Woods Bagot

Subterms

    Latest story

    113 Shares37 Views

    Woods Bagot designs art deco-informed restaurant at Rockefeller Center

    by

    Dim lighting and dark tones define the interiors of the second Smith & Mills restaurant in New York, recently completed by architecture studio Woods Bagot.

    Situated in New York’s Rockefeller Center, the restaurant’s interiors were designed by Woods Bagot in collaboration with New York City-based hospitality management consultancy Neighborhood Projects.
    To enter the space, guests walk through a snug hallway covered with vintage elevator-cab panels.
    Architecture studio Woods Bagot has completed the Smith & Mills restaurant in New York”It was very important to us that we created a transition zone off the concourse before you enter the main dining room,” explained Wood Bagot’s Krista Ninivaggi.
    “This would act as a buffer to feel the buzz of the heart of Rock Center diminish, and then be enveloped in our warm amber glow.”

    “We achieved this by using old wrought iron elevator cab screens to partition off the entry and lowering the ceiling for a classic design move of compression before being ‘released’ into the carefully crafted atmosphere of the restaurant,” she continued.
    To enter the space, guests walk through a hallway covered with vintage elevator-cab panelsColumns clad in zellige tiles and mirrors divide the space, while antique-style mirrors on the walls and reclaimed wood panelling were used to create a vintage feel in the restaurant, which is the second Smith & Mills to open in the city.
    “We used the reclaimed panelling and zellige tile to ‘paint’ all of the wall surfaces,” Ninivaggi explained. “We alternated them in key locations by deciding what should feel ‘warm’ with the wood or ‘hard’ with the tile.”
    An oval bar made of zinc and walnut is also featuredAn oval bar made of zinc and walnut, which sits on a tiled black stone floor, functions as the restaurant’s focal point.
    In the dining area, the studio chose banquette seating dressed in oxblood velvet in a nod to the restaurant’s original location in New York’s Tribeca neighbourhood. Marble tables with brass accents and bistro chairs complement the design.
    Banquette seating in the restaurant is dressed in oxblood velvetThe interior of the restaurant’s private dining room features a transition from handmade red zellige tiles sourced from Morocco on one wall to a botanical print wall covering above.
    Lighting fixtures, such as pendants and sconces, cast ambient lighting throughout the space. Artwork by Ukrainian artist Yelena Yemchuk hangs on the walls.

    Brasserie des Pres draws on the vibrant history of Paris’s Latin Quarter

    “The lighting was very carefully considered both in its design and light quality, to give the appropriate hue to the space,” Neighborhood Projects’ Matt Abramcyk told Dezeen.
    “We went so far as to undertake tests to find the right vinyl to veil the light from the concourse to give a warm backdrop,” he continued.
    Pendants and sconces provide ambient lighting throughout the spaceThe location of the new restaurant also had a big influence on the design.
    “At both locations, Smith & Mills strives for simple, rustic design, with materials that nod to the past,” Abramcyk concluded. “Because of the new location’s iconic surroundings, the Rockefeller Center design also nods to art deco, in particular.”
    Other restaurant interiors recently featured on Dezeeen include a Korean fried chicken restaurant in New York designed by Rockwell Group and a cocktail lounge in Las Vegas created by musician Bruno Mars in collaboration with design studio Yabu Pushelberg.

    Read more: More

    More stories

    • 125 Shares189 Views

      in Rooms

      Woods Bagot lines American Australian Association HQ with oak battens

      by

      The American Australian Association has opened a headquarters in New York City, with interiors by architecture firm Woods Bagot designed to offer flexible spaces for events.

      The 9,450-square-foot (878 square metres) space at 600 Third Avenue is the first location in the city for the American Australian Association (AAA), a non-profit organisation dedicated to strengthening ties and collaboration between Australia and the US.
      A large, flexible space allows the AAA to host a variety of events and activitiesClose to both the United Nations and the Australian Consulate-General, the headquarters is intended to promote Australian-American relations in NYC by hosting a variety of discussions, performances, exhibitions, networking receptions and more.
      Woods Bagot – which was founded in Adelaide and has offices globally – aimed at “melding the spirit of Australia with the corporate culture of New York” with the project, according to CEO, Nik Karalis. “It’s a stylish, welcoming environment created to bring people from both countries closer together,” he added.
      Moveable dual-purpose furniture created for the space includes a workstation that doubles as a barTo accommodate such varied activities, a large events space was left open to be as flexible as possible while incorporating movable dual-purpose furniture and fittings.

      A custom mobile island acts as both a work surface and a bar, and counters along the windows can also become serving areas for food and drinks.
      The ceiling structure was left exposed, while white oak battens wrap the columnsLocated on a high floor, the space benefits from sweeping views of the skyline through unobstructed expanses of glass.
      The ceiling structure was left exposed to maximise the height in the space, while columns were wrapped in vertical white oak batten system by wood cladding manufacturer Sculptform – for which Woods Bagot created an immersive showroom in Melbourne in 2001.

      Steam-bent timber tunnels through Melbourne showroom by Woods Bagot

      Similar battening lines the lobby and circulation spaces, with curved profiles creating sculptural frames around a golden bar back and over a pair of sliding doors with frosted glass panels.
      The AAA headquarters also houses offices for employees and a boardroom for private meetings.
      The white oak battens also line the lobby area, surrounding the doorway to the boardroomTo commemorate the opening of the space in June 2023, the organisation commissioned a custom artwork from the APY Art Centre Collective.
      The colourful painting was created by eight Indigenous women artists based in Adelaide and hangs in the bar area.
      Some of the battens feature curved profiles to create sculptural shapesWoods Bagot works on projects worldwide, and its current high-profile projects underway range from the Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre in Adelaide to an extension of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
      Also in the US, principal Krista Ninivaggi recently completed the lobby design for the supertall Brooklyn Tower.
      The photography is by Adrian Gaut.

      Read more: More

    • 163 Shares199 Views

      in Rooms

      Krista Ninivaggi looks to “future rather than nostalgia” for Brooklyn Tower lobby interiors

      by

      International architecture studio Woods Bagot has completed the lobby design of the Brooklyn Tower, a supertall skyscraper that is the tallest in the New York City borough.

      Woods Bagot was commissioned for the interior spaces – including lobbies, amenities spaces and furniture – for the SHoP Architects-designed skyscraper, which is completing this year. So far, it has completed the two entrances that will usher residents into the lobby.
      Woods Bagot designed the lobby for Brooklyn’s tallest towerThe tower itself rises from the historic Dimes Saving Bank in Downtown Brooklyn, so Woods Bagot needed to navigate the historic design as well as the “future landmark”.
      “Together with the architect we looked to the future rather than focus on a nostalgia for the past,” Woods Bagot principal Krista Ninvaggi told Dezeen.
      It features oak panelling”Ironically, [American architect] Hugh Ferriss’s work and dedication to retro-futurism influenced our designs,” she added.

      “We very much wanted the interiors to be in dialogue with the ethos of the exterior of the building, so that it felt like a complete work and continued the vision of the exterior. The goal was for the inside and outside to be unified as a total work.”

      SHoP Architects principal knew Brooklyn Tower would be “like the Empire State Building of Brooklyn”

      Woods Bagot’s solution to create this unification was to focus on small details, such as the wood panelling in the main lobby, which was milled at one-half the scale of the exterior facade extrusions.
      The design included both of the two residential entrances to the tower, one of which passes through the Dimes Savings Bank building on Fleet Street.
      Both entrances have oak panelling and cream-coloured hexagonal flooring that was based on the original flooring for the bank.
      The elevator entrance room has a ceiling clad in dimesThe Flatbush Avenue entrance, through the extension built for the tower, acts as the primary lobby and has a concierge desk positioned in front of a recess.
      Gold and bronze detailing and custom furniture designed by Ninvaggi – such as a built-in stone bench – were arranged around the desk and the wood panelling is backlit.
      From here, a passageway with arches clad in stone connects the main lobby with the Fleet Street entrance. Also accessed from the main lobby is the elevator bank.

      Miller Hull Partnership and Woods Bagot design timber Sea-Tac airport expansion

      This area has a vaulted ceiling clad in liberty dimes, another reference to the bank, and the elevators are framed by gold detailing.
      “We also used an abstracted mercury dime face as the signage for the ATM tucked away in the lobby,” said Ninvaggi.
      “Though we wanted to reference the bank we intentionally incorporated wood, which was not found in the bank’s original material palette. This warmed the space and gives it a more residential feel and the lighter wood tone compliments the stone.”
      “Overall, we made strides to abstract our references for a modern-day audience,” she added.
      A passageway connects the two entrancesWoods Bagot was founded in Adelaide, Australia in 1869. Other recent projects by the studio include a convention centre in Christchurch with a curved, tile facade in collaboration with New Zealand studio Warren & Mahoney and an expansion to Seattle’s Sea-Tac airport.
      The Brooklyn Tower is scheduled to be completed in the next few months, with most of its black facade already having been installed.
      The photography is by Adrian Gaut.

      Read more: More

    • 100 Shares179 Views

      Woods Bagot devises office layouts for workplaces post-coronavirus

      by

      Woods Bagot has created four proposals for workplace design following coronavirus that merge working from home and office life to “strengthen culture and performance”. The Working from Home, Working from Work project was created by the architecture firm to move beyond health and safety measures, which are a given, and focus on encouraging collaboration and […] More