historic Archives

Interiors studio Barde vanVoltt has renovated this early 1900s house in the Dutch city of Haarlem to forge a strong connection between the building’s past and present, grounding the space with warm woods and tactile textures.

The owners – a young family of four – wanted a home that would stand the test of time while telling Dutch practice Barde vanVoltt to “surprise us”.

In answer, the studio worked to create an interior that fuses the past and the present.

“Stepping into this house is a journey through time, a reminder that architecture is a dialogue between generations,” the studio told Dezeen.

“Meticulously preserving its historical charm, the house’s design seamlessly integrates contemporary features, creating a harmonious blend that transcends eras.”

Extension of Haarlem House — The studio added an extension to the rear of the home

To address the narrow footprint of the house – a typically Dutch feature – internal walls were either removed, widened or replaced with glass panel doors.

The back of the property was transformed with an extension and concertina glass doors to maximize the sense of light and space.

Kitchen of Dutch home by Barde vanVoltt — The extension houses the kitchen and dining area

“With the extension on the ground floor, we wanted to create contrast with the original architecture,” said Barde vanVoltt. “The understated square modern architecture, due to its shape and angular position, blends perfectly with the past.”

“With the historic facade at the front, we took advantage of the space at the rear, extending the kitchen and living areas into the garden.”

Living room of Haarlem House — A vintage sandstone table centres the living room

The practice carefully aligned the new design elements with shapes drawn from the architectural features of the house, with the new full-height door openings echoing the proportions of the living room’s original windows.

In the attic, a guest room doubles as a playroom. Barde vanVoltt infused this once-dark space with natural light via a skylight, “allowing guests to sleep under the stars”.

Hallway with stained glass windows inside Haarlem House — Barde vanVoltt retained Haarlem House’s original stained glass windows

“Dutch houses are noted for their sloping attic roof lines,” the studio said. “For the children’s bedrooms, we followed this structural line and created custom bunk beds that combine sleep, storage, and space for play.”

The material palette includes a range of mid- and dark-toned timbers that bring a sense of warmth and tactility to the home.

These are complemented by natural materials including stone and linen.

“Our colour scheme always consists of earthy colours like moss green, a faded terracotta, grey concrete and off-whites,” the studio said. “For this residence, we brought them in line with the original colours from the existing tiles and stained glass.”

Children's bedroom inside Dutch home by Barde vanVoltt — Custom bunk beds feature in the children’s bedrooms

The furniture edit features Barde vanVoltt’s favoured mix of statement pieces alongside handmade and bespoke elements.

Selected pieces reflect the architectural style of the building such as the Lot table by Tecta in the study, as well as Gerrit Thomas Rietveld’s 1934 Zig Zag chair and his Steltman chair from 1963, which was the last chair ever created by the Dutch designer.

The playroom, dining area and bedroom all have specially-made seating upholstered in Kvadrat fabrics, while the bedrooms and study feature bespoke beds and closets.

Bathroom inside Dutch home by Barde vanVoltt — Wooden blinds mirror the linear pattern of the bathroom tiles

“We love creating interiors full of handmade, bespoke furniture pieces with refined details,” said Barde vanVoltt. “The headboard of the master bedroom is an art piece in itself. The walnut slats are slightly curved and give it a very sophisticated look.”

The square coffee table in the living room – made from a single piece of sandstone – is a vintage piece from Atelier Uma.

Bedroom inside Haarlem House — Barde vanVoltt created a custom headboard in the primary bedroom

For the lighting scheme, Barde vanVoltt set out to create the right balance between functional and decorative lighting, collaborating with lighting experts PSLab to create a “warm and cosy atmosphere.”

Other Dutch homes that have recently been featured on Dezeen include a house with a hexagonal footprint in Amsterdam and a Hobbit-style residence that is partially buried underground.

The photography is by Thomas de Bruyne.

Reference

Interior Design

Modernist architecture informs Bottega Veneta store in historic galleria

By Zarkon Group,07/02/2024

Fashion house Bottega Veneta has opened a boutique designed by its creative director Matthieu Blazy inside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade in Milan.

Bottega Veneta‘s two-storey store is distinguished by three primary materials: glass, Italian walnut and green Verde Saint Denis marble.

This trifecta is applied in strict grids to evoke Italian modernism and provide an organising principle in the various rooms.

“There are different experiences of space in the store,” said Blazy. “I wanted to express the idea of a domestic interior referring to Italian modernist architecture that contrasts with the aesthetic of a spaceship and to capture the intimacy and the imagination of getting dressed.”

Fashion store with glass-block walls and ceiling, and green marble flooring — Grids are used throughout the store to organise materials

From the galleria, shoppers are greeted by a dramatic spiral staircase made entirely from Italian walnut – a material used throughout the interior as panelling, modular shelving and furniture.

Green marble is laid in squares across the floors, separated by strips of walnut and occasionally swapped for larger patches of dark green wool carpet.

Room with squares of glass blocks across the walls and ceiling — Glass blocks are integrated into the walls and ceilings

Square glass blocks are similarly arranged into grids across walls and ceilings, illuminated from behind to produce a soft warm glow throughout the store.

Green leather chairs and benches are accompanied by custom rounded wood tables and stools to form lounge areas.

“Throughout the space, soft textures are found in leather seating and wool carpets, while modular shelving units build a sense of discovery and play,” Bottega Veneta said.

Fitting room lined in walnut with a green leather niche and wool carpet — The fitting rooms feature leather niches that provide a place to sit

Fitting rooms are fully lined in walnut, except for leather-wrapped niches that provide a small seat, giant mirrors with built-in lighting and more green carpet.

Sculptural polished metal elements form the door pulls and clothes hooks, their smooth surfaces contrasting with the more textured golden planters and entrance handles.

On the upper level, recesses formed by the Galleria’s arched windows provide nooks for seating and plants, as places to look out onto the highly decorative arcade.

Designed in 1861 by architect Giuseppe Mengoni, the neo-classical Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is one of Milan’s most desirable shopping destinations.

Close-up of a polished metal sculptures that forms a door pull — Polished metal sculptures form door pulls and clothing hooks in the fitting rooms

The four-storey, glass-vaulted double arcade is located in the city centre, close to other landmarks like the Duomo and the Teatro alla Scala.

The new Bottega store is the latest to open under Blazy since he took the reigns of the luxury brand in 2021, following locations on London’s Sloane Street and the Avenue Montaigne in Paris.

Exterior of the Bottega Veneta store in Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II — The new store is located in the historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade

For the brand’s Spring Summer 2023 runway show, Bottega Veneta collaborated with Italian designer Gaetano Pesce, who envisioned a colourful resin-covered floor and 400 bespoke cotton-and-resin chairs for the set.

Pesce later went on to create a pair of handbags for the brand, which were designed to suggest different bucolic landscapes.

The photography is courtesy of Bottega Veneta.

Reference

Interior Design

Historic sanatorium in Greek mountain forest transformed into Manna hotel

By Zarkon Group,29/01/2024

Greek architecture offices K-Studio and Monogon have converted the abandoned Manna Sanatorium in Arcadia, southern Greece, into a luxury forest hotel.

Originally built in the 1920s to give tuberculosis patients access to the healing power of nature, the historic structure is now a five-star wellness retreat.

Manna offers 32 rooms fitted out with natural materials and neutral tones, plus gym and spa facilities and a restaurant focused on local produce.

The building sits within a fir forest on Mount Mainalo, the tallest peak in the mountainous region.

The design vision set out by Athens-based K-Studio was to amplify the sense of sanctuary offered by the remote location and enhance the feeling of connection to nature.

Manna owner Stratis Batayas, a Greek entrepreneur who had spent his childhood summers in the area, wanted to create a year-round destination that stayed true to the building’s history.

Manna hotel in Arcadia by K-Studio and Mongon — The building is set in a fir forest in Arcadia, a mountainous region of Greece

“The client’s ambition was to reinterpret the concept of a sanctuary in the mountains with contemporary terms,” reads K-Studio’s design statement.

“The hotel would have to be a place for isolation, as well as community-making and participation in the primary activities of everyday living.”

Lounge at Manna hotel — Design details include columns with curved corner reveals and ornate gridded ceilings

The renovation was overseen in collaboration with Athens-based Monogon and involved significant building work, including the reconstruction of a derelict rear wing and the installation of a new roof.

When the sanatorium closed – made obsolete following the introduction of penicillin in 1938 – the building had been emptied to prevent looting. Stone window sills were stripped out and relocated, while the original roof was removed and repurposed on a hospital in nearby Tripoli.

Concrete was used to replace the old sills, while the new timber roof was installed over rendered brickwork.

Bar at Manna hotel — The bar features neatly crafted joinery

A reconfigured layout provides a new entrance on the side of the building.

This leads through into a series of elegant reception and lounge spaces where details include columns with curved corner reveals, ornate gridded ceilings and a herringbone-patterned fireplace.

Manna’s bar can also be found here, featuring neatly crafted joinery. Elsewhere, the restaurant run by chef Athinagoras Kostakos has a more casual feel thanks to an open kitchen.

Art is present throughout, with works by Greek artist Nikos Kanoglou, painter Joanna Burtenshaw and ceramicist Diane Alexandre.

Attic bedroom at Manna — Attic bedrooms feature dormer balconies

Bedrooms are located on the upper floors of the main building, including a new attic level, and on all levels of the rebuilt northern wing.

Attic rooms offer the most modern feel, extending out to balconies set within large gable-ended dormers.

Bedroom furniture — Interiors feature natural materials and neutral tones

The materials palette combines brushed timber with earth-toned textiles. Standout features include the elaborate privacy screens that form a backdrop to the beds.

Terrazzo flooring is inlaid with marble to define different zones, matching the stone used for wash basins. Room numbers are carved into the floor surfaces in front of each room entrance.

“Local craftsmen were involved in all construction phases, as they bear the knowhow of stoneworks, joinery and even the characteristic engraved grouting of the exterior stonewalls,” said K-Studio.

Bath in bedroom at Manna — Terrazzo flooring is inlaid with marble to define zones

Manna opened its doors in the summer of 2023 and is represented by Design Hotels, a booking company that specialises in design-led retreats.

K-Studio co-founder Dimitris Karampataki presented the project at the 2023 edition of The Lobby, an annual hospitality conference in Copenhagen.

Manna restaurant — Manna’s restaurant features an open kitchen

He said the design for Manna “embraces the wear and tear, embraces the natural patina”.

“When we first arrived we saw something, which took about a century to make,” he said. “We didn’t want to clean it too much, to be selective of its heritage. It was more important for us to embrace the whole story.”

Balcony view — The design aims to reconnect people with nature

Other destination hotels to open recently include the Six Senses Rome, designed by Patricia Urquiola, and the Sanya Wellness Retreat in Hainan, China, designed by Neri&Hu.

The photography is by Ana Santl.

Project credits

Architectural concept: K-Studio
Technical design: Monogon, CS Architecture
On-site supervison: Monogon, K-Studio
FF&E: K-Studio, Monogon
Art curation: Joanna Burtenshaw
Branding design: MNP
Surveyor: Ioannis Charbilas
Structural engineer: Niki Psilla
Mechanical engineer: Gerasimos Vasilatos/Alexandra Zachopoulou & Partners
Lighting design: Eleftheria Deko and Associates Lighting Design
Sound consultant: Alpha Acoustiki
Kitchen consultant: Xenex
Landscape architects: H Pangalou & Associates
Main contractor: CT Construction

Reference

Interior Design

Patricia Urquiola converts historic palazzo into Six Senses Rome hotel

By Zarkon Group,08/11/2023

Milan-based designer Patricia Urquiola has converted a palazzo in Rome into a hotel and spa, filled with circular elements and traditional Italian materials.

The Six Senses Rome is located within the Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini, close to historic sites like the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain in the city centre.

Adjacent to the Church of San Marcello al Corso, the building was first constructed in the 15th century before being updated in the 18th-century baroque style by architect Tomaso De Marchis.

An impressive central staircase and the building’s main UNESCO-listed facade, which overlooks the bustling Via del Corso, are among the period details that were restored during the renovation works led by Studio Urquiola.

Lounge seating in front of restaurant counter — The Bivium restaurant connected to the lobby offers all-day dining

The entrance to the Six Senses Rome from Piazza di San Marcello leads into an open lobby and social area, furnished with a variety of sofas and lounge chairs from Urquiola’s oeuvre alongside classic Italian designs.

These are positioned in groupings with tables and decorative objects on circular rugs, between potted plants spread across the travertine floors.

Lounge seats on a circular rug, in front of an opened glass partition in Six Senses Rome hotel by Patricia Urquiola — Circular elements appear throughout the hotel, including rugs and tables in the lobby

“At every turn, the craftsmanship, the finishes, the materials and the graphics create a union with nature while staying true to both Roman classicism and Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini’s rich history,” said Urquiola.

A curved green marble bar is positioned near the windows, forming an incomplete circle with the matching counters in the courtyard, which are visible through the glazing and follow the shape of earth-toned steelwork overhead.

Courtyard with green marble bar counter below steelwork in Six Senses Rome hotel by Patricia Urquiola — In the courtyard, a green marble bar counter continues from inside

The courtyard also features benches built into planters along the back wall and additional seating, where diners can enjoy food and drinks from the trattoria-style Bivium restaurant.

Circular forms and motifs continue throughout the hotel, including in the Six Senses Spa and Roman baths on the first floor.

Spa waiting area featuring seating within sheer curtain enclosures — The spa waiting area features seating within sheer curtain enclosures

Here, sheer curtains encircle small seating areas for those waiting for treatments or preparing to enter the travertine-lined bathhouse, which offers multiple pools for soaking and relaxing.

Bedrooms across the central levels have “quirky” layouts and a soft neutral decor, including tambour panelling, patterned rugs and a variety of spherical light fixtures.

Travertine lines the walls and ceiling inside the spa and Roman baths in Six Senses Rome hotel by Patricia Urquiola — Travertine lines the walls and ceiling inside the spa and Roman baths

Several of Six Senses Rome’s 96 guest rooms and suites have balconies, and all enjoy either a courtyard or city view.

Plasterwork in the rooms is made from an ancient Roman material known as cocciopesto, which comprises fragments of earthenware or brick mixed with lime and sand.

“The legacy of antiquity is also honoured with the choice of cocciopesto, which decorates the plaster of the rooms and gives a nod to Roman architect Vitruvius,” said the studio.

The hotel also features a roof terrace and bar called Notos that offers views across the city and serves botanical cocktails and light bites.

Bedrooms with soft neutral decor — The bedrooms at the Six Senses Rome have a soft neutral decor

Artworks such as watercolours, sculptures, textile works and canvases throughout the interior are curated by art advisor Federica Sala and are all unique to the hotel.

Six Senses Rome is shortlisted in the hotel and short stay interior category of Dezeen Awards 2023, while Studio Urquiola is shortlisted for interior designer of the year.

Lounge area within a guest room suite in Six Senses Rome hotel by Patricia Urquiola — Plasterwork in the bedrooms and suites is made from cocciopesto

Originally from Spain, Urquiola is one of Europe’s most sought-after designers and has released furniture and product collections with brands like Moroso, Cassina, Kettal and Boffi among many more.

Other hotels designed by her studio include the Haworth Hotel in Michigan, the Hotel Il Sereno on the shores of Lake Como and the Room Mate Giulia in Milan.

The photography is by Luca Rotondo.

Project credits:

General contractor: CDS Holding
Architecture: Starching and professor Paolo Micalizzi
Interior design: Patricia Urquiola

Reference

Monteverdi Tuscany boutique hotel by Michael Cioffi and Ilaria Miani

Interior Design

Ten rustic Italian interiors that evoke the historic Mediterranean

By Zarkon Group,29/10/2023

This lookbook collects 10 interiors in Italy with a distinctly rustic feel, including homes and hotels replete with wooden beams, cool stone and other rich textures.

As well as being known for its contemporary furniture and lighting design, Italy is home to some of Europe’s oldest buildings and has numerous historic cities and villages.

From a 17th-century house in Puglia to a hotel in a 1,000-year-old castle, below are 10 examples of projects that pay homage to the Mediterranean country’s history while catering to modern tastes.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring chequerboard floors, lime plaster walls and Mediterranean-style interiors.

Monteverdi Hotel, Tuscany, by Ilaria Miani

Restoration specialist and interior designer Ilaria Miani helped transform several crumbling buildings in Val d’Orcia into a boutique hotel that aims to balance the history of the area with contemporary design influences from Milan and Rome.

In the bedroom suites, chunky exposed beams made from salvaged wood are complemented by natural colours and textures, while nearly all the furniture is handmade by local artisans.

Find out more about Monteverdi Hotel ›

Cascina by Jonathan Tuckey Design — Photo by Francesca Iovene

Cascina, Piemonte, by Jonathan Tuckey Design

London-based Jonathan Tuckey Design was tasked with returning this 19th-century farmhouse in northern Italy to its original state following a heavy 1980s renovation.

Stone walls and wooden beams now feature prominently, with a cool chalky palette offset by brass lamps and chestnut panelling and furniture.

Find out more about Cascina ›

Casa Soleto living room — Photo by Salva López

Casa Soleto, Puglia, by Studio Andrew Trotter and Marcelo Martínez

Parts of Casa Soleto in Puglia are more than 400 years old. Architecture firm Studio Andrew Trotter and its studio manager Marcelo Martínez renovated the building without making any structural changes, leaving the irregular walls in place.

To give the interiors an authentic, natural feel, the designers used lime plaster for the walls, linen fabrics for the sofas and curtains, jute rugs, terracotta ceramics and antique furniture.

Find out more about Casa Soleto ›

Monastero Arx Vivendi, Trentino-Alto Adige, by Network of Architecture

Network of Architecture applied rippled antique-effect plaster to the walls of this 17th-century ex-monastery near Lake Garda, which is now a hotel.

The plaster is complemented by pale wooden floors, black iron furniture and earth-toned fabrics, while the original doors have been retained and restored.

Find out more about Monastero Arx Vivendi ›

Interior of Casolare Scarani in Puglia by Studio Andrew Trotter — Photo by Salva López

Casolare Scarani, Puglia, by Studio Andrew Potter

Casolare Scarani is a home created from the renovation of a long-abandoned girls’ school built in the style of a traditional Puglian villa – but still modest in size.

The vaulted ceilings were kept intact and covered in lime plaster, while the rooms were finished with earthy tones and traditional stone flooring.

Find out more about Casolare Scarani ›

Hotel Castello di Reschio, Umbria, by Count Benedikt Bolza

Hotel Castello di Reschio occupies a 1,000-year-old castle in the Umbrian hills that was transformed by count Benedikt Bolza and his family.

Rooms have been decorated with terracotta-brick or wooden floors, hand-stitched linen curtains, Italian fabrics and locally crafted marble and brass vanities alongside portraits sourced from nearby antique markets in a reference to the building’s rich history.

Find out more about Hotel Castello di Reschio ›

Appartamento Brolettuono by Archiplanstudio — Photo by Davide Galli Atelier

Brolettouno Apartment, Lombardy, by Archiplan

Located in a building in Mantua that dates back to the 15th century, this apartment was overhauled on a budget by local design studio Archiplan.

The studio decided to honour the interior’s timeworn aesthetic by retaining the distressed floor tiles and faded frescos, combining these features with functional light-hued wooden furniture.

Find out more about Brolettouno Apartment ›

Interior of Casa Maiora by Studio Andrew Trotter in Puglia — Photo by Salva López

Casa Maiora, Puglia, by Studio Andrew Trotter

Another project from Studio Andrew Trotter, this villa is in fact a newly built project – but carries heavy rustic influences from traditional homes in the area.

Flagstone floors, lime-washed walls and locally sourced antiques combine to create a soothing, timeless feel.

Find out more about Casa Maiora ›

G-Rough hotel Rome — Photo by Serena Eller

G-Rough, Lazio, by Gabriele Salini

Features showcasing the building’s 400-year-old history were juxtaposed with contemporary art and mid-century furnishings at this boutique hotel in Rome, Italy’s capital.

The imperfections of age, particularly on the patina walls, combine with furniture inspired by modernist Italian designers like Ico Parisi, Giò Ponti and Piero Fornasetti for a rough-yet-refined aesthetic.

Find out more about G-Rough ›

Bedroom at the Vipp pop-up hotel — Photo by Irina Boersma César Machado

Palazzo Monti hotel, Lombardy, by Julie Cloos Mølsgaard and Vipp

A collaboration with Danish homeware brand Vipp saw interior designer Julie Cloos Mølsgaard create a pop-up hotel in a 13-century palazzo in Brescia.

To keep the focus on the building’s many historic features, Mølsgaard took a minimalist approach to the furnishings, with mattresses sitting directly on the floor and artwork propped up against the walls.

Find out more about the Palazzo Monti hotel ›

Reference

Steel mesh mezzanine within historic bank building

Interior Design

Ivy Studio converts historic bank into offices for Montreal ad agency

By Zarkon Group,01/08/2023

The offices that Montreal’s Ivy Studio has designed for digital advertising agency Cardigan include a mesh-wrapped mezzanine and a “futuristic” basement within a former bank building.

For Cardigan‘s expanding team, Ivy Studio has renovated a stone building that was built as a bank in 1907, in the Rosemont area of Montreal.

The structure has had many uses, including most recently a religious establishment, and boasts plenty of historic architectural details.

While the upper floor is a residential condo, Cardigan occupies 1,250 square feet (116 square metres) across the ground and basement levels – spaces with very different ceiling heights and light conditions.

Steel mesh partitions beside an oak staircase and counter — The mesh was painted white to accentuate the bright and airy feel in the office space

“One of the main challenges of working with the building was the contrasting ceiling heights between each floor,” said Ivy Studio. “This made the spacial blocking very important at the start of the project.”

To benefit from the 16.5 foot (5 metres) clearance and abundance of natural light, all the workstations are positioned on the ground level.

Glass-walled phone booth behind steel mesh — Under the mezzanine sit multiple phone booths and meeting rooms

However, the floor plate was not sufficient to accommodate all 25 employees as well as meeting rooms, so the studio took advantage of the ceiling height and added a mezzanine.

This addition was placed in a corner to avoid blocking the arched windows, and was painted entirely white to accentuate the bright and airy atmosphere of the space.

Large arched windows in office space — During the renovation, the building’s large arched windows were fully uncovered to let in more light

The structure is made from perforated steel mesh, allowing light to enter the phone booths and meeting rooms tucked underneath, and a gap was left between the mesh and the glass partitions behind to make space for planters.

Additional workstations are located on top of the mezzanine, which is curved at its corner. “The newly-built mezzanine structure interprets the curves of the existing space without competing with them,” Ivy Studio said.

To let even more light in, the boarded window arches were reopened to their original form, while the parquet flooring was replaced with natural oak to retain the warmth.

Meanwhile, in the basement, low ceiling heights and a lack of windows called for an entirely contrasting strategy.

“It is a different universe of its own,” said Ivy Studio, which took a “futuristic, in your face” approach to the sub-grade space.

Baby blue kitchen with orange portal on one side and mirror on the other — In the windowless basement, a contrasting “futuristic” aesthetic was chosen

This level accommodates the bathrooms, kitchen, lounge and storage, and features a mix of plastered ceilings, ceramic walls and epoxy floors.

In the kitchen, all of the surfaces are coloured baby blue, while the adjacent bathroom block is completely grey.

Blue kitchen with orange room beyond — The spaces are colour-blocked to heighten their visual impact

Across the kitchen island, a circular mirror faces an opening that’s exactly the same shape and leads into a room painted in orange.

“The spaces are all monochromatic, to increase the visual impact of their intense colors but also help camouflage the imperfections of the existing building,” said Ivy Studio.

Baby blue kitchen with stainless steel island and backsplash — Baby blue and stainless steel cover the kitchen

The office’s levels are linked by two staircases: an older one made from wood and a newer minimal design that emerges from under an arched portico.

Both are painted navy blue and are intended to reflect Cardigan’s contradicting “hard-working yet playful values”.

Bathroom with grey tiles viewed from blue room — The adjacent bathroom is executed entirely in grey

Ivy Studio’s portfolio of projects in its home city spans from workspaces and restaurants, to a spinning studio and a dry cleaners.

Recently completed interiors by the firm include a creative hub populated with pink and purple elements, and a renovated eatery that was damaged in a fire.

The photography is by Alex Lesage.

Project credits:

Design and architecture: Ivy Studio
Construction: Group Manovra

Reference

Architecture

Johnston Marklee converts historic Los Angeles car showroom into gallery

By Zarkon Group,06/07/2023

A vaulted ceiling punctured with skylights features in a 1940s auto dealership that architectural studio Johnston Marklee has converted into a bright home for the Roberts Projects art gallery.

Roberts Projects chose the local studio to transform the brick and cinder-block building into its new home as it moved from Culver City to the mid-Wilshire district, which has seen an influx of art galleries in recent years.

The architects conceived a total overhaul of the 10,000-square-foot (929-square-metre) former auto dealership, which was built in 1948 and features an arched, 30-foot-high (nine-metre) ceiling.

For many years, the building housed a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership known as the “Auto Dealer to the Stars”, as it drew celebrity clients such as actors Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball and Bob Hope.

Gallery renovation by Johnston Marklee — Roberts Projects acquired a historic building in the area

“We searched for a space for over four years and felt this building was ideal due to the raw talent of the structure, incredible ceiling height and great location,” said Roberts Projects co-owner Julie Roberts.

The exterior of the building – which once featured large stretches of glass for the display of cars – was replaced with solid walls in grey stucco, which suits the “gallery’s minimalist aesthetic”, the gallery said.

Solid grey stucco walls — The exterior was replaced with solid walls in grey stucco

Marking the entrance are a glazed garage door and an existing ficus tree.

“The elemental facade and building mass will integrate the new gallery into the cultural landscape of the arts and architecture across the city,” Johnston Marklee founding partner Sharon Johnston said.

Johnston Marklee conceived a total overhaul of the car showroom

Inside, the building houses four exhibition spaces, offices, study areas and a reception with a bookshop.

Throughout the building, “cavities of light” reveal architectural elements and enhance the viewing experience, the architects said.

Glazed garage door by Johnston Marklee — A glazed garage door marks the entrance

The main exhibition space sits under the vaulted ceiling, which was given a fresh layer of paint.

Here, skylights usher in daylight. In other areas, illumination is provided by “clearstories” made of panels uplit by LEDs.

Concrete flooring and bright white walls lend to the gallery’s austere character. Furnishings include pieces by Alvar Aalto, Gijs Bakker and Jean Prouvé. Shelving is made of birch plywood.

Illuminated shop area of Roberts Projects gallery — Illumination is provided by “clearstories” made of panels

In the office area, the flooring consists of red-tinted concrete with exposed aggregate, which is original to the space. The concrete was polished and given a terrazzo-like appearance.

The gallery’s new home was inaugurated with an exhibition of colourful portraits by renowned US painter Kehinde Wiley, whom Roberts Projects has represented for over two decades.

“This new space is the next chapter in our long history of being at the forefront of the Los Angeles art scene,” said gallery co-owner Bennett Roberts, who said that LA is in the midst of a “creative renaissance”.

“With access to outstanding exhibitions year-round, dedicated collectors, and creative energy from those who call this city home, Los Angeles is poised to be one of the most important creative hubs for years to come,” he added.

Red-tinted concrete flooring in the office area — In the office area, the flooring consists of red-tinted concrete with exposed aggregate

The opening of Roberts Projects’s new home follows a period of continual growth for the city’s arts scene.

Galleries such as Hauser & Wirth and The Future Perfect have recently opened venues in Los Angeles, and an annual edition of the Frieze Art Fair was introduced here in 2019.

Other art-related buildings in Los Angeles include a new home for auction house Phillips that was designed by local studio Formation Association, and the recent completion of a 20-year renovation and expansion of the Hammer Museum that was overseen by Michael Maltzan Architecture.

The photography is by Eric Staudenmaier.

Project credits:

Architecture: Johnston Marklee
Lighting design: Buro Happold
Furnishings consultant: Ellen Brill

Reference

Exterior of the red-brick Grand Mulburry building by Morris Adjmi with a textured facade

Architecture

Morris Adjmi designs Grand Mulberry building to evoke historic New York

By Zarkon Group,31/03/2023

US architect Morris Adjmi took cues from tenements that once housed Italian immigrants to create a new mixed-use building with a decorative brickwork facade.

Rising seven storeys, Grand Mulberry is located on a storied site in Manhattan’s Little Italy neighborhood.

To design the new building, architect Morris Adjmi – who leads an eponymous local studio – took cues from the area’s history and architecture, including its tenement buildings dating to the 19th and early 20th centuries.

For the street-facing elevations, the architect designed a rounded corner and a grid of rectangular, punched windows surrounded by red-orange bricks. A distinctive “Morse code-like” pattern was created using bricks with domed extrusions.

Exterior of the red-brick Grand Mulburry building by Morris Adjmi with a textured facade on a street corner in New York City — The building has a rounded corner and a grid of rectangular windows

The domed bricks are arranged in a way that evokes the tripartite facade of a building that once stood on the site, making it a “ghost of the past building”, said Adjmi.

The ground level contains space for retail and a new home for the Italian American Museum, slated to open in 2024. The upper portion of the building holds a total of 20 condominiums.

“Given the project’s setting, the objective from the onset was to design a building that was contextual yet unmistakably contemporary,” the firm said.

“With a nod to the traditional Italianate tenement embedded in its bones, Grand Mulberry is a brand-new building that does not completely erase the site’s history and that doesn’t necessarily make passersby mourn for the New York that was.”

At the base of the building, the ornamental bricks – hand-moulded by Glen-Gery– form horizontal bands. At the middle and top levels, they are arranged to evoke pediment windows and arched widows, respectively.

“Looking carefully, one can see the mark of the traditional tripartite façade that consisted of a base, a middle and top layers, with differing details and brickwork used for each portion,” the architect said.

“At the same time, the bricks’ path and dimensionality create a visual texture that adds energy to the block, building on Little Italy’s distinct flavour.”

The rear elevations are faced with a combination of metal panels, concrete and bricks.

The building is topped with a cluster of volumes that is set back from the streetwall and wrapped in light grey cladding.

Within the building, the team drew upon traditional materials and techniques, the architect said.

Interior of a kitchen with wood flooring, white kitchen units and a white marble island — Traditional materials were used in the interior

In the lobby, one finds black-and-white, mosaic-style flooring and plaster finishes. The residential units feature wooden flooring, marble countertops and decorative tile backsplashes.

Overall, the building “encapsulates traces from historical architecture while engaging with the neighbourhood”, the architect said.

Interior of a white bathroom with a walk-in wet room and wooden vanity units — Grand Mulberry contains retail space and apartments

The building is named after its location on the corner of Grand and Mulberry streets – a site once occupied by brownstones that partly dated to the 1830s.

The site was famous for housing a bank that operated from 1882 to 1932 and was used by Italian immigrants.

Domed brickwork on the exterior of the Grand Mulburry building by Morris Adjmi — Bricks with domed extrusions decoration the exterior facades

Born in New Orleans, Morris Adjmi began his career working with the Italian architect Aldo Rossi in the 1980s. After Rossi’s death in 1997, Adjmi established Morris Adjmi Architects in New York. The studio also has an office in New Orleans.

Its other projects include a 25-storey, glass-and-steel tower in Philadelphia that contains apartments and a hotel.

The photography is by Morris Adjmi Architects.

Reference

Interior Design

Mammertsberg by Space Copenhagen pays homage to historic features

By Zarkon Group,21/02/2023

A sculptural spiral staircase, floor-to-ceiling windows and panelled walls have been paired with contemporary furnishings in Space Copenhagen’s renovation of a restaurant and hotel in Switzerland.

Called Mammertsberg, the combined hotel and restaurant is housed within a 1911 villa that overlooks the Alps mountain range in Freidorf, Switzerland.

Danish design studio Space Copenhagen focused on the restaurant and lounge, which were totally refurbished to transform the interior from its previous status as a Swiss-food restaurant.

Meanwhile, the adjacent six hotel guest rooms were given a light refresh.

A lounge area interior by Space Copenhagen — Contemporary furniture was added to the lounge

“We embraced the idea of keeping key historic, listed, and structural features, defining for the building and its architectural heritage,” Space Copenhagen told Dezeen.

“For the transformation towards something new, it felt important to add a diverse mix of furniture, lighting, materials, art and books, all of which could have been collected slowly over time,” the studio added.

The interior of Mammertsberg restaurant — Linen curtains frame the large windows

Due to the building’s historic status, Space Copenhagen faced certain refurbishment restrictions, which resulted in the studio adapting its design around existing features within the property.

These included a large central staircase by architect Tilla Theus that connects the restaurant on the ground floor to the bar and lounge on the first floor.

The ground floor of the Mammertsberg — Natural materials were used throughout the interior

In the 42-seat fine-dining restaurant, which serves up locally sourced dishes, the studio embraced the high ceilings and large windows by adding floor-to-ceiling curtains in tactile, heavy linen.

“The building overlooks the impressive landscape and alpine scenery that characterises Switzerland and this inspired our design choices and approach,” said Space Copenhagen.

“It felt natural to treat the house as a large country home from which to enjoy the surrounding nature; offering guests the opportunity to contemplate and recharge.”

The interior of a restaurant in Switzerland — The restaurant has a walnut and linen colour palette

The surrounding nature was referenced in the material and colour choices, with solid oak tables in varying shapes and sizes dotted throughout the restaurant and lounge.

Elsewhere in the Mammertsberg restaurant, Scandinavian chairs were upholstered in subdued colour tones such as walnut and light linen, while petrol blue leather was added for contrast.

“We wanted to create a warm and inviting scene to balance the vibrant dishes while simultaneously seeking a high level of detailing, quality, and refinement in the curation of materials and furniture pieces,” explained Space Copenhagen.

“We worked with a new approach to solve the layout for the restaurant. Being a small restaurant allowed us to create a sense of familiarity with a variety of different tables – round, square and longer styles – all with different configurations and possibilities.”

A guest room inside the Mammertsberg — Six guest rooms were given a light refresh

The project also involved updating Mammertsberg’s guest rooms. Each of the six rooms was individually decorated to feel like someone’s private residence, with sculptural lighting and soft furniture to encourage rest and relaxation.

According to the designers, the limited time frame meant that finer details such as adding new finishes were prioritised over a larger overhaul.

A neutral coloured guest hotel room — Each hotel suite is individually furnished

“We couldn’t change the polished stone floors in certain public areas such as the restrooms, bathrooms and guestrooms,” Space Copenhagen said.

“We solved this by applying a different finish which honed them as much as possible towards a more matt and subdued hue, settling into the overall colour and material palette.”

Space Copenhagen was established in Denmark in 2005 and is best known for its restaurant interior design projects.

Among them is the Blueness restaurant in Antwerp, which is decorated with bespoke furnishings and Le Pristine, a restaurant that the company renovated with a moody aesthetic.

The photography is by Joachim Wichmann.

Reference

Interior Design

Fendi introduces modern furnishings to Rome’s historic Villa Medici

By Zarkon Group,16/01/2023

Italian fashion brand Fendi has teamed up with the French Academy in Rome to refresh six salons inside the Villa Medici – a 16th-century Renaissance palace set amongst sprawling gardens in the heart of Rome.

The villa has been home to the French Academy in Rome since 1803, and today is used by the French art institute to host creative residencies and public art programmes.

The building’s salons had not been significantly modified in some 20 years, leading the academy to initiate a revamp in the hopes of establishing a better connection between the centuries-old rooms and contemporary design.

Fendi was brought on board to consult on Villa Medici’s interior scheme alongside Mobilier National – France’s national furniture collection and conservation agency.

The project also saw the academy call in French architect Pierre-Antoine Gatier to restore some decorative features of the Grand Salon, while conservation specialist Bobin Tradition carried out preservation work on the building’s existing wall hangings.

Salon des Pensionnaires in Villa Medici, home of the French Academy in Rome — Umbrella pine trees informed the shape of the table in the Salon des Pensionnaires

Fendi’s artistic director of couture and womenswear Kim Jones worked with Silvia Venturini Fendi, the brand’s artistic director of accessories and menswear, as well as Mobilier National to curate a selection of modern French and Italian furnishings for the salons.

Many of the pieces were pulled from Fendi Casa, the brand’s homeware collection, and chosen for their ability to slot in amongst the building’s existing heritage pieces and classical artworks.

Salon Bleu, home of the French Academy in Rome — Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance’s tables for the Salon Bleu mimic ancient Roman paving slabs

The focal point of the Petit Salon is now a huge modular sofa by Milan-based designer Toan Nguyen, upholstered in a rust-orange fabric that matches the colour of the walls.

Over in the Salon des Pensionnaires is a table by French designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance. This is supported by spindly black legs, which resemble the branches of Rome’s ubiquitous umbrella pine trees.

The slightly moodier feel of this room is complemented by grey-blue sofas and armchairs by Italian designer Chiara Andreatti.

Duchaufour-Lawrance was also responsible for crafting the tables found in the villa’s Salon de Lecture and Salon Bleu, shaped to look like the time-worn paving slabs of the Appian Way – one of the oldest roads that lead to Rome.

The Grand Salon houses rows of the sinuous Belleville chair, created by French design pair Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra.

Salon de Musique in Villa Medici, home of the French Academy in Rome — Contemporary chairs were added to the building’s Salon de Musique

Both here and in the other salons, Fendi and Mobilier National introduced tapestries from well-known artists including Louise Bourgeois, Sheila Hicks and Sonia Delaunay.

Acoustic panels by Devialet were tucked behind selected artworks to discreetly enhance the sound quality inside the villa.

Grand Salon, home of the French Academy in Rome — Seats by the Bouroullec brothers line the Grand Salon

Over the past few years, high-end fashion designers have become increasingly involved with interior design projects.

In London, Roksanda Ilincic and Bella Freud applied their respective styles to two separate penthouse apartments, while Jasquemus founder Simon Porte Jacquemus has devised a summery interior scheme for a restaurant in Paris.

The photography is by Silvia Rivoltella.

Reference

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Patricia Urquiola converts historic palazzo into Six Senses Rome hotel

Ten rustic Italian interiors that evoke the historic Mediterranean

Ivy Studio converts historic bank into offices for Montreal ad agency

Johnston Marklee converts historic Los Angeles car showroom into gallery

Morris Adjmi designs Grand Mulberry building to evoke historic New York

Mammertsberg by Space Copenhagen pays homage to historic features

Fendi introduces modern furnishings to Rome’s historic Villa Medici

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