Designs Archives

From guest rooms filled with fashion designer Christian Louboutin’s personal antique collection to Ibiza’s oldest hotel where handmade masks are mounted on the walls, our latest lookbook features eight eclectic hotel interiors.

Eclectic design brings together objects and styles from a range of sources – often mixing contemporary and vintage pieces.

While many hotels are characterised by uniform luxury, others celebrate unlikely combinations of furniture, colours and patterns.

Here are eight eclectic hotel interiors from around the world defined by contrasts and clashes.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring residential mezzanines, Mexican holiday homes and minimalist bathrooms.

Downtown LA Proper, USA, by Kelly Wearstler

American designer Kelly Wearstler has created the interiors for all four of the Proper Hotel Group’s branches across North America.

The Downtown LA Proper is anchored by “bold and eclectic choices”, including a chunky graphite reception desk and a hand-painted archway flanked by leaning column-like cacti in rustic pots.

Find out more about Downtown LA Proper ›

Montesol Experimental hotel in Ibiza by Dorothée Meilichzon — Photo by Karel Balas

Montesol Experimental, Ibiza, by Dorothée Meilichzon

Dorothée Meilichzon of French interior design studio Chzon renovated Montesol – the oldest hotel in Ibiza, originally built in the 1930s.

Meilichzon transformed the renamed Montesol Experimental with “a bohemian overtone” that draws on the hotel’s rich history. Among its interior elements are lumpy Playdough Stools by artist Diego Faivre, hand-crafted masks and an abundance of tassels.

Find out more about Montesol Experimental ›

Monkey side table in Vermelho Hotel bedroom — Photo by Ambroise Tézenas

Vermelho, Portugal, by Christian Louboutin and Madalena Caiado

Louboutin filled his first hospitality project with furniture and materials from his personal antique collection.

The fashion designer worked with architect Madalena Caiado to create the Vermelho boutique hotel in the Portuguese village of Melides. The guest rooms feature unexpected elements such as a rattan monkey-shaped side table and striking hand-painted frescoes.

Find out more about Vermelho ›

Palm Heights, Grand Cayman, by Gabriella Khalil

Collectible design pieces characterise Palm Heights in Grand Cayman, the island’s first boutique hotel.

Creative director Gabriella Khalil sought to style the project like a 1970s Caribbean mansion, selecting sandy yellows and bold blue hues to complement the many original artworks that adorn the walls.

Find out more about Palm Heights ›

Kelly Wearstler-designed hotel in Austin — Photo by The Ingalls

Austin Proper Hotel and Residences, USA, by Kelly Wearstler

Among the Proper Hotel Group’s other locations is an Austin branch. Wearstler inserted a sculptural oak staircase into the lobby that doubles as a plinth for a varied collection of glazed earthenware pots and vases.

Locally sourced art and textiles characterise the hotel, which has cypress wood walls that were charred using the traditional Japanese technique of Shou Sugi Ban to create a tiger-striped effect.

Find out more about Austin Proper Hotel ›

Bedroom with patterned headboard — Photo by Simon Brown

Hôtel de la Boétie, France, by Beata Heuman

Swedish designer Beata Heuman created the Hôtel de la Boétie in Paris to be “a bit like a stage set”.

Heuman chose contrasting elements for the colour-drenched interiors. Bedrooms feature a mixture of dark-hued woven headboards and pale pink sheets, while downstairs, the reception area’s jumbo flower lamps balance the steely silver of the lounge walls.

Find out more about Hôtel de la Boétie ›

Château Royal hotel in Berlin by Irina Kromayer, Etienne Descloux and Katariina Minits — Photo by Felix Brueggemann

Château Royal, Germany, by Irina Kromayer

A series of eclectic spaces make up the Château Royal in Berlin, which references the heyday of the German capital at the turn of the 20th century.

Interior architect Irina Kromayer designed the hotel to be “authentic” rather than retro, choosing art noveau tiles and brass and nickel hardware in a nod to the finishes commonly found in Berlin’s historic buildings.

Find out more about Château Royal ›

A green hotel bar — Photo by Christian Harder

Esme Hotel, USA, by Jessica Schuster Design

Plush velvet flooring, textural tassels and plants in wicker pots come together at the Esme Hotel in Miami, renovated by New York studio Jessica Schuster Design.

The interiors draw on the “bohemian grandeur” of the hotel’s 1920s history, with decadent alcoves clad with contrasting patterns.

Find out more about Esme Hotel ›

Reference

colburn school breaks ground on frank gehry-designed campus expansion in LA

Architecture

frank gehry designs new center for young artists at LA’s colburn school

By Zarkon Group,08/04/2024

frank gehry-designed school: breaking ground ceremony

The Colburn School in Los Angeles, one of the world’s leading schools for music and dance, held a groundbreaking ceremony for its 100,000-square-foot expansion designed by Frank Gehry. The new Colburn Center will dramatically increase the school’s elite training and performance facilities and provide much-needed performance space, including a 1,000-seat, state-of-the-art concert hall, for young artists across LA. The groundbreaking ceremony took place adjacent to the construction site at 130 Olive Street, located within Downtown Los Angeles’s Bunker Hill area diagonally across the street from Colburn’s existing campus on Grand Avenue. The expansion will stand as an important addition to the cultural corridor which includes Gehry Partners’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Music Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed broad. Anticipated completion is expected for the first quarter of 2027.

left to right: Sel Kardan, Carol Colburn Grigor, Andrew Millstein, Jerry Kohl, Terri Kohl, Maeesha Merchant, Toby Mayman, Merle Mullin, and Terry Greene at Colburn Center groundbreaking ceremony, April 5, 2024 | image © Loreen Sarkis

a hall for all

Designed by Frank Gehry (see more), the Colburn Center at the Colburn School (see more) will be a ‘hall for all,’ giving artists and students a place to shine. the center will stand at the crossroads of culture, education, and landmark architecture — marking frank gehry’s third project within three blocks to become the world’s greatest concentration of his architecture. The colburn school welcomes over 2,000 students from across los angeles and around the world, with ages ranging from seven months to adult. the new center will make the colburn campus an even livelier hub of artistic activity and enable the school to expand its mission of presenting programs for the public, which include performance and educational collaborations with acclaimed local and touring artists and ensembles. it will also provide much needed performance space in a mid-sized hall for the region’s established and emerging performing arts organizations.

view from hill street west towards dance school entrance | image © Gehry Partners

the 1,000 seat theater, ‘terri and jerry kohl hall’

Frank Gehry’s Colburn Center will welcome students and audiences alike, with a dynamic composition of transparent and opaque interlocking blocks that step down into the natural contour of the site. A 1,000-seat concert hall uses an in-the-round design to create intimacy between the performers and the audience and removes the stage lip, putting front-row seats at eye-level with the performers. Orchestra, opera, dance, and musical theater will all be at home in the hall, which is equipped with an orchestra pit and a stage large enough to accommodate the grandest works and the largest orchestrations.

branded shovels used for groundbreaking ceremony | image © Loreen Sarkis

the theater and dance studios

Four professional-sized dance studios and a 100-seat flexible studio theater are enveloped in glass and provide a literal window into the beauty and rigor of dance training and performance. Qith a separate entrance and distinct architectural character, the light-filled dance facilities will have their own identity while harmonizing with the larger project. The Colburn Center will be equipped to take a modern approach to multi-media technology and production. The facilities include commercial-quality recording and streaming capabilities, and performance spaces will be outfitted with state-of-the-art lighting. Public spaces include an outdoor plaza, giving visitors a front-row seat to the performing arts, and gardens which provide much-needed green space and pedestrian access to nearby public transit hubs.

view from Hill Street and 2nd Street intersection

colburn president sel kardan comments: ‘With great joy and excitement, we share the design of Frank Gehry’s multi-dimensional project, which will welcome our students, performing artists, and audiences from across los angeles.The Colburn Center is a physical manifestation of the school’s founding principle of ‘access to excellence,’ allowing Colburn to continue and expand our educational and performance activities in a design which breaks down barriers between audience and performer and reveals the educational process. We look forward to collaborating with our artistic partners in Terri and Jerry Kohl hall, which complements the other stellar performance spaces in Downtown Los Angeles.’

performance by the Colburn Conservatory’s Pep Band | image © Loreen Sarkis

inside the 1,000-seat Terri and Jerry Kohl Hall | image © Gehry Partners

Reference

Orange desk in Univers Uchronia apartment

Interior Design

Uchronia founder designs own home as “love letter to French craft”

By Zarkon Group,03/04/2024

Glossy walls, ruched curtains and oversized flower-shaped cushions characterise this eclectic 1970s-style Paris apartment, designed and owned by Uchronia founder Julien Sebban.

Called Univers Uchronia, the apartment is in the city’s 18th arrondissement, close to the Uchronia office – a Parisian architecture and interiors studio known for its bold application of shape, colour and reflective surfaces.

Sebban designed the dwelling as his home, which he shares with his husband and Maison Royère artistic director Jonathan Wray.

The Uchronia founder created the apartment as an extension of his studio – “it’s truly a manifesto of our universe,” he told Dezeen.

Colourful living room with pink curtains — Colourful interiors anchor the apartment

Sebban worked with local studio Atelier Roma to create all the walls and ceilings, which are either lacquered and glossy or made of matte pigmented concrete, respectively reflecting or absorbing light throughout the day.

Finished in hues ranging from cloud-like pale blue to lemony yellow, the walls and ceilings complement the poured-in-place resin floor that spans the apartment and features a bold motif that “waves and moves in relation to the architecture”.

Open-plan kitchen in Univers Uchronia — A metallic island features in the open-plan kitchen

The home is anchored by a predominantly pink living space, which includes Uchronia-designed pieces such as low-slung interlocking coffee tables made from walnut burl and orange resin.

Translucent and gathered pink curtains were paired with a geometric vintage bookshelf and a blocky but soft sofa finished in purple and orange.

Onyx dining table — A bespoke onyx dining table was created for the home

“The apartment is very colourful with ’60s and ’70s inspirations and a mix of our contemporary pieces and vintage objects,” said Sebban.

In the open-plan kitchen and dining room, a veiny Van Gogh onyx table was positioned next to a metallic kitchen island, illuminated by a blobby seaweed-shaped table lamp.

Home office with orange and yellow walls — Ornamental jellyfish decorate the home office

A portion of the otherwise orange wall was clad with tiny, mirrored tiles. Reflected in the gleaming ceiling, the tiles have the same effect as a shimmering disco ball.

Opposite the dining area is Sebban and Wray’s home office, characterised by a bright orange, built-in day bed topped with silk flower-like cushions and a wave-shaped backrest.

Bathroom with pink bathtub — The dwelling’s bathrooms follow a similar design

Above the bed, ornamental jellyfish were suspended like planets against a constellation of gold stars, which decorate the ombre orange and yellow wall that nods to the colour-drenched interior of the city’s Cafe Nuances – also designed by Uchronia.

The dwelling’s bathrooms follow a similar design. Accents include dusty pink alcoves and ceramic tiles depicting underwater scenes, as well as a lily pad-shaped rug and a mirror resembling a cluster of clouds.

“The apartment defines the codes we have tried to develop at Uchronia over the last four years,” concluded Sebban.

“It’s a play on colours, textures and materials, and a love letter to French craft.”

Pink-hued bathroom by Uchronia — Univers Uchronia is “a love letter to French craft”

Uchronia was named emerging interior designer of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2023. The studio previously renovated a Haussmann-era apartment for a pair of jewellery designers with multifaceted furniture pieces created to mirror the appearance of precious stones.

Various architects have designed their own homes, such as John Pawson, who created this minimalist second home in the Cotswolds in the UK.

The photography is by Félix Dol Maillot.

Reference

Interior Design

Fala Atelier designs Lisbon home with “very Portuguese” materials

By Zarkon Group,22/03/2024

Architecture studio Fala Atelier decked out the angular spaces of the 087 house in Lisbon with oversized spots and stripes, which also feature on its bold marble facade.

Designed by Porto-based studio Fala Atelier, 087 is a three-storey home in the Portuguese capital with a rectilinear facade decorated with chunky marble shapes.

The studio, known for its playful use of geometry, created custom carpentry from locally sourced materials to accommodate the home’s curved and staggered walls and the sloping ceilings within the building.

A garden-facing kitchen on the ground floor includes terrazzo flooring and stepped timber cabinetry decorated with bold black and white stripes and topped with marble slabs.

Funnel-shaped extractor fan by Fala Atelier — A funnel-shaped extractor fan adds an eclectic touch

Unusual features such as a funnel-shaped, teal-hued extractor fan add an eclectic touch. This Fala Atelier-designed piece can also be found in a windowless garage in Lisbon that the studio converted for a couple.

“There are no elegant extractors on the market,” Fala Atelier partner Filipe Magalhães told Dezeen.

“All of them look like nasty appliances. With the kitchen in the way of the window, we knew we would have to integrate the fan. Since we couldn’t make it disappear, we celebrated the piece,” he added.

The open-plan kitchen connects to the living area, which is characterised by pinewood flooring dotted with geometric walnut accents.

“The colours of the stripes and the dots on the floor really try to be noble,” said Magalhães.

Living space with Togo sofas — Bespoke Fala Atelier-designed doors and window frames match the kitchen cabinets

The space also features doors designed by the studio and caramel-coloured Ligne Roset Togo sofas – a quilted and low-slung design classic created by Michel Ducaroy in 1973.

This seating was positioned next to a boxy fireplace clad with gleaming white ceramic tiles and a squat display plinth finished in veiny black marble.

Custom striped cabinetry by Fala Atelier — Custom cabinetry also features on the upper floors

“We tried to diversify the material palette as much as possible while still making it quite banal,” explained Magalhães.

“The choices are very Portuguese, but the mixture aims at being more than just that,” added the architect.

Board-formed concrete ceilings were included throughout

Upstairs, the same bespoke cabinetry as in the kitchen was used to form larger cupboards across the curved and angular private spaces of the two upper floors.

Board-formed concrete ceilings, which also feature downstairs, were paired with oversized rounded mirrors in the bathrooms and a mixture of timber and marble flooring.

The garden-facing facade follows the same geometry as its street-facing component, also featuring circular and rectilinear decorative shapes.

“This house is a lot about the relationship with the garden,” said Magalhães, noting the floor-to-ceiling glazing that connects the indoor and outdoor spaces.

Garden-facing facade with chunky marble decoration — 087 focuses on “the relationship with the garden”

Fala Atelier has designed several homes in a similar style, including six micro-houses in Porto with geometric forms and concrete finishes and another Porto property topped with a striped concrete roof.

The photography is by Francisco Ascensao and Giulietta Margot.

Reference

Sustainable News

Snøhetta designs compostable hemp light Superdupertube

By Zarkon Group,13/03/2024

Norwegian studio Snøhetta has teamed up with lighting brand Ateljé Lyktan to create Superdupertube, an office lamp made from extruded hemp and sugarcane bioplastic.

The design is a contemporary update of Ateljé Lyktan‘s Supertube – an office light from the 1970s made from extruded aluminium.

“[The Supertube] had finished production in 2010 or something like that, so it was iconic but sort of forgotten,” Snøhetta partner Jenny B Osuldsen told Dezeen. “And it’s a tube. It’s not rocket science but it is what you need for a smart lamp in an office.”

“We really loved it and think it has a lot of possibilities, so we wanted to upgrade it to a new level,” she added.

Tubular hemp lamp — It is made from hemp and can be industrially composted. Photo by Ateljé Lyktan

The extrusion technique for the original lamp was developed in the 1960s, and Snøhetta and Ateljé Lyktan decided to create a lamp that would nod to the original design.

However, the aim was to lower the carbon footprint of the lamp by choosing the most sustainable material possible.

View of compostable lamp made from hemp — Snøhetta and Ateljé Lyktan chose to use hemp as the material is renewable and durable

The studios played around with multiple different materials before settling on the hemp bioplastic, which was used to form Snøhetta’s first office lighting design.

Snøhetta and Ateljé Lyktan first worked together on The 7th Room, a charred-timber cabin suspended among the treetops in northern Sweden, for which they also collaborated on the lighting design.

Detailed view of Superdupertube lamp — The lighting features twisted louvres. Photo by Ateljé Lyktan

“When we were doing The 7th Room project up in northern Sweden, everything was in pine and there were lots of pine cones,” Osuldsen said.

“We wanted to find a product or material that isn’t used for anything else, so we started testing the use of pine cones by grinding them, but it didn’t work.”

“The fibres in the cones are too short,” said Ateljé Lyktan product director Malin Gadd. “We also tried using coffee grounds but they are even shorter, so we realised quite quickly that we needed fibres that are long and strong.”

“That’s where the hemp fibres come into the picture,” she added.

Snøhetta and Ateljé Lyktan sourced the hemp used for the lights from the Netherlands, as the quality of the hemp from Swedish farmers “wasn’t quite there yet”, according to Gadd.

The Superdupertube light shown in an interior — Its shape is both extruded and injection-moulded

The hemp is mixed with a polylactic acid (PLA) bioplastic derived from sugarcane, alongside wood cellulose and different minerals to create a fossil- and gas-free composite.

The material is then extruded to create the main body of the lamp, which also comprises injection-moulded louvres and side covers. To add to the organic feel of the light, its electric cables are covered with linen fabric.

“Hemp is an old cultural plant and it’s very easy to renew [by growing more],” Osuldsen said. “And it’s very durable.”

Fastening on hemp lamp by Ateljé Lyktan — Linen fabric covers the electric cable. Photo by Ateljé Lyktan

The Superdupertube can be composted in an industrial composter or recycled and ground down into pellets to create more lamps.

However, this currently requires owners to send the lamps back to the producer, as the material cannot be processed in regular recycling centres.

Using the hemp bioplastic reduces the lamp’s carbon footprint by over 50 per cent compared to traditional aluminium variants, according to Snøhetta and Ateljé Lyktan.

Colour of Superdupertube — The Superdupertube comes in a natural colour. Photo by Ateljé Lyktan

The dimmable Superdupertube features twisted louvres – an architectural detail that helps the light feel softer by angling the glare away.

“That’s why it’s a perfect workspace luminaire, it’s adapted to be better for the person sitting working and it’s also totally unique – it doesn’t exist on the market,” Gadd said.

The Superdupertube, which comes in four different lengths, has an organic beige colour with a natural pattern from the hemp and other ingredients.

Wooden wall behind Superdupertube lamp — It is the first time Snøhetta has designed an office lamp

“We didn’t really know how it would look,” Osuldsen said. “The material is the colour of the hemp. And, of course, there’s probably something from the sugarcane because it’s heated up. It’s burnt sugar in a way.”

“So we get this specific colour and that also means that all of them will be a little bit different,” she added. “It’s all about the crops; if it’s a wet year or a dry year, the humidity in the material will be a little bit different. That’s why it’s sort of alive.”

Other recent Snøhetta projects include a glass-lined library in China designed to look like a forest and a hexagonal paving system for urban landscapes.

The photography is by Jonas Lindstrom unless otherwise stated.

Reference

Render of water-powered home by Studio Bark

Sustainable News

Studio Bark designs water-powered Breach House in UK countryside

By Zarkon Group,09/03/2024

London-based practice Studio Bark has unveiled plans for Breach House, a water-powered family home located in Leicestershire, UK.

Designed to enable the owners to “live off the land”, the proposal by Studio Bark will be powered by photovoltaic (PV) panels and micro-hydro energy, creating a home capable of running off-grid.

The 430-metre-square proposal will comprise the new home, along with the restoration of an existing agricultural barn and extensive landscaping.

Making use of the site’s location among a network of small brooks, streams and ponds, run-off water from the surrounding fields will be used to provide a portion of the home’s energy needs. It will also be harvested on-site and filtered for use within the house.

View of 'water tower' within Breach House by Studio Bark — The ‘water tower’ connects the home’s two wings

“The concept is a rural home which establishes a reciprocity between ecology and human needs through water,” studio director Tom Bennett told Dezeen.

“The massing echoes the typology of a traditional farmstead, blending contextual influences to create a contemporary building which resonates subtly with its setting.”

Interior render of Breach House in Leicestershire — The design references the typology of traditional farm buildings

Drawing on the local typologies, the home will be arranged in clusters complemented by courtyards and sheltered outdoor spaces formed by deep overhanging eaves.

A ‘water tower’, which will sit centrally on the site, will house ventilation and circulation functions as well as water filtration.

It will also hold a staircase and corridor to connect the home’s two wings and was designed to be a visual reference to the use of water throughout the scheme.

Low carbon and natural materials suggested for the proposal include reclaimed brick, UK-sourced timber and reclaimed tiles, which were chosen in response to the character and heritage of the surrounding landscape.

Renders of the proposal reveal a largely timber structure, with exposed beams interspersed with skylights featuring on the home’s interior.

On the exterior, trapezoidal-shaped roofs will be clad with decorative tiles and provide shelter for a balcony adjacent to the bedroom on the upper floor.

Render of living interior at water-powered home by Studio Bark — Exposed timber beams and skylights will feature on the home’s interior

According to the studio, the residual carbon impact of the building is expected to be countered by landscaping proposals – including the planting of around 200 trees – that will accelerate carbon drawdown on the site.

Calculations undertaken by the studio suggest that these landscaping proposals will sequester roughly three times the amount of carbon that will be released over the building’s lifetime.

Render of living space within Breach House in Leicestershire — Run-off water will be harvested and filtered for use within the home

“Proposed works include a new woodland area, wet meadow, enriched wildflower meadow, reinstated historical copse, successional tree planting, new ponds and reinstated field boundaries,” Bennett said.

“These measures will sequester carbon, greatly enhance the ecological value of the currently agricultural site, in addition to assisting with natural flood management in the locality.”

Proposed bedroom interior within Breach House by Studio Bark — Breach House is expected to result in a 65 per cent biodiversity net gain

The proposal is anticipated to result in a 65 per cent biodiversity net gain, with additional habitat measures incorporated into the home set to include a bat attic.

Other architectural projects with a heavy focus on sustainability include the UK’s “most sustainable” and largest neighbourhood made from timber and a neighbourhood in Paris made up of limestone buildings.

The renders are courtesy of Studio Bark.

Project credits:

Architect: Studio Bark
Planning consultant/agent: Studio Bark
Client: Private Domestic
Structural engineer: Structure Workshop
Landscape architect: Studio 31
Energy consultant: Max Fordham
Hydrologist: Amber Planning
Ecologist: Elton Ecology
Arboriculturalist: RJ Tree Services
Highways: Create Consulting Engineers

Reference

Neutral-toned dining room with dramatic vaulted ceilings and a checkered floor

Interior Design

Studio Paolo Ferrari designs Toronto restaurant as a “world unto itself”

By Zarkon Group,11/02/2024

Toronto-based Studio Paolo Ferrari has created cinematic interiors for a restaurant in the city’s Downtown area, combining influences from filmmakers that range from Stanley Kubrick to Nancy Meyers.

Unlike a typical restaurant layout, Daphne unfolds as a series of rooms with distinct identities, each borrowing references from different cinema styles.

Studio Paolo Ferrari intended each space to offer a different experience for guests, and custom-designed all of the furniture and lighting for the restaurant to make it feel even more unique.

“Daphne is an elevated and exceedingly creative take on the American bistro, fusing the nostalgia of New England prep with wonder and eccentricity,” said Studio Paolo Ferrari. “At once intimate and grand, eccentric and sculptural, convivial and experimental, the deeply imaginative space is reminiscent of a great residence that’s evolved over time.”

Burnt orange dining area with a wavy banquette — Studio Paolo Ferrari designed custom furniture and lighting throughout the restaurant

Guests arrive into an intimate space that features a transparent full-height wine cabinet, which offers glimpses of the dining area beyond.

They then move through to the Great Room, a cavernous room framed by a dramatic vaulted ceiling and decorated in a warm neutral palette.

Dining room fully enveloped in a burnt orange hue — The Drawing Room is fully enveloped in a burnt orange hue

Through the centre is a line of dining tables, each paired with a rounded striped sofa and two boucle-covered chairs.

The open kitchen is fully visible through the arches on one side, while a darker, cosier dining area coloured a burnt orange hue runs along the other.

A mirrored corridor with a hand-painted landscape mural leads to a separate bar area

“The grand space is reminiscent of the warmly luxurious spirit of a Nancy Meyers film, with custom furnishings that are deeply residential in feel and varsity-inspired checkerboard tiling,” said Studio Paolo Ferrari.

The Drawing Room beyond continues the burnt orange colour, fully enveloping the walls, ceiling and seating upholstery to create a monochromatic space.

Bar with wavy walls and green banquette — The mural continues across the wavy walls of the bar room and green banquette seating follow the curves

Cove lighting is installed behind louvres that cover the upper walls, adding texture and shadows as well as hint of “Cape Cod Americana”.

The bar area is reached via a long corridor that’s mirrored from floor to ceiling along one wall, and is lined with a hand-painted landscape mural across the opposite side.

Bar with glass countertop and fluted front — The glass bar countertop is illuminated from within, while the counter front is fluted

This verdant rural scene continues across the wavy surfaces in the bar room, above green banquettes that follow the flow of the wall.

“Daphne is a world unto itself, awaiting discovery,” the studio said. “Stepping into the bar is almost akin to stepping into an exquisitely-designed film set.”

The snaking glass-topped bar counter is illuminated from within, as a nod to the bar in the fictional Overlook Hotel from Stanley Kubrick’s movie The Shining.

The counter front is fluted in reverence to Beaux-Arts architect Henry Bacon, while reflective stainless steel across the back bar matches the circular tables and chair feet in the room.

Outdoor dining area between two brick buildings — An adjacent dilapidated building was razed to create an expansive outdoor terrace

A dilapidated building adjacent to the restaurant was demolished to make way for an expansive outdoor Garden Terrace with a dining area and bar.

Sandwiched between two brick structures, this exterior space features comfy yellow and white-striped seating surrounded by plants, and a row of tall trees in the centre – continuing the botanical theme from inside.

Yellow and white-striped seating running along a brick wal — Plants behind the yellow and white-striped seating continue the botanical theme from inside

A separate entrance from the street leads guests between tall columns clad in dark blue-purple iridescent tiles into the alley-like space.

“It was important that the space had depth and a quality of experimentation,” said Paolo Ferrari, founder of his eponymous firm. “Daphne is truly an active experience of discovery, where guests can uncover thoughtful and innovative details throughout.”

Columns of blue-purple iridescent tiles form a gateway into an alley-like outdoor terrace — Columns of blue-purple iridescent tiles form a gateway from the street into the alley-like outdoor terrace

The designer’s earlier projects in Canada have included a lake house with wood and granite interiors, and a showroom for a development in Ottawa that appears more like a home than a sales gallery.

Other recent additions to Toronto’s dining scene include Prime Seafood Palace, which features a vaulted-wood interior by Omar Gandhi Architect.

The photography is by Joel Esposito.

Reference

Sustainable News

TVK designs limestone buildings for “first zero-carbon district” in Paris

By Zarkon Group,06/01/2024

French architecture practice TVK has completed a neighbourhood in Paris made up of limestone buildings surrounding a garden and designed as a sustainable development that aims to increase biodiversity.

Located on a triangular site in Paris’s 19th arrondissement, the project is “the capital’s first zero-carbon district”, according to TVK.

Named Îlot Fertile, which translates to “fertile island” in French, it contains apartments, a youth hostel, student residences, a hotel, offices, restaurants, shops and sports facilities.

The four buildings that make up the neighbourhood range in height from seven to nine storeys tall, each with ground-floor levels made from low-carbon concrete and designed to achieve large, unobstructed interior spaces.

The upper levels were made from load-bearing limestone sourced mainly from the local Ile-de-France region, aiming to reduce the carbon cost of transportation.

TVK claims the 35,200-square-metre development is the largest load-bearing stone building site since Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s reconstruction of Paris in the mid-19th century.

Îlot Fertile zero carbon neighbourhood in Paris by TVK — The buildings were made from load-bearing stone and concrete

“Each material is used in the right place and the right quantity,” TVK founders Pierre Alain Trévelo and Antoine Viger Kohler told Dezeen.

“We chose to use mainly limestone from the Paris region – it’s the same one used to build the Haussmann buildings.”

Public spaces, including restaurants and shops, are located on the ground floors of the buildings and open onto the central garden.

Hotel accommodations and apartments are on the upper levels, and a raised outdoor level provides additional garden spaces with an orchard, vegetable patches, insect hotels and nest boxes.

Office spaces are located in a building that sits parallel to a railway line and, aiming to work with the site’s existing topology and move as little earth as possible, TVK designed a sunken sports centre in a large hole on the site to create an interior with high ceilings.

“The biggest challenge of the project was to bring together more than a dozen programmes and turn them into a fully-fledged part of the city,” said Trévelo and Kohler.

“The shape of each building is linked to the very specific geometry of the site shaped by the railway infrastructure,” they continued. “This brings diversity to a building complex of this scale.”

Îlot Fertile zero carbon neighbourhood — It is located on a triangular site next to a railway

TVK designed Îlot Fertile to have a minimal carbon footprint in its construction and operation. It topped the buildings with photovoltaic panels and green roofs to produce energy while also aiming to increase biodiversity.

“Its proximity to public transport means that Îlot Fertile does not require any car parking, and we used a bioclimatic design to keep energy requirements to a minimum for heating, cooling and lighting,” said Trévelo and Kohler.

“For the small amount of energy that will be consumed, the project plans to compensate for it by producing green energy via bio-solar roofs.”

Tennis court in a sports centre — The development includes a sports centre built into an existing hole in the site’s topography

“Driven by the City of Paris’ ambition for ecological transition, zero-carbon is a long-term objective for the life of the entire operation,” added Trévelo and Kohler.

Elsewhere in Paris, Christ & Gantenbein completed a 124-metre-long steel-clad housing block, and RSHP unveiled its design for a “post-carbon” neighbourhood that will be located in the La Défense business district.

The photography is by Julien Hourcade.

Project credits:

Architect: TVK
Client: Linkcity
Landscape design: OLM
Building and civil engineering: Berim
Engineering: Carbone 4 and Amoes

Reference

Architecture

BIG designs stage set with inflatable orb for WhoMadeWho’s world tour

By Zarkon Group,03/01/2024

Danish architecture studio BIG has created an experimental stage set for Danish pop trio WhoMadeWho’s world tour.

A suspended silver orb formed the centrepiece of the immersive audiovisual design, which was created for the tour that began in November. It is BIG‘s latest inflatable structure and was informed by the floating 26-metre-diameter, mirrored sphere it created for Burning Man in 2018.

“Our design for WhoMadeWho’s stage draws from our previous ventures into inflatable creations like SKUM and The Orb [at Burning Man],” BIG partner Jakob Lange explained.

“With maximum visual impact, the inflatable sphere serves as a canvas for captivating three-dimensional video projections, elevating the concert experience to a new level.”

The orb was integrated with controllable lights and visuals, but was also designed to reflect the surrounding scenography to give its presence a multimedia dimensionality.

Three futuristic silver pods were positioned below the sphere to be occupied by each band member and the stage was framed by an expansive LED screen background.

BIG’s stage was brought to life with immersive visuals from the creative teams of Flora&faunavisions, LA-based EyeMix Studio and animator Christopher Mulligan.

Using AI and other advanced visualisation tools, the artistic teams sought to combine BIG’s stage set with cutting-edge imagery that can respond in real-time to WhoMadeWho’s performances.

The stage system will reach audiences across cities such as Paris, Los Angeles, London and New York City as WhoMadeWho – comprising of Tomas Høffding, Tomas Barfod and Jeppe Kjellberg – continue their world tour in 2024.

Founded in 2005 by Bjarke Ingels, BIG is one of the world’s most influential architecture studios with headquarters in both Copenhagen and New York. The studio recently unveiled its masterplan for a 1,000-square-kilometre development in Bhutan and its design for a cascading, luxury residential building near Athens.

The photography is by Michael Poselski

Reference

Interior Design

Bacana Studio designs interiors for riverfront Lisbon restaurant

By Zarkon Group,22/12/2023

Lisbon interior design practice Bacana Studio took cues from Portugal’s coastal traditions for the interiors of a João Luís Carrilho da Graça-designed Anfibio restaurant.

Located alongside the Tejo river, the restaurant was designed to “merge the duality of the sea and the land,” the interiors studio told Dezeen.

Named Anfibio – Latin for amphibious, meaning suited for both land and water – the restaurant serves both local seafood and “countryside produce”.

It is located in a glass-walled, pavilion-like structure designed by local architecture studio João Luís Carrilho da Graça alongside the Tejo river and its interiors were informed by its riverfront location drawing on the “dazzling reflections of the sun on the water”.

Within the 500-square-metre restaurant, which is used as a nightclub in the evenings, wooden flooring was stained with a “watery green” colour and a mirror-like fabric was used on the ceiling to reflect and refract light.

“The building’s architecture aims to blend in and go unnoticed, striving to merge with the river and reflect the city of Lisbon,” said Bacana Studio founder Ingrid Aparicio.

Anfibio restaurant — The restaurant is located on the Tejo river

According to the Bacana Studio, the open plan layout and five-metre-high ceilings posed a lighting and acoustic challenge.

As a result, the studio focused on “creating visual and functional interest from the ground up” with decorative elements, lighting and architectural features rising up from the floor.

“It’s the lighting itself that shapes and defines the spaces,” Aparicio explained. “We devised a concept where lighting emanates from the furniture, creating intimate spaces and avoiding the sensation of being in a vast and cold space.”

Anfibio by Bacana Studio restaurant lighting — Light fittings emerge from the furniture

Small brass-shaded table lamps and arched brass and glass lamps, which were crafted to resemble the antennas of aquatic creatures, provide ambient lighting for each table and unify the space.

Visitors are greeted by a curvilinear “snake sofa” that divides the restaurant into two areas – an intimate zone with smaller tables on one side, and a more communal area with a large 10-seater table on the other.

“The design is meant to encourage you to let loose, which is why the organic shapes in the sofas, tables, and chairs, create an interesting flow to the space,” explained Aparicio.

On either end of the intimate zone is a long, 20-seater community table. The studio designed these with an aim to pay homage to the spirit of Lisbon’s traditional fish markets, serving as “a symbolic nod to the shared dining experiences fostered in such lively and communal settings”.

The wait-staff station and the wood, wicker and brass bar separate the kitchen from the dining area.

Two long, striped benches, positioned with their backs facing each other, lead out to the terrace, “segmenting the expansive layout of the restaurant into more intimate sections”.

The terrace, overlooking the port and the city of Lisbon, aims to “evoke the essence of an authentic beach club”.

Stripes were prominently used on the walls, upholstery, and furnishings, reminiscent of Portuguese fishermen’s cottages and coastal awnings.

Anfibio by Bacana Studio restaurant terrace. — Natural materials such as wood and wicker were prominently used

Other restaurant interiors recently featured on Dezeen include a Mexico City restaurant arranged around an upside-down pyramid bar and a converted Norwegian restaurant covered in restored paintings.

The photography is by Filipe Neto.

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Bacana Studio designs interiors for riverfront Lisbon restaurant

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