The Belgian city of Ghent is the unlikely backdrop for this Martelaar House, a lush oasis by local architect Machteld D’Hollander. The home stands in contrast to its urban surroundings — known for its medieval influences and dreary climate — as it is infused with a tropical, sunlit atmosphere and gardens which flourish from the outside-in.
The renovation project includes the addition of two contemporary garden pavilions, with plants and trees thriving in place of a cramped structure. Still, the design team leaves a reminder of the dwelling’s industrial past with elements of the original structure, including some of its original derelict walls, left to shine between the foliage.
The Martelaar House is more than just a renovation — it is a transformation by Machteld D’Hollander of space and atmosphere. The conversion of a once-enclosed and cluttered industrial space into a verdant sanctuary lends an escape from the surrounding urban environment. With a keen understanding of the power of greenery, the architect teams up with landscape designers Bart & Pieter to emphasize this integration of nature into the built environment. Walls that once defined boundaries are replaced with a profusion of plants and trees, creating a harmonious coexistence of architecture and landscape.
nature grows inside and out the residential renovation
landscape designers Bart & Pieter infuse the space with gardens the renovation includes two new pavilionsthe once-cluttered industrial building is opened up with full-height glass walls
London firm Studio Varey Architects has simplified this Victorian terraced house to create a light-filled home in Notting Hill, with timber-framed skylights designed to catch the sun.
Set in the Westbourne Conservation Area, Huron House has belonged to its current owners for the last 25 years.
Huron House is a renovated Victorian terrace in west London
The overhaul of the 19th-century building started as a simple ground-floor renovation to replace the kitchen and improve the connection between the house and its garden.
However, exploratory works showed the four-storey property to be in bad structural condition, which demanded major improvement works but also gave the owners an opportunity to reimagine their period home.
Decorative oak beams frame the skylight in the extension
The new brief to Studio Varey Architects included a full house renovation and interior design, with special emphasis on the bathrooms as well as custom joinery and the rebuilding of the 1990s rear extension to create a new open-plan kitchen and dining room.
“Our goal was to create an open-plan living space and bring lots of natural light into the ground floor, helping it to feel more inviting and better suited to entertaining friends and family,” the studio told Dezeen.
A simple white staircase leads upstairs
The property sits on a rough east-west axis, giving it the potential to achieve great light levels throughout the day, with the sun moving from the back of the house in the morning to the front in the afternoon.
“We wanted to ensure this natural light was captured through the architecture and design of the spaces,” the studio said.
On the ground floor, Studio Varey Architects removed a structural post that supported the building but divided the back wall.
A skylight illuminates the top-floor bathroom
This has been replaced with a steel frame, which allowed the studio to introduce slimline aluminium sliding doors that now run along the whole back of the property.
An existing skylight in the flat roof here was enlarged and framed with oak beams, pulling more light into the centre of the hybrid kitchen-dining space.
“Natural light cascades into the back of the house, while the introduction of oak beams created a feature that plays with the light as it travels through the property,” the studio said.
The whole staircase was replaced and positioned further away from the home’s large rear windows, creating a lightwell funnels sun into the lower floors.
On the top floor, an existing bathroom was fully renovated. Situated in the middle of the top floor it featured no windows save for a small skylight, meaning that light levels were totally inadequate.
Here, Studio Varey Architects cut back the ceiling to create a multifaceted surface clad in birch plywood – its colour knocked back with a wash of soft white – to bounce light around the space.
The ceiling was cut back to allow more light into the interior
“We created a splayed ceiling that increased the height of the space, allowing for the playful integration of materials to emphasise the new angles,” the studio said.
“Naturally finished birch ply, leading from the skylight down into Tadelakt walls, beautifully captures sunlight creating a special warmth in the space.”
Oak forms bookcases in the sitting rom
White oak can be found throughout the house in the form of built-in joinery from bookcases and wardrobes, as well as in the feature beams of the extension.
“We wanted to simplify the material palette and keep it light, both in appearance and number of elements we used,” the studio said.
“This was done to emphasise the quality of the materials themselves, highlight the craftsmanship of the work and establish a visual link between the interior spaces throughout the home.”
Oak joinery features in the primary bedroom
Polished concrete, used for the floor at ground level, is underlaid with underfloor heating and provides a durable surface that is easy to clean for the owners after walking their dog.
Other recently renovated houses in London include Sunderland Road House by 2LG, which features pastel-painted corniced ceilings, and Graphic House by Office S&M, which is defined by graphic shapes and bold hues.
Spotted: As the world continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, spending on the sciences is again a hot topic as governments work to decide which areas of research to fund and with how much money. In the UK, the government has announced almost £3.5 billion for use in developing supercomputing capabilities, regional innovation accelerators, and workforce skills for the next generation of jobs.
For citizens interested in science, a new bank card offers a way to get involved in the latest research. Called the Science Card, the current account and Mastercard debit card allows members to round-up everyday expenditure to support research projects.
There are two levels of membership available. The Standard account is free, while the premium ‘Fusion’ account costs £19.90 per month. The company is currently working on a new perk for Fusion account holders – the ability to become partial owners of the intellectual property (IP) of a new project. Depending on the commercial success of a project, IP owners could earn passive income for an extended period of time.
Cardholders use the app to explore available research projects and choose which ones to support, either with a direct payment or via micro-grants from rounding up common expenses. The company itself dedicates 10 per cent of its profits to scientific research. Cardholders also receive more conventional benefits such as immersive spending data, and the company plans to offer cashback on certain sales, including books, coffee, and software.
Other positive impact cards spotted by Springwise include a card that provides cashback on environmentally friendly products, a debit card that lets users fund tree-planting as they spend, and a card that powers the circular economy.
Inverted brick arches crown the Central Somers Town children’s community centre near King’s Cross, London, created by local studio Adam Khan Architects.
The project forms the home of Plot 10, a community children’s play project established in the 1970s that previously occupied a series of self-built timber structures on the site.
It sits adjacent to an apartment block, also designed by Adam Khan Architects and completed with matching arched motifs.
Adam Khan Architects has created Central Somers Town children’s centre
Adam Khan Architects was tasked with creating the buildings as part of the Central Somers Town masterplan, developed by architecture studio DSDHA.
The aim is to provide community facilities and housing for one of the London Borough of Camden’s most deprived areas.
Both buildings are finished in London brick, concrete and red metalwork, and are enlivened by arched forms chosen to evoke a variety of references.
It is the home of community children’s play project Plot 10
“We like architecture that is rich in associations and open to being interpreted by people in multiple, diverse ways and by people of diverse backgrounds and levels of interest and engagement,” founder Adam Khan told Dezeen.
“If you see a palace, a mosque or a sandcastle, that’s fine. If you’re keen on eighteenth-century Parisian hôtel particuliers you’ll notice some affinities. Or, if you live locally you’ll already be familiar with arched openings giving glimpses into planted courtyards,” he added.
It is decorated with arched motifs. Photo by Lewis Khan
In order to provide privacy to the children’s centre, Adam Khan Architects sandwiched the building between two external play areas that are wrapped by brick walls.
Where the centre faces directly onto the street, the studio positioned a series of arched “shopfront” windows that provide an opportunity to display children’s work while obscuring the play areas from view.
The project also includes a block of social housing
“A hierarchy of openings, glimpses into courtyards and deep window reveals quietly satisfy the many and stringent safeguarding and privacy demands, whilst projecting welcome and vitality,” explained the studio.
Inside, the “creative improvisation” that has characterised Plot 10’s history informed a double-height space for “free-form play” across a variety of scales, developed through exploratory workshops with the organisation.
The arched motifs also feature in the housing
In the corner of the building, a timber toilet block is topped by a more private, glazed room, overlooking the play areas below.
On the roof, a crown of inverted brick arches surrounds a playing field, with the parapet framing views out across the surroundings.
“It is difficult to self-build or improvise big, high-excitement structures, so we built two big towers that provide exciting high-level play – including wheelchair-accessible play at higher levels, which is unusual,” explained Khan.
“Then, we made a strong timber armature framing the rest of the playground, allowing easy slinging up of swings, ropes and theatre drapes,” he continued.
There is a rooftop playing field. Photo by Lewis Khan
In the adjacent residential block are 10 social-rented apartments. Each one is triple-aspect, with day-lit hallways, large windows and generous balconies.
The arched motifs of the children’s centre are subtly reflected in an arched entranceway and the gentle wave-like form of a concrete canopy where the apartment block faces the street.
The block contains 10 apartments
Elsewhere in the Central Somers Town development, Hayhurst & Co created the Edith Neville Primary School, which features a landscaped playground.
Other arched buildings recently featured on Dezeen include a row of six brick-clad townhouses in London and a Mexican holiday home by CO-LAB Design Office.
The photography is by David Grandorge unless stated otherwise.
From a modernist villa in Beverly Hills to a flat in one of Brasília’s iconic Superquadra apartment blocks, the mid-century renovations in this lookbook are a masterclass in updating a period home while retaining its distinctive character.
Originally constructed in the post-war period between 1945 and 1969, mid-century homes have proved enduringly popular due to their prescient emphasis on natural light, clean lines, open floor plans and humble materials such as wood, stone and concrete.
The renovations below see many of these original features retained and restored, supplemented with contemporary additions such as double-height ceilings and furniture by the likes of Tadao Ando and Mario Bellini.
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring art deco homes, sunny yellow interiors and serene bedrooms with striking natural views.
Photo by Jack Lovel
City Beach Residence, Australia, by Design Theory
Australian studio Design Theory looked to preserve the “considerable mid-century charm” of this home on the coast of Perth during its renovation (top and above), remaining true to the rich palette of natural materials found in the original design.
Contemporary furniture and lighting with gently curving forms were chosen to soften the rigorous lines of the original architecture and prevent the interiors from feeling like a period pastiche.
Find out more about City Beach Residence ›
Photo by An Pham
Brandaw Residence, US, by 180 Degrees Design + Build and CBTWO Architects
A new double-height living room with a pitched roof and full-height glazing was added to modernise this 1960s home in Phoenix, creating sightlines up and out towards nearby Camelback Mountain.
Modernist touches remain on the interior in the form of plentiful wood panelling alongside finishes and furnishings in muted primary colours ranging from teal to mustard-yellow.
Find out more about Brandaw Residence ›
Photo by James O Davies
Hampstead House, UK, by Coppin Dockray
This house in Hampstead was originally designed by British architect Trevor Dannatt in 1960 as London’s answer to the post-war Case Study Houses built by the likes of Richard Neutra and the Eameses in California.
When renovating and extending the property for a growing family, local studio Coppin Dockray contrasted vintage and contemporary furniture for a “domestic, lived-in” feel, with pieces ranging from a Togo chair to Mia Hamborg’s Shuffle table for &Tradition.
Find out more about Hampstead House ›
Photo by Gerhard Heusch
Beverly Hills villa, US, by Heusch
Historical images helped architecture firm Heusch to restore this Beverly Hills villa to its former glory and reverse some of its “unfortunate transformations” over the years.
Existing terrazzo floors on the ground floor were restored and complemented with fluted glass details and dark timber furnishings, both new and old, including Ando’s cantilevered Dream Chairs and a bookshelf by Italian architect Augusto Romano from the 1950s.
Find out more about Beverly Hills villa ›
Photo by Justin Chung
Palermo house, US, by OWIU
California studio OWIU retained several original elements during the renovation of this 1955 home in LA’s San Rafael Hills, among them the glass-block walls and wooden ceiling beams, which were exposed from under false ceilings and sanded down to reveal their natural colour.
These were contrasted with more neutral contemporary elements such as pale oak flooring and walls coated in Venetian plaster, with assorted lights by Isamu Noguchi and George Nelson – one of the founding fathers of American modernism.
Find out more about Palermo house ›
Photo by Joana France
Brasília apartment, Brazil, by Debaixo do Bloco Arquitetura
This apartment is located inside Brasília’s historic Superquadra 308 Sul, the first “superblock” apartment complex constructed as part of architect Lucio Costa’s 1957 master plan for the new Brazilian capital.
Local studio Debaixo do Bloco Arquitetura cut open the building’s exposed concrete walls, opening up its layout to meet the needs of a modern family while preserving period details such as the building’s distinctive white breeze-block screens and its granilite flooring.
Find out more about Brasília apartment ›
Photo by Ingalls Photography
Malibu Surf Shack, US, by Kelly Wearstler
When interior designer Kelly Wearstler turned this 1950s beachfront cottage in Malibu into a bohemian retreat for herself and her family, she retained the original wood-panelled walls and selected finishes that were “hand-crafted, rustic and raw” to match the existing material palette.
The interiors feature abundant planting, alongside an eclectic mix of period-agnostic furnishings including a 1980s green marble table by Bellini, paired with a plaster-covered Caféstuhl chair by contemporary Austrian designer Lukas Gschwandtner.
Find out more about Malibu Surf Shack ›
Photo by Rafael Soldi
Golden House, US, by SHED
Seattle architecture firm SHED had to make several aggressive interventions when renovating this 1950s building in nearby Shoreline, which was originally constructed as a family home but had previously been divided up to serve as a retirement home.
Working around the existing post-and-beam structure, the studio updated the interior to maximise views of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound while enlarging the kitchen and reorganising it around a central island.
Find out more about Golden House ›
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring art deco homes, sunny yellow interiors and serene bedrooms with striking natural views.
Spotted: According to Statista, more than 50 million metric tonnes of e-waste are generated every year. And as the world becomes increasingly digitised and reliant on technology, this is only set to increase. Often, this e-waste ends up in developing countries, where electronics are burned on a mass scale to reveal precious metals, releasing extremely harmful toxic gases.
But now, New Zealand company Mint Innovation has devised an eco-friendly multi-step process for breaking down e-waste. The technology uses low-cost and low-impact biorefineries that extract valuable metals from scrap circuit boards so they may be reused, reducing future need for mined materials.
First, electronic circuit boards are ground up. If metals can’t be retrieved using electrochemistry, Mint dissolves the precious metals using its proprietary green chemistry – chemistry that either reduces or completely eliminates the use or “generation of hazardous substances”.
The company then recovers metals from the solution with a bioabsorption process, whereby special microbes added to the solution absorb the metals. A centrifuge separates metals from the microbes and these extracted materials are then refined into pure metals, ready to be repurposed and resold as items like jewellery or new electronics.
Although Mint has been focused on recycling electronic devices and scrap circuit boards so far, the technology could also be used in the recycling of batteries and catalysts on a large scale.
Other e-waste innovations spotted by Springwise include clean e-waste recycling and mineral processing, the world’s first fully recyclable computer chip substrate, and a project where gamers can return their e-waste for Minecraft coins.
Architizer’s new image-heavy daily newsletter, The Plug, is easy on the eyes, giving readers a quick jolt of inspiration to supercharge their days. Plug in to the latest design discussions by subscribing.
COVID-19 has left many office buildings half-empty in city downtowns across the United States, and as vacancies rise, commercial property values drop. The demand for office space might not rebound to pre-pandemic levels as some observed have augured.
Banks, city governments and property management companies fear the severity of the situation and its potentially dismal economic consequences. At the same time, the housing shortage is becoming a major problem for many cities. Could empty office buildings be the remedy to the housing crisis? What does it take to convert office buildings into housing?
One would think that the idea of converting office buildings into residential would presumably face little-to-no opposition and be promoted by cities and planning authorities as a possibility to mitigate the housing shortage and activate districts. It could be a win-win situation if not for the red-tape bureaucracy — local building and zoning regulations — and the technical difficulties, including structural, energy/mechanical, accessibility and fire safety upgrades, among other requirements. These requirements limit the number of vacant office buildings that could potentially be converted into residential use.
There is no general rule for turning office space into housing, and each building must comply with local building and zoning regulations. Zoning rules vary, but they often share the common purpose of separating occupancies — i.e. separating residential from commercial use. For this specific reason, it is difficult to change the use of an existing building, and developers wanting to undertake such a task will have to apply for a variance, which may face opposition before it is granted. Difficulties don’t end here. In addition to zoning regulations, building codes will influence redevelopment projects.
Generally, building codes applied to residential projects are considerably different from those that apply to office buildings. Adapting an existing structure to a new use will involve the cooperation of different agencies to address the complexities that come with the change of occupancy use. But given the extraordinary situation where on the one hand, we have thousands of vacant office square footage and, on the other hand, an urgent housing shortage, it would make perfect sense to relax these regulations and try to solve both problems. City authorities have in their hands the opportunity to make change recommendations in city zoning regulations. In this respect, New York’s Mayor Eric Adams has been encouraging modifications to zoning and building codes to spur the office-housing transformation.
8899 Beverly Boulevard by Olson Kundig, Los Angeles, California | Image by Nils Timm.
For the time being, zoning and building regulations make it hard for office buildings to be turned into a different use, especially into residential, simply because the requirements for one are so different from the other. Let’s look at some of the specific requirements to turn an office building into housing: Light and ventilation are perhaps the most critical factors that play into the equation.
Light and Ventilation Requirements
One crucial requirement is that habitable spaces need to be provided with a minimum amount of light and ventilation. Oddly, pre-air-conditioning-era office buildings are potentially better suited to office-to-housing transformation. Their size and configuration were dictated by the necessity to provide offices with light and ventilation. When air-conditioning and fluorescent lighting became characteristic features of the office environment, the narrow, rectangular footprint of the typical office building — and its U-, L-, C, and E-wing variations — could expand to larger floor plates filled with rows of offices that no longer needed a window close by. That is when things got complicated for the office-to-housing transformation. The distance from the center of the building to an exterior wall is often so great — even when the center is formed by a circulation and utility core — that it is impossible to create an effective layout where all the units have windows.
Adding to this problem is the type of building envelope. The interiors of modern office buildings are, for the most part, sealed behind curtain walls. To comply with the light and ventilation rule required in residential buildings, the entire glass skin needs to be replaced with a system that incorporates operable windows.
The Structure Lofts by H2 | Hawkins + Hawkins Architects, Inc. San Diego, California | Image by Brent Haywood.
Other factors, including the configuration of the structural grid and the window location, impact the viability of office-to-housing conversion projects and dictate the layout and size of the rooms in new apartments. Above, the Hawkins + Hawkins Architcts‘ office building-turned-apartment complex shows the typical floor plan for all levels above the ground floor with units around a circulation and storage central core. The open plan of all the units allows for natural light to reach every corner.
The design reimagines a four-story, modern office building that served as San Diego’s Blood Bank for nearly 40 years. Offering panoramic views of the city skyline, a central park and a bay, the building inspired the conversion to loft apartments. The goal was to create expansive, energy-efficient living units through adaptive reuse while preserving a landmark. The interior structural elements such as the concrete floors and coffered ceilings, were exposed to create a clean, industrial look. Single-glazed windows were replaced with energy-efficient, dual-glazed, floor-to-ceiling vinyl windows; and new, energy-efficient mechanical and electrical systems were installed.
The International Design Center, originally designed by Richard Dorman in 1964 (left) and 8899 Beverly Boulevard by Olson Kundig, Los Angeles, California | Image by Joe Fletcher (right).
8899 Beverly Boulevard by Olson Kundig, Los Angeles, California| Images by Joe Fletcher.
Here is another office-to-housing redevelopment example. The International Design Center, originally designed by Richard Dorman in 1964, is located in today’s heart of West Hollywood’s vibrant arts and design district in Los Angeles. Olson Kundig‘s redevelopment design maintains the building’s original integrity while transitioning its function to a 48-unit luxury condo complex.New additions are set back from the structure to acknowledge the building’s form. The upper levels contain a mixture of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units, fifteen of which are designated market rate. Private amenities on the lower level include a residential lobby, fitness room and an adjacent pool area. The building’s new design highlights indoor-outdoor connections through a generous use of glass while maintaining the building’s original concrete balconies. The updated façade incorporates a shutter system to control shade and privacy. Roof terraces on the new penthouse level extend livable areas outdoors, opening to views of West Hollywood and the Hollywood Hills beyond.
Are Large Office Buildings Doomed?
8899 Beverly Boulevard by Olson Kundig, Los Angeles, California | Images by Joe Fletcher.
The way office buildings are designed factors in the suitability for office-to-housing transformation, and for now, large office buildings offer a hornet nest of unsolvable technical difficulties after factoring in cost, profitability and physical limitations. The amendment of local zoning and building regulations is critical to facilitate the redevelopment of offices into homes. In the most extravagant — and extraordinarily expensive — cases, developers can allow their imagination to run wild: carve out portions of a building to create outdoor terraces that bring light and air into otherwise windowless apartments or blow up holes in the floor plates to run lightwells. Mix-use occupancy could be an option worth exploring. In this case, fire separation and exits would be challenging issues that would need to be addressed.
Office-to-housing redevelopment costs can be exorbitant, and most certainly, such projects would only be viable when offered as luxury apartment buildings. At this rate, the office-to-housing redevelopment projects will probably have little positive impact on the housing shortage, at least for now. Code relaxation and economic incentives to allow these conversions to take off are urgently needed.
Architizer’s new image-heavy daily newsletter, The Plug, is easy on the eyes, giving readers a quick jolt of inspiration to supercharge their days. Plug in to the latest design discussions by subscribing.
A brutalist apartment in Belgium and a coastal house in Australia feature in this lookbook, which collects open-plan interiors where dining tables are the focal point.
With dining rooms often forming part of larger, multipurpose living areas in our homes, tables are an easy way to create a focal point that subtly breaks up space.
As demonstrated by this lookbook, dining tables also present an opportunity for homeowners to bring personal style into a room while carving out an intimate setting to entertain guests.
This is the latest in Dezeen’s lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks that feature interiors with reclaimed materials, art deco influences and sunny yellow finishes.
Photo by Jose Hevia
Landaburu Borda, Spain, by Jordi Hidalgo Tané
A dining table takes centre stage in this house extension, which architecture studio Jordi Hidalgo Tané added to Landaburu Borda in rural Navarra.
Supported by chunky metal legs, the table is formed of two giant pieces of wood and paired with bright red chairs that help it pop against a backdrop of concrete walls.
Find out more about Landaburu Borda ›
Photo by Olmo Peeters
Riverside Tower apartment, Belgium, by Studio Okami Architecten
Studio Okami Architecten used the dining table as an opportunity to inject colour into this concrete apartment, which is located in a brutalist tower in Antwerp.
The bright aquamarine tabletop was married with slender red-metal legs, which draw the eye to the dining area with the help of a black ceramic chandelier plunging overhead.
Find out more about the Riverside Tower apartment ›
Photo by Timothy Kaye
Barwon Heads House, Australia, by Adam Kane Architects
Slabs of travertine form this monolithic table, located in the large living and dining room at a coastal home in Barwon Heads.
It brings a lavish aesthetic to the otherwise understated room, which features black wooden chairs, sheer curtains and a pared-back colour palette.
At one end is a sink, allowing the table to also be used as an island for food preperation.
Find out more about Barwon Heads House ›
Photo by Megan Taylor
Sunderland Road house, UK, by 2LG Studio
Pink was used throughout this renovated Edwardian house in London by 2LG Studio, including in the playful dining room set.
Set against white walls and a baby-blue vitrine, the statement table has a top made from waste wood chips and resin and matching sculptural pink chairs.
Find out more about the Sunderland Road house ›
Photo by Joe Fletcher
Three Chimney House, USA, by T W Ryan Architecture
A mottled-brass chandelier was suspended over this big eight-seater table, which sits at the heart of Three Chimney House in Virginia.
Its minimalist yet striking wooden form stands boldly against white walls, a pale-brick chimney and delicate spindle-back chairs.
Find out more about Three Chimney House ›
Photo by Read McKendree
Sag Harbor 2, USA, by Kevin O’Sullivan + Associates
Smooth edges and a curved cut-out give a sculptural look to the wooden legs beneath this chunky dining table.
Teamed with vintage Fresco dining chairs by G Plan, it brings a mid-century-style focal point to the contemporary interior of Sag Harbor 2.
Find out more about Sag Harbor 2 ›
Photo by Jose Campos
Nieby Crofters Cottage, Germany, by Jan Henrik Jansen and Marshall Blecher
Architects Jan Henrik Jansen and Marshall Blecher designed this dining table as an extension of the island in the kitchen at Nieby Crofters Cottage.
Illuminated by low-hanging pendant lights, the table was surrounded by eight of Hans Wegner’s Wishbone chairs and creates an opportunity for the owner to entertain guests while preparing food.
Find out more about Nieby Crofters Cottage ›
Photo by Michael Sinclair
Television Centre apartment, UK, by Waldo Works
Flanked by a black fireplace and kitchen cabinetry, this dining table stands out because of its glossy pine-green top.
Waldo Works contrasted it with saffron-coloured chairs a mustard-yellow rug, which helps establish it as the focal point and social heart of the open-plan room.
Find out more about the Television Centre apartment ›
This is the latest in Dezeen’s lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks that feature interiors with reclaimed materials, art deco influences and sunny yellow finishes.
Spotted: The scarcity of rare earth elements (REE) is a challenge for the wind and tidal renewable energy sector. These minerals are lanthanides (Lanthanum-Lutetium in the periodic table plus Yttrium and Scandium) and are vital in the conventional production of wind and tidal turbines, specifically in the magnetic cores of these generators. Contrary to their name, they are not rare in the Earth’s crust, but they are rarely found in high concentrations, which makes mining them difficult. And even after being mined, it is necessary to refine them. China currently has a near monopoly in the global trade of these materials, with 90 per cent of all the REE entering the market produced in the country. The EU, meanwhile, has to import almost all of its REE.
This is where UK company GreenSpur comes in. Its generator replaces the need for REE in the magnets of wind and tidal turbines. The company uses far more abundant and easily available ferrite (Iron derived) magnets, and surrounds these with aluminium coils rather than conventional copper ones. The company is able to make these sustainable material substitutions due to a design innovation in the generator itself.
Conventional generators use moving magnets placed around static coils of wire arranged in concentric circles. The movement of the magnets (in this case via wind or tidal energy) produces an electric charge or energy in these wire coils.
The GreenSpur design, by contrast, relies on ‘axial architecture,’ in which disks of aluminium coil are stacked on top of disks of ferrite magnets. This means that the magnetic field flows parallel to the axis of the generator, which results in a higher ‘magnetic flux’ (essentially magnetic strength) and allows for the alternative materials to be used.
The benefits of using these REE alternatives are clear: lower cost of materials, cheaper cooling than conventional REE generators, and greater strength in supply chains for materials. The new design is also more environmentally friendly as harmful REE byproducts are no longer mass produced and low-risk alternatives are used in their place.
Springwise has also spotted hi-tech anodes for the next generation of batteries as well as one company that uses shades screens as a renewable source of energy.
MAAYAA tropical retreat draws from Balinese architecture
Architectural studio aslam sham architects constructs MAAYAA, a Balinese-themed getaway nestled within a lush palm plantation. Located just an hour’s drive from Coimbatore, at the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the retreat showcases earthy tones and textures, instilling a sense of calm. The spaces are designed to evoke an eye-soothing serenity, as pathways adorned with verdant foliage exude tranquility and elegance.
Aiming to encapsulate Bali’s essence, MAAYAA’s design forms around tropical modernism. Perched in Anakkatti and embraced by the converging Siruvani and Bhavani Rivers, the building is set atop a cliff with river vistas. The resort’s core design objective is to amplify and preserve the surrounding scenery.
all images by Ishi Sitwala
fluid transition between the built and the land
With most of the construction situated below the entrance level, visitors descend to these spaces, greeted by shallow, expansive water bodies integrated into the roof slabs. This fluid transition through the entrance passage leads to the restaurant, where panoramic views of the river and distant mountains unfold.
The lower floors house banquet halls, conference rooms, and offices, while the lowest level boasts an infinity pool seamlessly blending with the landscape. The design team achieves a harmonious fusion between architecture and nature, creating an environment where boundaries blur between built and natural elements. The resort consists of two types of accommodations; standard rooms with river-view balconies, and independent cottages featuring plunge pools that overlook both the river and the hinterland. These structures follow the natural contours of the land, interconnected by passages and bridges at various levels, conveniently linked to the clubhouse and communal amenities. Drawing from Balinese architecture, the chosen materials and design vocabulary mirror the tropical retreat concept, paying homage to the region’s aesthetic.
the Balinese-themed getaway nestled within a lush palm plantation
MAAYAA’s design forms around the concept of tropical modernism
images © Stijn Bollaert | @stijn_bollaert
nature grows inside and out the residential renovation
the once-cluttered industrial building is opened up with full-height glass walls
