Interiors practice Sundholm Studio has refreshed the 30-year-old Nanas restaurant in Durham, North Carolina, with strong colours, bespoke timber joinery and metalwork.
Previously named Nana’s, the restaurant was renamed Nanas, in tribute to “not one nana, but rather the entire genre,” Sundholm Studio creative director Shaun Sundholm told Dezeen.
The space – intended to capture the hospitable “spirit of grandmothers” – comprises a bar, salon, dining room and an outdoor patio.
Navy fluted walls form the backdrop to the salon
Sundholm’s aim was to update the space with “modern details that bring the outside in”.
The existing curved walls in the entryway were retained and reworked with wooden slats, which light passes through to evoke “a walk through the woods”.
Wooden window blinds and sheer drapes in the dining room help with acoustic absorption and adjusting the natural light levels.
The seating is a mixture of banquette booths and chairs
The dimly lit entrance was contrasted with the bar, dining area and salon, where jewel-toned colours like emerald green, sapphire blue, and rich amber orange have been used.
“I aimed to pay homage to aspects of the previous design where possible, accentuating some of the interesting bits of the existing physical space, such as the curved wall at the entrance and the hints of orange throughout – recalling the bright, blaze orange walls of the past,” Sundholm explained.
In line with the jewel-toned colour palette, Sundholm selected a variety of textures to use across the restaurant, including glossy green handmade Italian tiles and brass finishes.
Blue velvet upholstery covers the banquettes in the bar, while “vintage luggage” orange leather covers the banquettes in the salon and dining area.
The dark entrance leads into a curved passage, through to the dining room
Brass archways designed by local metal art studio Andrew Preiss Designs feature across the restaurant, including as a portal between the salon and dining area. This arch motif is echoed in the bathroom mirrors.
Earth-toned grasscloth wallpaper and a plaid-patterned carpet contrast the solid colours and textures.
“For this restaurant, our initial mood boards culled from a diverse range – from The Golden Girls and vintage Ralph Lauren textiles to 1970s Cadillacs and abstract impressionist art inspired by the Smoky Mountains,” Sundholm said.
Bold colour is used for the restaurant seating
The studio’s goal was to “distill these inspirations into their core elements” and use them to inform the interiors in a “non-gimmicky” way.
A collection of mixed-media artworks by local artist Jason Craighead featured across the restaurant add to this aesthetic.
Tartan carpet introduces a pattered counterpoint to the block colours
Other recently renovated restaurants featured on Dezeen include Aino and Alvar Aalto’s Savoy restaurant in Helsinki restored after 80 years and The Bird in Montauk designed by Home Studios.
Spotted: Today, the maritime sector accounts for just under three per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and for many businesses, supply chain and logistics account for a significant proportion of the company’s overall carbon footprint.
Shipping remains overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels, with alternative power sources, such as ammonia and batteries, at an early stage of development. In the meantime, innovators are helping companies better understand the carbon impact of their shipments and make smarter decisions about route planning. One of these is German startup Searoutes.
Using a wide range of data inputs, such as satellite and terrestrial AIS data, technical information about different vessels, and analysis of different fuel types, the company’s algorithms go beyond traditional methodologies to accurately calculate the CO2 emissions caused by individual shipments. This information is delivered to the user in the form of detailed certificates, which can cover one shipment or multiple.
Meanwhile, the company’s powerful routing engine enables companies to calculate the most efficient routes for shipments, both at sea and on land, taking into account CO2 emissions as well as other mission-critical factors, such as time of arrival and fuel costs. It can do this thanks to the software’s ability to accurately calculate sea distances, allowing for traffic separation schemes and the avoidance of particular areas, such as those prone to piracy.
Finally, the startup’s technology enables companies to have access to rich real-time data about the vessels in their fleet, including details such as distance to the next port of call and time of arrival.
Springwise has spotted other innovations working to make logistics and supply chains greener and more efficient, including an on-board wave power generator and smart packaging.
The United Nations estimates that the world will add about 2.6 trillion sqft of new floor area to the global building stock. This equates to adding an entire New York City, every month, for 40 years. A large proportion will be housing. Specifically, housing is needed in already dense urban areas and existing structures. So the way we build and maintain our housing stock needs to change drastically.
Renovating existing and functional buildings takes time. Yet the US has 44 million multifamily units. A full 50% were built before 1980.
Rehabilitating vacant and obsolete buildings seems cost prohibitive. Yet, the US has 6 billion sqft of commercial real estate sitting vacant.
New construction has improved in energy efficiency. But current designs do not sufficiently address the need for easy maintenance and future rehabilitation.
How can these time and cost challenges be solved? By creating standardized, simpler processes.
Simpler means faster
Kit Switch, a California-based, women-owned construction business, offers a simple approach to designing and constructing apartment interiors. Kit Switch replaces fragmented, uncertain, and time-consuming on-site retrofit processes with an end-to-end, design-build solution. These modular systems for apartment interiors streamline existing building rehabilitations and new construction build-outs.
Rehabilitating and retrofitting existing residential buildings will significantly reduce ongoing emissions. This will include replacing inefficient and gas-powered appliances with electric ones and making homes more energy efficient through weatherization and other upgrades. The overall mission of Kit Switch is to help close the housing gap through sustainable building reuse.
The products are kits-of-parts, ready-to-install apartment interiors, such as kitchen and bathroom kits. The company manages a digital library of components. Architects drag-and-drop 3D models to instantly generate layouts and quotes. Local manufacturers produce the modules concurrently with on-site work. Then contractors install and connect products in a few hours instead of weeks of site coordination.
Kit Switch benefits housing, both new construction and rehabs:
streamlines schedules from design through coordination and construction
cuts on costs, especially on prevailing-wage projects
offers a more sustainable and durable alternative to traditional interior builds
With durable materials and low-waste assembly, they expect to reduce embodied carbon by a third, compared to traditional on-site construction.
Kitchens first
Kit-Kitchen is the first product to debut. It comprises three standard products: Kit-Cook, Kit-Clean, and Kit-Store. This modular system for kitchen installations is assembled on-site in less than 1 day, compared to 4 to 5 days of labor for a traditional install. The innovative design consolidates plug-and-play electrical and plumbing systems inside the kits. This further reduces drywall, plumbing, and electrical work.
And while Kit Switch products are standard, the system is modular. So developers can customize the design needed for each project.
Kit Switch was formed as a public-benefit corporation, with a mission statement around affordability, sustainability, and opportunity. Co-Founders Armelle Coutant and Candice Delamarre envision a future where cities can achieve greater circularity and resiliency. Easily deployable and reconfigurable building interiors better meet the housing needs of communities.
Kit Switch is partnering with affordable housing developers across California to support ground-up and acquisition-rehab projects. Asset managers seek out Kit Switch to meet renovation and maintenance needs. The potential impact for the Los Angeles region was recently recognized with the Trailblazer Award from USGBC-LA.
USGBC-LA Net Zero Accelerator
Kit Switch joined the 2023 cohort of Net Zero Accelerator (NZA) in 2022. Since then, the team has exhibited at the MyGBCE conference, Net Zero Conference, and VERGE, sharing their work with the green building industry and generating leads for pilot projects based in the Los Angeles area.
The NZA, a program of the U.S. Green Building Council–Los Angeles (USGBC-LA), pairs cohort members with expert advisors, promotes their solutions to high value prospects, and places pilot projects. The goal is to help these growing companies better prepare for scaled adoption.
Since its founding in 2018, the accelerator has guided the success of 85 growth-stage companies in the cleantech space across the US and Canada. The accelerator leverages the insights, expertise, and relationships of partners and community members to speed the development and commercialization of sustainable innovations. The program brings thought leadership and broad awareness to high-potential pilot projects. It is the only one of its kind focused on the built environment. Targeting solutions for net zero carbon, energy, water, and waste, the program advances building decarbonization, occupant wellness, sustainable infrastructure, and clean construction.
The author:
Candice Delamarre is the Co-Founder and COO of Kit Switch, a women-owned construction company that has developed a modularized system for apartment interiors. Kit Switch streamlines schedules, cuts costs, and improves durability for multifamily housing developments and rehabilitations. Delamarre has long been passionate about circular and sustainable practices, and equitable access to housing. Before Kit Switch, she worked as a strategy and sustainability consultant to real estate and corporate stakeholders. Delamarre holds a master’s in civil engineering from École Centrale Paris and a master’s in Sustainable Design & Construction from Stanford University.
Our team researches products, companies, studies, and techniques to bring you the best of zero building. Zero Energy Project does not independently verify the accuracy of all claims regarding featured products, manufacturers, or linked articles. Additionally, product and brand mentions on Zero Energy Project do not imply endorsement or sponsorship unless specified otherwise.
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From Vaxholm to Geiranger, the Westfjords to Lapland, the countries categorized as Nordic are vast and varied. In Northern Europe, untamed, rugged terrain is plentiful, as are lush boreal forests and the glittering Aurora Borealis. In this part of the world, the environment is in constant battle with itself. Scenic fjords and crystalline lakes freeze and thaw throughout the year while the winters dark and the summers light fight for total dominance. Here, life and death hang in the balance of a few degrees. It is a place where beauty and brutality coexist, resulting in a landscape that is as stark as it is stunning.
When we think of Nordic Noir, we think of television and cinema with complex existential themes, where justice, morality and the human condition are succinctly layered with melancholy and introspection. Thrillers and crime dramas are the heart of the genre. However, more than the gripping narratives of unlikely detectives and elaborate dragon tattoos, it is the distinct aesthetic found in the northern regions that feature in Nordic Noir that often plays such a crucial role in storytelling. The opposing characteristics found in both urban and rural settings across these nations are unique and exhilarating; the extremes of light and shadow on bleak, icy landscapes provide wonderful contradictions that create atmospheric tension that is perfect for enthralling mysteries.
Unsurprisingly, It’s not only cinematographers who have taken note of the beauty that lies in the striking duality of the Nordic region. Architects, too, have been exploring how these extreme yet beautiful landscapes can offer the perfect backdrop for breathtaking buildings that are rich in contrast and emotion. These five examples expertly highlight how architecture is as much about its environment as it is about its composition.
Tungestølen Tourist Cabin
By Snøhetta, Veitastrond, Norway
Tungestølen Tourist Cabin by Snøhetta, Veitastrond, Norway. Photographs by Jan M. Lillebø and Ketil Jacobsen
Nordic architecture and Snøhetta go hand in hand. The visionary firm is local to the region and are experts in crafting buildings that honor and complement this challenging landscape. In the aftermath of Cyclone Dagmar in 2011, the Tungestølen Tourist Cabin, a cherished spot for glacier hikers in Norway, was destroyed. Thanks to diligent fundraising, the popular spot has been reborn from the devastation through the collective will of Luster Turlag and the Veitastrond community.
Snøhetta’s winning design reimagines the refuge with a series of modern pentagonal and oblique cabins that stand in vivid contrast to the wild, natural landscape surrounding them. The cabins, featuring robust wooden frames and panoramic windows, marry minimalist interiors with the dramatic landscape beyond, bringing the Nordic Noir sensibility of stark beauty and atmospheric tension to the place of respite while creating a haven for people of all ages and hiking experiences.
Project Ö
By Aleksi Hautamaki and Milla Selkimaki, Kemiönsaari, Finland
Project Ö by Aleksi Hautamaki and Milla Selkimaki, Kemiönsaari, Finland. Photographs by Archmospheres
Project Ö, where “Ö” means ‘an island’ in Swedish, sits on the edge of the Archipelago National Park. This 5-acre island has been transformed into a self-sufficient retreat that marries traditional Finnish aesthetics with the thoughtful minimalism characteristic of Nordic Noir. The main cabin and sauna, alongside a workshop, pay homage to their heritage through gabled roofs, extended eaves and vertical cladding while embracing modernity with large windows that frame the surrounding natural beauty.
The vision was to have all things necessary with as little space as possible. All individual spaces have been designed to be as compact as possible without compromising functionality and comfort. The two buildings are just 70 square meters in total, yet they comfortably sleep ten adults if required. By harnessing solar power and utilizing filtered seawater, the island is totally self-sufficient, becoming a shining example of the possibility of sustainable lifestyles even in the harshest environments.
Manshausen 2.0
By Snorre Stinessen Architecture, Steigen, Norway
Manshausen 2.0 by Snorre Stinessen Architecture, Steigen, Norway Photographs by Adrien Giret.
The frozen waters in the Steigen Archipelago are a place where the warmth of human habitat contrasts with the brisk natural world. Manshausen 2.0, an extension of the Manshausen Island Resort, introduces cabins and a sauna that harmonize with the breathtaking landscape that was historically a trading post for the fishing industry.
Each of the cabins, inspired by Finnish design, had to be built a certain height above the water to protect against high tide and predicted sea level rise. The structures are elevated on iron rods drilled into the rock and anchored with steel reclaimed from the island. The cabins utilize durable materials like aluminum cladding that is excellent at resisting the salinity of sea air. They are crafted to withstand the extreme weather conditions of their surroundings.
While guest hunker down indoors, the cabin’s long, narrow structure allows for expansive windows that capture the changeable rugged landscape. A welcome feature against the warm, minimalist interiors. This extreme contrast is part of the appeal at Manshausen, offering a heightened experience to guests who are continuously engaged with the changing landscape while cocooned safely in the cozy cabin.
House on a Meadow
By PAVE Architects, Finland
House on a Meadow by PAVE Architects, Finland
The House on the Meadow reflects the industrial spirit of its surroundings. The unusual building was once an old horse farm, and its rural position was once the backdrop of the owner’s childhood farm work. The plot is bordered on all sides by a field and meadow landscape, giving it a strong feeling of solidarity when blanketed with snow. Yet, there is a gracefulness in the narrowness of the three buildings that make up the property, and the façade materials make the main house simple and almost elegant — plastered down each long face and slender corten steel plates to each end.
Inside, the home is modern and sophisticated, with a simple pallet of black, white and darkened timber. Light plays a pivotal role within the House on the Meadow. Northeast-southwest view axes, particularly prominent in the kitchen-living room space, harness natural light to create ambiance and the brightness and shadow within the building shift with the day and are emphasized by the contrasting color pallet.
Skjern Å
By Johansen Skovsted, Skjern, Denmark
Skjern Å by Johansen Skovsted, Skjern, Denmark. Photographs by Architekturfotograf Rasmus Norlander
Johansen Skovsted architects transformed functional structures into storytelling monuments. The remodeled trio of pumping stations in West Jutland reflect their complex environmental and historical context.
Johansen Skovsted’s approach to the renovation respects the original purpose of these buildings—industrial structures designed for machinery rather than human habitation—while introducing a human-centric tactility and a sense of place. In adapting these pumping stations, the architects embraced the character and history of the site, opting for a design that blends seamlessly with the valley. Instead of imposing modernity, they sought continuity, allowing the buildings to continue to tell their story. The extensions and the new interior building elements are mainly simple wooden constructions and reiterate the dimensions and rhythm of the original pump stations’ concrete relief to comfortably merge with their surroundings.
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London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has launched its Tropical Modernism exhibition, which highlights the architectural movement’s evolution from colonial import to a “tool of nation building”.
According to the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), the exhibition aims to examine the complex context, power dynamics and post-colonial legacy of tropical modernism – an architectural style that developed in South Asia and West Africa in the late 1940s – while also centralising and celebrating its hidden figures.
London’s V&A museum has opened a major exhibition exploring tropical modernism
“Tropical modernism is experiencing something of a modish revival as an exotic and escapist style popular in verdant luxury hotels, bars and concrete jungle houses,” the exhibition’s lead curator Christopher Turner told Dezeen.
“But it has a problematic history and, through an examination of the context of British imperialism and the de-colonial struggle, the exhibition seeks to look at the history of tropical modernism before and after Independence, and show something of the politics behind the concrete,” he continued.
The exhibition traces the evolution of tropical modernism within a South Asian and West African context
The exhibition follows the V&A’s Tropical Modernism exhibition at the 2023 Venice Biennale, which revealed the team’s precursory research on tropical modernism in a West African setting.
For the in-house iteration of the exhibition, additional architectural models, drawings and archival imagery have been introduced to interrogate tropical modernism in India alongside the African perspective.
Exhibition materials line a series of rooms within the V&A’s Porter Gallery, divided by brightly coloured partitions and louvred walls referencing tropical modernist motifs.
Archival imagery, architectural drawings and physical models line the gallery rooms
The exhibition begins by tracing tropical modernism back to its early development by British architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. Stationed together in Ghana from 1944, Drew and Fry adapted international modernism to the African climate, proposing functional over ornamental design.
Drew and Fry would also become part of the Department of Tropical Studies at the Architectural Association (AA), which exported British architects to the colonies from 1954 in a bid to neutralise calls for independence.
The exhibition aims to centralise local professionals who have gone widely unrecognised for their contributions to the movement
The exhibition continues by spotlighting local Ghanaian figures who worked with Fry and Drew, noting the power shifts that were taking place behind the scenes to reappropriate the architectural style for an emerging era of colonial freedom.
Influential political leaders Jawaharlal Nehru in India and Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana are the exhibition’s key personas, framing the evolution of tropical modernism from conception to regionalisation.
Gallery rooms are divided by brightly coloured partitions informed by tropical modernist motifs
“The heroes of our exhibition are Nehru and Nkrumah, the first prime ministers of India and Ghana,” Turner explained. “Tropical modernism, a colonial invention, survived the transition to Independence and was appropriated and adapted by Nehru and Nkrumah as a tool of nation building.”
“Nkrumah, who sometimes sketched designs for the buildings he wanted on napkins, created the first architecture school in sub-Saharan Africa to train a new generation of African architects, and this institution has partnered with us on a five-year research project into tropical modernism.”
According to the V&A’s research, tropical modernism shifted from its western Bauhaus roots towards a localised vernacular styles
Through a host of physical models and artefacts, the city of Chandigarh becomes the exhibition’s narrative focal point for tropical modernism in India.
Under prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Chandigarh was the first large-scale modernist project, recruiting Drew and Fry along with French architect Le Corbusier to plan the ideal utopian urban centre.
As with Nkrumah – who saw how the Africanisation of architecture could become a symbol of progress and change – the exhibition also aims to highlight Nehru’s ambitions for a localised modernism drawing from the Indian vernacular, rather than the Western Bauhaus style.
The display culminates in a video featuring 16 key tropical modernist structures, interspersed with interviews and footage explaining the social and political context behind each building’s realisation.
“We made a three-screen 28-minute film, shot in Ghana and featuring panoramic portraits of over a dozen buildings, cut with archive footage from the time and interviews with architects like John Owusu Addo and Henry Wellington, and Nkrumah’s daughter, the politician Samia Nkrumah,” said Turner.
The exhibition aims to address gaps in the museum’s African and South Asian studies
According to Turner, the exhibition begins to address gaps in the V&A’s collections and archives pertaining to architecture and design in the global south.
“Archives are themselves instruments of power, and West African and Indian architects are not as prominent in established archives, which many institutions have now realised and are working to address,” Turner explained.
“Tropical modernism was very much a co-creation with local architects who we have sought to name – all of whom should be much better known, but are excluded from established canons.”
The display will inhabit the V&A’s Porter Gallery until 22 September 2024
Bringing tropical modernism back into contemporary discourse was also important to the V&A as a timely investigation of low-tech and passive design strategies.
“Tropical modernism was a climate responsive architecture – it sought to work with rather than against climate,” Turner said.
“As we face an era of climate change, it is important that tropical modernism’s scientifically informed principles of passive cooling are reexamined and reinvented for our age,” he added.
“I hope that people will be interested to learn more about these moments of post-colonial excitement and opportunity, and the struggle by which these hard-earned freedoms were won.”
A 28-minute video captures footage of remaining tropical modernist structures at the end of the exhibition
The V&A museum in South Kensington houses permanent national collections alongside a series of temporary activations and exhibitions.
As part of London Design Festival 2023, the museum hosted a furniture display crafted from an Alfa Romeo car by Andu Masebo and earlier in the year, architect Shahed Saleem created a pavilion in the shape of a mosque at the V&A as part of 2023’s Ramadan Festival.
The photography is courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence will run from 2 March to 22 September 2024 at the V&A Museum in London. For more events, exhibitions and talks in architecture and design visit the Dezeen Events Guide.
We sat down with the award-winning climate reporter Akshat Rathi to get a peep behind the curtain of his popular podcast, and came away with three lessons for effective climate communication.
Akshat Rathi is a senior climate reporter at Bloomberg News and the presenter of the organisation’s climate podcast, Zero: The Climate Race, where he discusses the challenges and opportunities on the road to net zero with CEOs, founders and climate tech entrepreneurs, politicians, and heads of international organisations. He is also the author of Climate Capitalism: Winning the Global Race to Zero Emissions. In the current environment, where disinformation is rife and audiences are growing tired of ‘green’ messaging, it’s a challenge for individuals and companies trying to make a positive impact on the planet to be heard – but not impossible if you bear three key things in mind.
1. Getting climate communication right means knowing your subject
As well as a host of awards for his journalism, Akshat Rathi holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Oxford, so he has a grip on how carbon-containing compounds behave. Journalism allows him to share knowledge and bring complex concepts to life for others. “I like to see things as they are and understand them,” he says. “It’s not my job to tell people what to do, but climate communication is important.”
Not least to counter the pervading ‘doomsday narrative’ that dominates discourse around climate change. “We overestimate how poorly we are doing but underestimate the impact if we don’t succeed.”
Negative messaging has an impact. A recent study by Euromonitor International found that “[Consumers] are tuning out messages that place the burden on their behaviour. Instead, they want organisations to step up and show proof of their eco pledges.” More broadly, the 2024 findings of the annual Edelman Trust Barometer show a worrying decline in trust in public institutions, including government and the media, with CEOs most trusted – but only just – to lead on bringing innovation to society. In terms of the case for climate action, Akshat regularly meets CEOs, politicians, and heads of international organisations, who all understand the need for change but whose organisations don’t seem to be engaged in any kind of action.
“The individuals who stand out are the ones who can articulate why things haven’t moved, point to the barriers, and show what they are doing to overcome those. Once you are at the level of CEO, you are typically doing all sorts of things and climate is just one part of it. A good test if someone actually cares about the climate is if they can talk to a climate reporter about their grasp of the subject and if they are able to articulate beyond the talking points a comms person has given them.”
2. Candour cuts through
It’s worth noting that if a CEO has made it onto the Zero podcast, they know their stuff. “I weed out the ones who don’t.” Outside of senior executives, Akshat has notched up an impressive list of interviewees – recent episodes feature the hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer and the former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Christiana Figueres. And while at COP28 in Dubai, former US Vice President Al Gore stepped up to the plate and managed to surprise his host with his honesty.
“He’s the big guy – Al Gore has been in the game of communicating climate stuff since forever and I’m usually a little reticent about an interview with someone if they already have a platform. But then he dropped a bomb and had a huge rant against big oil which hadn’t happened for a while.”
Ahead of the COP28 summit, Al Gore did not hold back his criticism of the decision to host the event in the United Arab Emirates and led Akshat to feel that he might have even more to say. “So, it felt like good timing to speak with him and we ended up getting him to talk about how he wants to move away from the required UN consensus on decision-making at COP summits and how he is working on that.”
3. Talk about the problems and the solutions
Akshat’s recent book, Climate Capitalism, considers the climate emergency through the stories of 10 individuals who have proved that the “green economy is not just possible, but profitable”. The roll call of those featured in the book includes Wan Gang, former Minister for Science and Technology in China and founder of the country’s EV industry; CEO of Occidential Petroleum Vicki Hollub; Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol; and philanthropist and former CEO of Microsoft Bill Gates. Each story illustrates either the innovations pioneered by these people, or the strategies they have implemented that have already had a tangible impact on emissions. As he says in the book, “Our age will be defined by the climate emergency. But contrary to the doomist narrative that’s taken hold, the world has already begun deploying the solutions needed to deal with it.”
Akshat’s takeaways from davos
When we spoke, Akshat had recently returned from The World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. “Climate is still on people’s minds, but it’s down on the priority list, which is understandable given the political situation. There was a lot of conversation around co-benefits in order to keep climate a priority, such as how can you combine health and climate, or energy costs and climate.
“One key announcement came via the WEF and the consultancy Bain regarding the First Movers Coalition, which started off focused on hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel and aviation, and is going to expand into food, nature, agriculture, and green procurement for regenerative agriculture products.”
Find Zero: The Climate Race on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you usually listen. To order a copy of Climate Capitalism, which is out now, follow this https://akshatrathi.com/book.
designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
Sculptural custom-made furniture adds artistic flourishes to this otherwise minimal showroom and head office, designed by Spanish interiors studio Isern Serra for eyewear brand Gigi Studios.
Isern Serra was tasked with creating a holistic scheme for the 900-square-metre headquarters, occupying one floor of a building in the town of Sant Cugat del Vallès just north of Barcelona.
Isern Serra has filled the Gigi Studios headquarters with custom furniture
The brief called for a design that creates a sense of spaciousness and comfort while reflecting founder Patricia Remo’s vision of Gigi Studios as a brand.
“It is also serene, warm and elegant and conceptually close to the idea of a studio and away from the concept of a traditional office, without losing the practicality and functionality,” Isern Serra explained.
Rows of desks were replaced with more intimate work areas
The building’s rectangular floor plan features a central service core housing the lifts and toilets, with the workspaces, meeting rooms, kitchen and showroom occupying the surrounding O-shaped open space.
Serra and his team positioned the kitchen and showroom at one end of the plan and placed the meeting rooms and client areas at the other, leaving the longer sides open to optimise circulation.
Concrete bases for the work tables were cast in situ
Various bespoke furniture pieces, conceived by Isern Serra as “small works of art”, bring a distinct personality to the different formal and informal spaces.
These interventions were designed to embody Gigi Studios’ design ethos while standing out against the warm and minimal backdrop.
“The project aims to experiment with the limits of the workspace and seek a new concept that goes hand in hand with the idea of domus and museum,” Isern Serra explained.
Curtains can be used to cordon off the lounge area
A large circular sofa framed in stainless steel provides a bold statement in one of the reception areas.
The sculptural piece fulfils a dual function as a seating area and a space for working, with tables and book storage integrated into the backrest around the perimeter.
Similarly, the building’s central core is wrapped in a layer of built-in storage units including circular stainless-steel niches that incorporate shelves for displaying books and materials.
Rather than a typical office layout with rows of workstations, the large open spaces are separated into more intimate zones with a more domestic scale.
A Boa Pouf by Sabine Marcelis provides informal seating
Next to the lobby is a design area featuring tables made from concrete that was cast in situ. Task seating surrounds the work table and a taller table is accompanied by stools, while lenses for the different glasses are stored in a custom-made unit.
The second workspace features a large C-shaped sofa with a concrete base that was also cast in situ. Custom-made tables and one of Sabine Marcelis’s Boa Poufs complete this lounge-style space, which can be visually separated from the rest of the office using curtains on either side.
The showroom is visible from the office through a circular window
A circular window with rounded edges provides a glimpse of the showroom, which is dominated by two sculptural tables with concrete tops supported by rough chunks of travertine stone.
A built-in tiered display is used to highlight different Gigi Studios’ eyewear. The rest of the collection is housed in a backlit cabinet, while a mirror-fronted unit conceals a large screen used for presentations.
The kitchen is located next to the showroom so that the two spaces can easily be used together for events. Here, a homely, Mediterranean feel is created via a five-metre-long sharing table, custom-made alongside the accompanying stools.
Display tables in the showroom are held up by rough chunks of travertine
The sizeable kitchen island is finished in micro-cement and features a curved base that enhances its sculptural presence.
A curved corridor incorporating a sofa niche on one wall provides access to offices and a meeting room positioned to have the best views of the surrounding countryside.
Internal columns are used to support one end of concrete tables built in each of the workspaces, furnished with classic designs including Marcel Breuer’s Wassily and Cesca chairs.
Large sharing tables allow for communal eating in the kitchen
Interior designer Isern Serra founded his self-titled studio in Barcelona in 2008 and works across architecture, interiors and industrial design.
Previous projects including a rose-coloured shop for Barcelona’s Moco Museum that was based on a computer-generated image and a minimalist office for digital artist Andrés Reisinger, which was named small workplace interior of the year at the 2023 Dezeen Awards.
The photography is by Salva López with art direction by Aasheen Mittal.
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 Superdupertube is a modern take on the Supertube lamp
“[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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
Spotted: It’s estimated that up to 50 per cent of all plastic produced every year is single-use, meaning it’s only needed for a few moments before being thrown away. In a bid to cut that figure, in 2021 the EU implemented a ban on various single-use plastics, including cutlery. This ban has since created a big gap in the market for sustainable, disposable cutlery. French startup Koovee is working to fill that gap.
Koovee has developed edible cutlery designed to replace all types of single-use plastic utensils. The edible forks and spoons are made from a mix of flour, rapeseed oil, salt, and natural flavours, and have the taste and texture of crackers. Customers can purchase various flavours of the cutlery: natural, almond, and Herbs de Provence. To improve the sustainability of the cutlery further, Marseille-based Koovee also sources its flour from French wheat.
The edible utensils can last more than five minutes when completely submerged in 70 degrees Celsius water, so can be used for soup and other hot foods. Koovee was developed by ecologist and Sciences Po graduate Tiphaine Guerout, who told Springwise that the utensils are “organic, yummy, and sturdy enough for any type of meal.”
The cutlery was developed with the help of financing provided by the French Bank of Public Investment (Bpifrance) and the company also raised €500,000 in an angel round of funding in 2022. Koovee currently produces more than 7,000 pieces of cutlery a day and has a number of commercial customers. Guerout told Springwise that the company hopes to scale in Europe to provide Koovee to “every restaurant and supermarket.”
A number of other recent innovations spotted by Springwise are also working to eliminate single-use plastic, including packaging made from milk proteins and sustainable straws made from sedge grass.
