located on Miami Beach’s pedestrian plaza, Española Way.
    Esme Hotel is located along Miami Beach’s pedestrian stripEvent planning and design company Infinity Hospitality Group collaborated with Jessica Schuster Design on the transformation of the hotel, which has 145 guest rooms.
    The architecture of Española Way resembles the Mediterranean villages of Spain and France. Schuster looked to the rich local architectural history as a starting point for the interiors.
    Jessica Schuster Design transformed the building into a boutique hotel”We wanted to create an artful collage of bohemian grandeur alongside Miami’s historic Española Way,” said Jessica Schuster, founder of Jessica Schuster Design.”We had fun playing with furniture, lighting and fabrics to create something timeless and exciting at the same time,” Schuster told Dezeen.

    The interior has Art Deco elementsGuests arrive at a lobby with plush velvet flooring and benches clad in a fabric that recalls the patterned ceramic tiles often seen in southern European countries. Plants potted in wicker pots add to the hotel’s bohemian theme.
    “We wanted to create something that spoke to the Mediterranean culture of South Beach, Miami,” said Shuster.
    “This was achieved using vibrant colours, fun textures and details that remained true to the historical aspect of the hotel’s original design.”
    Clashing patterns feature throughout the hotelAfter passing through the lobby, visitors can sip cocktails or sample Latin-inspired dishes at El Salón, a cocktail bar inside the Esme Hotel.
    Here, stools fringed with tassels are stationed around the edge of a circular mahogany bar. The adjoining, dimly lit dining area has a similar decadent arrangement, with candlelit tables spread across the checkered floor.

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    Schuster worked closely with the Historic Preservation Board of Miami to replicate some of the original building’s elements.
    The studio used materials such as the limestone travertine and plaster, which featured heavily in Mediterranean revival design in Miami.
    The rooms are coloured in saturated, rich hues associated with opulence”It was a historical property, so we worked to bring back the integrity of the original designs that are unique to South Beach, being that most buildings are from the Art Deco period,” Shuster explained.
    “We reused a lot of pecky cypress wood detailing on the ceilings and throughout the hotel. We also uncovered an original fireplace that we gave life to again and kept the original arches,” she added.
    The bathrooms incorporate gold elementsThe Art Deco aesthetic is continued upstairs in the hotel’s bedrooms and bathrooms where bath and skincare products by Grown Alchemist can be found.
    Many of the rooms have a rose and emerald colour scheme with gold accents and vibrant clashing patterns that create striking decorations for floors and walls.
    On the rooftop, there is a vintage bar and swimming pool with frilly red awnings and pinstriped seating.
    The rooftop has pinstriped furnishingsEsme Hotel isn’t the only interior that references the opulence of Miami’s past. American designer Ken Fulk styled The Goodtime Hotel to reflect the art deco architecture of the area.
    Fulk also decorated the interior of the Swan restaurant in Miami with soft, candy colours that remind diners of Miami’s 1920s heyday.
    Photography is by Christian Harder.
    Project credits:Client: Infinity HospitalityInterior design: Jessica Schuster Design

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    Bala's SoHo store by Ringo Studio features oversized fitness equipment

    Brooklyn-based Ringo Studio has created a pastel “playground” as the first retail space for fitness brand Bala in New York City, which includes scaled-up versions of its products.

    Founded by Natalie Holloway and Max Kislevitz, who appeared on reality TV show Shark Tank, Bala sells weights, bands and other fitness equipment in a range of candy colours.
    Bala’s New York City store includes giant versions of the brand’s fitness productsRingo Studio founder Madelynn Ringo, the former retail designer for cosmetics brand Glossier, cold-called the duo and asked them to keep her in mind when they opened their first physical retail space.
    So when the opportunity arose to take over a 1,300-square-foot (120-square-metre) space at 99 Spring Street in SoHo, Ringo was brought on to translate the brand’s aesthetic into interior design.
    A weighted ankle Bangle becomes a leather seat for customersThe products are typified by soft, rounded shapes, so these were replicated in features around the store.

    “The space invites visitors to work out amid scaled-up versions of Bala’s visually compelling products,” Ringo said. “These sculptural elements create nooks for testing, touching, and trying out in-person.”
    The entrance is via a black hoop that resembles Bala’s Power RingThe entrance to the store is under a black arch that resembles one of the brand’s signature products: The Power Ring.
    Beyond, a pale green counter displays a variety of weights in the same hue as its curved top. Further areas are also colour-matched with the items on show.
    Products are colour-coordinated with their display areas”Organised chromatically, distinct zones immerse visitors in the colour space of the band, heightening the sense of place and identification with the brand,” Ringo said.
    A giant 12-foot-tall version of the Bala Beam is propped up against a mirrored wall that is divided by vertical light strips.
    Mirrored walls allow customers to test out the products as if they were in a gymOn the opposite side, an oversized replica of a Bangle – used as ankle weight – swoops down from the ceiling to form a squishy leather seat.
    Through a pale blue arch is another space decorated entirely in pink, from the walls, ceiling and counter, to velvet fitting-room curtains and a furry carpet.

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    The space was fabricated by New York-based Konduit, which specialises in scenic design, curved surfaces and custom finishes.
    The team worked with Ringo Studio to match the distinct matte sheen and exact colours of the Bala products across the scaled-up design elements.
    At the back is an entirely pink room, hosting more products and fitting roomsOutside of retail hours, the store is also intended to host fitness programs that incorporate the various products.
    “It’s a Balacise playground to introduce customers to their innovative products and encourage them to test and experiment,” Ringo said.
    The back room is lined with a furry pink carpetPastels have been a popular choice of palette for stores and boutiques over the past few years, particularly in New York City.
    Brands like Everlane, The Arrivals, and of course, Glossier, all chose similarly soft shades for their shop interiors in the city.
    The photography is by Anna Morgowicz.

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    Concrete dominates INC Architecture & Design's offices in NYC

    The offices of INC Architecture & Design in New York City’s SoHo are filled with eclectic furniture and plants that contrast the primarily concrete interiors.

    INC, founded by architects Adam Rolston, Gabe Benroth and Drew Stuart, moved to a 1930s building on Varick Street after scaling up from its previous location on 19th Street.
    INC’s offices are located in a 1930s building on Varick StreetThe new space is dominated by concrete, which forms the walls, floors, ceilings, and nine mushroom columns that form square bays across the plan.
    “The space was peeled back to its essential architectural shell,” said the studio, which sandblasted the concrete to a raw finish.
    A grand marble-topped desk greets visitors upon arrivalMeanwhile, the flooring was polished to a soft sheen, to reflect the light pouring in from large windows along the west facade.

    Collaborative work areas are arranged along these windows. They range from a long communal table to informal lounges comprising an eclectic mix of vintage furniture.
    The studio stripped back the space to its concrete bones”The furnishings are decidedly residential in character and include antiques, custom upholstery, custom casegoods, custom raw silk rugs, polychrome raw leather, polished stainless steel, solid ash and polychrome marbles,” the team said.
    Upon entering the offices, a grand marble-topped desk supported on two polished-chrome cylinders is positioned in front of a dark green wall.
    Desks are lined up through the centre of the officeTo the right are conference rooms, divided by partition walls painted pale pink and lined with acoustic panels.
    A circular aperture provides a view from one meeting to a communal lounge on the other side.

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    “Simple secondary architectural elements were developed to provide for the more private functional requirements of the studio, and to define spatial subdivisions which break down the space but that maintain the open studio format so critical to our way of working together,” INC said.
    Wooden desks are lined up in rows through the centre of the office, running from the collaborative areas to an expansive material bank on the opposite side.
    An expansive material bank is displayed towards the back of the spacePlants are used abundantly throughout the space, adding life and offering a contrast to the grey and brown tones.
    “Our space is filled with greenery, collected materials, prototypes, objects and details drawn from our projects, our wanderings and our passions,” said the INC team.
    Polished concrete floors reflect the light entering from large windowsOther offices of architecture firms in NYC include BIG’s bright space in Dumbo, while we rounded up 10 self-designed studios by architects and designers in a recent lookbook.
    The photography is by Eric Laignel.

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    Home Studios' Laurel Brasserie and Bar brings European dining to Salt Lake City

    This bar and restaurant in Salt Lake City is designed by Brooklyn-based Home Studios as an updated, American take on the brasseries of Europe.

    The Laurel Brasserie and Bar opened in February 2022 inside The Grand America Hotel, a palatial building on South Main Street in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City.
    Laurel Brasserie and Bar is designed as an American take on European brasseriesThe hotel was built in 2001 with interiors based on classic European styles. Home Studios retained these influences for the brasserie, but with a contemporary spin to create bright and colourful spaces for casual family-style dining.
    “The menu is fueled by the client’s love for European food, culture and design, filtered through a decidedly American sensibility,” said Home Studios founder Oliver Haslegrave.
    The main dining room features cherry-red leather banquettes”So we sought out to create that environment and treat it like an extension of the client’s home, where a collection of European heirlooms and treasures have been passed down from generation to generation,” he added.

    The establishment is split into several rooms, each of which has a distinct design and colour scheme.
    An adjoining patisserie, Bonne Vie, serves to-go treats from a pastel-toned spaceFor grab-and-go coffee and pastries, Bonne Vie features duck-egg-blue millwork, a checkerboard marble floor, and crushed velvet chairs in pastel tones.
    Opal globe lights mounted on brass fixtures continue from the patisserie into the main dining room, where cherry-red leather covers banquette seating that forms a strip down the centre.
    The bar faces both the restaurant and a separate area for cocktailsA symmetrical procession of columns with chamfered corners are wrapped in reclaimed tile and connect with sculptural ceiling beams.
    The wood-panelled bar faces both the restaurant and an adjacent seating area for enjoying cocktails, surrounded by tall arched windows framed with green marble.
    Marble frames the large windows of The Grand America Hotel, in which Laurel is located”Laurel is grounded in the present but full of history — and thoroughly unique,” Haslegrave said.
    “We incorporated a wealth of materials to elicit an upscale brasserie with approachable warmth.”

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    An additional dining space is decorated in a spectrum of blue hues. A bold floral-patterned carpet and illustrated wall coverings are joined by velvet chairs and walnut-topped tables.
    This room also features a green blown-glass chandelier and olive trees placed between the windows.
    Reclaimed tiles, wood panelling, and opal and brass lighting all add to the contemporary flairAntiques and vintage pieces are also scattered through the interiors, overall creating a “transportive guest experience that feels right at home within the context of the Grand America Hotel”.
    “We sought to create a distinctly modern and American spin on the classic all-day brasserie, built to delight and inspire locals and tourists alike,” said Haslegrave, who set up Home Studios in 2009.
    Another dining space is decorated in blue, including illustrated wall coverings and a floral-patterned carpetThe firm has a growing portfolio of hospitality projects across the US, with recent additions including the Alsace LA hotel with Mediterranean influences and The Harvey House restaurant in a Wisconsin train station.
    The photography is by Brian W Ferry.

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