Halleroed references Swedish Grace for Toteme flagship store
CategoriesInterior Design

Halleroed references Swedish Grace for Toteme flagship store

Stockholm studio Halleroed has designed fashion brand Toteme’s flagship store in London, which features a sculpture by artist Carl Milles and a steel sofa by designer Marc Newson.

Halleroed designed the store, located on Mount Street in the upmarket Mayfair area, together with Toteme founders Elin Kling and Karl Lindman. The duo wanted its third flagship to feature nods to the brand’s heritage.

“We like the idea of keeping certain elements that we find in our Swedish heritage,” Lindman told Dezeen at the store’s launch event.

“It can be by using certain vintage pieces, or like in [the brand’s Mercer Street store] in New York, we had a collaboration with Svenskt Tenn,” he added. “It’s about lifting this notion of Scandinavian design or Swedish design.”

Interior of Totême store in LondonInterior of Totême store in London
A metal sofa by Marc Newson is among the sculptural details in the store

Halleroed drew on the space itself when designing the interior, focussing on how the light falls.

“We were inspired by the space itself with beautiful original windows letting the daylight in,” Halleored co-founder Ruxandra Halleroed told Dezeen.

“The upper part of the windows was partly hidden, which was a shame, so we redesigned the ceiling with a half vault towards the front to show the full height of the windows.”

Totême London storeTotême London store
A piece by sculptor Carl Milles sits by the entrance

The design also references the work of Italian architect Carlo Scarpa as well as the Swedish Grace movement.

“We were also inspired by the Swedish Grace period – around 1920-30s – that has an elegant and pure design, something we think works well for Toteme as a brand,” Halleroed co-founder Christian Halleroed told Dezeen.

“Also the work of Carlo Scarpa we find interesting, more as a mindset on how to work with details and textures to create a subtle elegance and luxury.”

Cube inside fashion store in MayfairCube inside fashion store in Mayfair
A black mirrored cube features at the rear of the store

Kling and Lindman wanted to keep the feel of “very posh” Mount Street where the store is located, while also underlining the space’s minimalist feel.

To do so, a lot of effort was put into the colour palette and different textured materials used for the flagship store.

“We worked with an off-white palette in different tones and different textures,” Ruxandra Halleroed said.

“The textures are as important as colour and materials. For walls, we have a glossy, off-white stucco, ceiling in same colour but matte. The floor is in a beige, honed limestone with a so-called Opus pattern.”

Milles sculpture inside Totême storeMilles sculpture inside Totême store
Halleroed chose to redesign the store’s ceiling to reveal its windows

In the middle of the Toteme shop, Halleroed created a stone-clad cube that holds shelves, vitrines and niches filled with artworks.

“The volume in the middle is clad with the same limestone, but in three different textures: honed, bush hammered and spiked texture, combined with oxidised dark brass,” Christian Halleroed said.

The store also features a square black volume in the back made from high-gloss stucco and dark brass.

Beige and white interior of London fashion storeBeige and white interior of London fashion store
The minimalist interior has a beige, white and black colour palette

To contrast the minimalist interior, the store is decorated with multiple artworks, including a sculpture by Milles and Newson’s intricately woven steel Random Pak Twin sofa, which Lindman found online.

“He’s a slave to auction houses,” Kling told Dezeen.

“So he found it and sent it to me and I loved it, and we also have a Marc Newsom piece in every store,” she added. “So we thought, ‘this one’s for the Mount Street store’. At that time we only had the signed contract, nothing else.”

Sign outside Mount Street storeSign outside Mount Street store
The store is located on Mount Street in central London

The two founders and Halleroed decided on the gypsum Milles sculpture for the Toteme store together, with Halleroed designing a custom niche to place it in that is made from black high-gloss stucco to contrast the pale artwork.

Halleroed also added vintage Swedish Grace furniture to the store, including armchairs and a coffee table by furniture designer Otto Schulz, a daybed and a mirror in pewter made for the Stockholm Exhibition 1930.

The studio has designed a number of other store interiors, including a Paris boutique for French brand L/Uniform and an Acne Studios store in Chengdu that aimed to combine the futuristic and primitive.

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Swedish appliance company designs new sustainable kitchen
CategoriesSustainable News

Swedish appliance company designs new sustainable kitchen

Spotted: Is the way we cook just as important to the future of our planet as the food we eat? Swedish appliance company Electrolux thinks so, as it has just launched GRO, a reimagining of the traditional kitchen that encourages sustainable and healthy cooking, following the EAT-Lancet planetary diet.

GRO, which means ‘to sprout’ in Swedish, is a new smart kitchen range composed of modular compartments that can be adapted to any home, creating infinite personalised combinations. In addition, there’s also a grain and pulse library designed to showcase the visual diversity of protein sources; a Nordic smoker that infuses food with flavour; and GRO Coach, a smart cooking companion that tracks eating habits and helps make more sustainable choices.

“By challenging conventional thinking of what a kitchen is, we have rethought everything from the start – aiming to help change behaviours by making planet-friendly eating effortless and enjoyable through groundbreaking design,” explains Tove Chevalley, Director CX Innovation Hub Electrolux.

GRO has launched on the Electrolux website, however, there is no set date for the appliances to be released to the general public.

While companies such as Miele and Samsung have created smart appliances, kitchen robots, and sustainable storage solutions, few have created an all-encompassing kitchen like GRO.

Other kitchen innovations recently spotted by Springwise include a new way to dispose of used cooking oil, a kitchen designed for zero-waste production, and an AI system that helps professional kitchens avoid food waste.

Written By: Lauryn De Nagy Berry

Email: sustainability@electrolux.com

Website: betterlivingelectrolux.com

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