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Photo of Cerveny Kostel
CategoriesArchitecture

Atelier-r refreshes neo-gothic church with angular black extension

By Zarkon Group,
Photo of Cerveny Kostel

Czech studio Atelier-r has refreshed the Red Church in Olomouc, the Czech Republic, adding an angular matte-black extension and public spaces informed by neo-gothic design.

The renovated church, along with the added black volume, holds an information centre and cafe as well as an events venue designed to host small concerts and exhibitions.

Photo of Cerveny Kostel
The church was extended by Atelier-r

Built in 1902, the original church was closed to the public and has been used as a private storage space for the library next to the site for the past sixty years.

Despite its poor condition, Atelier-r aimed to open up the listed building for public use, opting to partially reconstruct the church and add an extension that reflects the existing structure’s neo-gothic style.

Exterior photo of Cerveny Kostel
The extension is an angular structure

“The building itself was preserved as a whole but in a very poor condition,” studio founder Miroslav Pospíšil told Dezeen. “We had to do a complete makeover with maximum effort to retain the original elements.”

“We designed the renovation with deep respect to the neo-gothic atmosphere of the place,” he added. “First, it was necessary to strengthen the foundations, mend the damp and salty masonry, repair the stucco and plaster, and tidy up and fill the gaps in the facade cladding,

“The floors were a complete redo, including the layers all the way down to the terrain base.”

Photo of the library at Cerveny Kostel
The extension contains a library

Due to damaged trusses, the studio entirely reconstructed the roof of the church, cladding it in copper squares that resemble the concrete tiles of the original roof.

Modern decorative elements created by local sculptor Jan Dostal were added to the roof to replace the original damaged features.

Photo of the church
The extension connects directly to the 20th-century church

“The original roof was clad in asbestos cement tiles, but it is a very fragile material and most of them were damaged by falling ice from the church tower,” said Pospíšil.

“So we decided to use copper tiles of the same size as the original ones,” he continued. “Copper’s colour changes gradually to a dark grey colour, which will be very similar to asbestos cement tiles in a couple of years.”

Inside the church, exposed brick structural elements stand out against white walls, while a large ring-shaped lighting fixture is suspended over rows of chairs. A raised platform at the end of the building holds a sculptural arrangement of staggered bookshelves.

To hold additional spaces, including a reception and a cafe, Atelier-r added a new structure between the church and library, connecting it to both existing buildings with glazed walkways.

Photo of the interior
The shape of the extension was informed by the form of the church

Surrounded by a patio area with outdoor seating, the building features a roof and walls made from black aluminium and has an angular form informed by the geometry of the church.

“The crystal-like mass of the annex responds to the neo-Gothic form of the church; it derives from its geometric shape, volume, and layout, ” said Pospíšil. “The floor plan is a cut-out of the part of the church floor plan, only moved outside of the original platform.”

Interior image of the library
The interior has a pink concrete floor

Entering through a glass door set within walls of full-height glazing, guests are met by a double-height cafe and reception space finished with a pastel pink concrete floor.

To one side of the room, a tall accent wall featuring shelves filled with old books acts as the centrepiece of the space, while a glass lighting fixture by Lambert & Fils hangs over the dining tables.

Photo of a reception desk
A reception desk was constructed from pink concrete

“The elegant and minimalist glass elements float in the air, suspended on the nylon ropes high above the visitors’ heads,” said the studio. “If you look at them from specific angles, they reflect the houses in the street or the church.”

At the back of the space, a pink concrete reception desk reflects the angular form of the building and sits beneath a bespoke lighting feature that follows the shape of the desk.

Photo of Cerveny Kostel
The interior was designed in collaboration with Denisa Strmiskova Studio

Designed in collaboration with local interior design practice Denisa Strmiskova Studio, the interior spaces across the new and existing building feature chairs made from walnut wood, as well as coffee tables that draw upon the traditional design of the church.

A storage space branches from the main hall, featuring a wall of black lockers and a cloakroom set behind a blocky pink counter.

An additional accent wall of shelves is arranged around the large opening to the space, providing further storage for the old books from the library.

Photo of the church
The original rooms of the church were renovated

Other renovated churches recently featured on Dezeen include a cathedral in Manhattan that Ennead Architects has refreshed with a copper dome and a community hub added to a 19th-century church.

The photography is by BoysPlayNice.

Reference

recessed angular frames form art house cinema's facade in france
CategoriesArchitecture

recessed angular frames form art house cinema’s facade in france

By Zarkon Group,
recessed angular frames form art house cinema's facade in france

L’Atalante art house cinema by Farid Azib in Bayonne

 

Paris-based architectural firm Farid Azib reconstructs L’Atalante art house cinema in the center of Bayonne, France, forming a contemporary white angular facade. Originally built in 1990, the edifice is located on the waterfront of Amiral-Antoine-Sala on the right bank of the Adour, just below the Saint-Esprit bridge leading to the city center. The refurbishment program demanded the conjunction of two cinemas adjoining one building and expanding the dedicated theater plan. Aiming for a design that retains the historical character of the site yet explores the possibilities of architectural modernity, the project shapes contrasting forms and materials displaying its dynamic frame in striking white color, standing out between the rest of the buildings on the embankment.

recessed angular frames form art house cinema's facade in france
L’Atalante art house cinema | all images by Luc Boegly

 

 

angular frames are a conceptual nod to the Seventh Art

 

Drawing from a conceptual take on windows and frames in connection to the Seventh Art, the design team at Farid Azib Architects focuses on the main feature of the facade’s openings to form the building’s external identity, sharing ‘the cinema facade is essential in enhancing our visibility with its openings on to the river and its uniqueness which makes it very cinematic-like’. 

 

The frames are exposed to the southwest allowing the light on each side to pass through both the interior and the exterior, regarding natural and artificial light respectively. ‘The facade stands all at once discreet and surprising, integrated and singular, asymmetrical, deconstructed and harmonious, angular and wise, soft and open’. The glass apertures project landscapes, movements, silhouettes, and lights like an ever-changing film scene underlined by the orientations of the different viewpoints. Thus the facade is made up of prismatic projecting volumes, created with light prefabricated elements forming an interaction between the interior and exterior space.

recessed angular frames form art house cinema's facade in france
the project sets up a contemporary white angular facade

 

 

The cinema hall undergoes specialized interior planning

 

The interior arrangement of the building consists of a new hall, a bar-restaurant, and cinema zones, combining the reception and dining area through a system of a wooden mesh on three levels channeling the flows and allowing the installation of access control points to the cinema halls. Two apartment units are housed within the plot of L’Atalante, setting sound protection as one of the major planning factors.

 

The transversal bar-restaurant forms the strategic link between the existing transformed spaces and the extension, shaping a long wooden counter made of oak wood sourced from the original building’s flooring construction. Thus, the cinema and music bar-restaurant rooms are designed as airtight boxes to avoid any sound leaks. Acoustic lining and independent double wall, double frame, uncoupled from the structure, as well as floors with independently treated slabs complement the protected framework. The restoration remodels the screening rooms providing expanded seating areas and larger projection screens. The structure opens toward the city and the riverbank shaping wide frames along with loggias and terraces.

L'Atalante art house cinema
recessed prismatic frames form the building’s external identity

Reference

Wooden interior of Foster Retreat
CategoriesInterior Design

Norman Foster creates angular Foster Retreat in Martha’s Vineyard

By Zarkon Group,
Wooden interior of Foster Retreat

Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Norman Foster has designed the Foster Retreat in Martha’s Vineyard as a holiday home for his friends and those of the Norman Foster Foundation, which features furniture designed by the architect for Karimoku.

Named the Foster Retreat, the mono-pitch roofed building in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, was built opposite Foster’s US home.

Wooden interior of Foster Retreat
The building draws on traditional wood structures

The home was formed from a series of angled steel beams that are connected by timber beams with smooth timber louvres enclosing an outdoor patio space.

According to Foster, the holiday home’s shape was informed by North American barn structures, with large amounts of timber chosen to reference Martha’s Vineyard’s traditional wood-boarded structures and its sustainability credentials.

A wood-clad interior in Martha's Vineyard house
Pale wood was used inside Foster Retreat

“The retreat takes inspiration from the generous wooden barn structures of North America and combines that tradition of timber construction with a small amount of steel in the form of skinny portal frames which touch the ground lightly,” said Foster, who is the founder of UK studio Foster + Partners.

“Wood was the obvious choice not only for reasons of sustainability but also as a direct reference to the traditional buildings that characterise the island.”

View out onto green grass from kitchen
The building has a visible grid

The site levels around Foster Retreat, which will be used as a private residence for friends of Foster’s family and of the Norman Foster Foundation, were contoured to hide the building from the roadside and situate it within the landscape.

The studio also added indigenous plants to the site, as well as a bank of solar panels that together with “a high level of insulation and shading” helps the building be more sustainable, according to Foster.

Wooden furniture with white seats
Norman Foster designed the NF Collection for Karimoku

Inside the building, the holiday home has white walls with pale wood panels and wooden floors.

To match the pared-back material palette of the house’s exterior and interior, Foster designed a wooden furniture collection named NF Collection together with Japanese furniture brand Karimoku.

The collection comprises a dining chair, two stools, a lounge chair, a sofa, and a dining table, all of which feature pale “skeletal” timber frames and padded upholstery.

“The wood-based furniture I designed for Karimoku is an extension of the philosophy behind the building,” Foster explained.

“lt has always seemed to me that there is a commonality between the American Shaker Movement and traditional Japanese furniture. Given my own admiration for the qualities of historic Japanese architecture, there are evident cultural links.”

White dining table with wooden chairs
The furniture has skeletal frames and white padding. Photo is by Chuck Choi

The collection was developed as Foster had trouble finding suitable furniture for the space.

“When we started to think about what type of furniture could best fit in the spaces created in the Foster Retreat, Martha’s Vineyard, we realised that there was no single specific collection in existence that could be used for the different uses of the building, so I decided to develop a bespoke family of furniture,” Foster explained.

“Timber was a natural choice to match the spirit of the building.”

Living room with wooden furniture and white rug
Foster Retreat was designed as a private residence

Foster Retreat is Karimoku’s seventh case study project, which sees the studio work together with architects on bespoke furniture collections.

“I see the collaboration with NF as an important step for us as a brand – not only do we venture into a new area with the case at Martha’s Vineyard, but we also show how the brand can accomodate a more diverse furniture collection, showcasing the unique design languages of the individual studios, yet still maintaining a red thread throughout the collection in the use of materials, excellent craftsmanship and high quality,” Karimoku creative director Frederik Werner told Dezeen.

White sofa in front of fireplace
The collection marks Karimoku’s seventh case study. Photo is by Chuck Choi

The NF Collection will also be shown in an exhibition at Karimoku Commons in Tokyo, the brand’s retail and showroom space. Karimoku was one of a number of Japanese brands that showed at this year’s Salone del Mobile furniture fair as the focus on the European market grows.

One of the world’s best-known architects, Foster leads the UK’s largest studio Foster + Partners. The studio’s recent projects include 425 Park Avenue, which is the “first full-block office building” to be built on Park Avenue in over 50 years, and the tallest building in the EU, the Varso Tower in Warsaw.

The photography is by Marc Fairstein unless stated otherwise. All photography courtesy of the Norman Foster Foundation.

The Norman Foster x Karimoku exhibition is at Karimoku Commons from 21 October to 9 December. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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