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MILAN 2019
The best, and the rest, from
Salone Internazionale del Mobile
and Euroluce

Plus: Universities, Coffee shops,

Pizza joints, Gyms, and a School

www.hinge.hk
HK$80
RMB80
US$11
 DAVID RITCH & MARK SAFFELL of 5d STUDIO

for DECCA CONTRACT

DECCA SHOWROOMS:
HONG KONG
Room 2401-02,
Universal Trade Centre,
3-5 Arbuthnot Road, Central, HK
Tel: (852) 2521-5601
Fax: (852) 2525-8377
Email: shrm@deccafurniture.com
SINGAPORE BEIJING SHANGHAI BANGKOK
Block 1003, Room 912, Interchina Commercial Building, 1F Bldg 11, 505 Zhongshan South Rd, The 9th Towers, Tower B, 2/F,
Bukit Merah Central, 33 Dengshikou Street, Dong Cheng District, Huangpu District, 33/4 Rama 9 Road, Huai Khwang,
#07-24, Beijing 100006, PRC Shanghai 200010, PRC Bangkok, 10310, Thailand
Singapore 159836 Tel: (86) 10-8511-8291 Tel: (86) 21-6339-0298 Tel: (66) 2-126-7600
Tel: (65) 6834-2177 Fax: (86) 10-8511-8293 Fax: (86) 21-6339-0296 Fax: (66) 2-126-7601
Email: info@deccasin.com.sg Email: bj@decca.com.cn Email: sh@decca.com.cn Email: info@decca.co.th

DEALERS:
Beijing - Beijing X-Work Furniture Co Ltd. - 5 Liangmaqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100006, PRC Tel: (86) 10 84200995 Email: x-work@x-work.com.cn Website: www.x-work.cn
Manila - Citimex Inc. - 2 Zaragosa cor. Palanza Streets, Quezon City 1113, Philippines Tel: (632) 714 1115 Fax: (632) 715 9439 Email: sales@citimex.com.ph Website: www.citimex.com.ph
Tokyo - Eizai Corporation - No.5 Tanaka Bldg. 2F, 3-4-4, Iidabashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo,102-0072, Japan Tel: (81) 3 32343971 Email: info@trishnajivana.jp Website: www.trishnajivana.jp
 Vol 274 June 2019 hinge focuses on architecture and design. The magazine is distributed to
industry professionals, academics and VIPs, and eagerly snapped up by the
public every month from leading bookshops.

We take a dynamic and innovative approach to the disciplines of architecture

and design, juxtaposing bold graphics and striking visuals with lively and
cover photo informative editorial. hinge brings you the design world – the global picture,
Santander Digital Generation by Todos Arquitetura with Entre Arquitetos in full technicolour.
Photography by Ricardo Bassetti

Editorial and Production

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report Publisher
16 Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2019 Danny Chung danny@hinge.hk

20 Euroluce 2019
Editor
James Saywell editor@hinge.hk
cover story
26 New Office Design 2019 Contributor
Alistair Drummon
project file
56 Olympe de Gouges University Residence by ppa architectures, with Sub-Editor
scalene architectes and AFA Prem Samtani
58 SIS PREP Gurugram by PAL Design Group
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72 Denning House, Stanford University by Ennead Architects
74 Swarovski Manufaktur by Snohetta

fulcrum
76 National Museum of Qatar by Ateliers Jean Nouvel

A Word from the Editor

This issue is extra thick. First off, we present our annual, giant piece on the latest Global
Office Design, which, frankly, is getting tougher each year, thanks to a bit of same-same
familiarity creeping into the field. Don’t misunderstand: we love what’s happened to the
workplace in recent years, and hope for more of it. But as good as it is, there is a trend-
line that marks the projects, so it’s interesting to see where designers go next. As well, we
went to Milan in April. Amid the chilly drizzle was a feast of heartwarming quality of design
CONTRIBUTORS and manufacture. It’s way more than any mortal can take in over four days, but you just
Zodiac Lighting Limited
plunge in and try not to drown. Well, if one goes under, at least it’s death by beauty.
Balbek Bureau
Chain 10 Architecture and Interior Design Institute
Kurz Architects
Beza Projekt
Peny Hsieh Interiors
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EDGELAB
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Todos Arquitetura with Entre Arquitetos
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PAL Design Group
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Xiamen Fancy Design & Decoration responsibility for any errors or omissions that may occur in this issue. The views expressed
goa are not necessarily those of the Publisher or the Editorial Committee.
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hinge 274_2
 < T F B S D I >

Happy Campers Wanted

For those who like nature and the idea of camping out, but don’t like the realities of having to ‘rough it’ or endure
minimal creature comforts, help is at hand. Award-winning hospitality design company Nomadic Resorts has
developed an ergonomically shaped pod that makes sleeping outdoors a little less like, well, sleeping outdoors.
Seedpod is suspended via cables from trees so that it sits a few feet above the forest floor. Its interior can be easily
adjusted between two configurations: a setup comprising dining table with bench seating; or a bed. “Our goal
was to take inspiration from the humble seed, to create a floating hotel room that was both ephemeral and robust
– comfortable but exciting to sleep in,” says Louis Thompson, CEO of Nomadic Resorts. “The idea is that sleeping
in the pod, is a transformative experience in its own right – a chance to spend a night in a ‘human nest’ where you
can see the movement of the wildlife below and hear the gurgling of the stream.” The shape of the pod is designed
to be aerodynamic, so that winds don’t rock the unit too much; in fact it can withstand windspeeds of up to 120
kph. The pod has also been designed to be installable in remote locations, without the need for heavy machinery
or power tools. “Our idea was to create a structural system that could be installed using manpower only, on virtually
any terrain, anywhere on the planet, within a day,” adds Thompson. The pod is already in use at selected spots in
the Bel Ombre Nature Reserve in Mauritius.

Images by Nomadic Rosorts and www.nomadicresorts.com

The Heritage Nature Reserve

Multifaucetted
Stainless-steel household-fixtures-manufacturing company Quadro Design has expanded its product range in order
to give clients greater options. “[We have] always been attentive to the needs and requests of architects and interior
designers to offer something unique,” says the firm. “Today […] clients can choose among 33 variants of mounts – for
the wall, or for the floor – all easily combinable with the five types of mixers in the catalogue. Thanks to this evolution, the
brand confirms its vocation to total flexibility.” The Italian company’s portfolio includes brushed-steel minimalist faucets
such as Levo, Modo, and Ottavo.

www.quadrodesign.it

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 < T F B S D I >

When Your Ship Comes In

A beautiful courtyard of the historical University of Milan was the setting last April for the From Shipyard to Courtyard
installation for Fuorisalone, an annual event that is part of Milan Design Week’s programme. The display – the skeletal
frame of a large boat – was designed by Sanlorenzo, a Milanese shipyard famed for its production of luxury yachts. Last
year, the shipyard appointed Italian architect Piero Lissoni as its art director. “Clearly evoking the wooden frameworks
that shipwrights, outstanding shipyard figures, used to build, Piero Lissoni reinterprets the hull of an SX112 yacht
through a process of abstraction, on a 1:1 scale,” said Sanlorenzo of the installation, which was designed to highlight
the artisan skills involved in building superyachts. “As if the sea had run dry, the silhouette of a yacht has settled
placidly inside a courtyard of the University of Milan – a creature whose only recognisable element is the structure
defining its original purity,” added Lissoni. From Shipyard to Courtyard was on display from 8 to 19 April.

www.sanlorenzoyacht.com

Nautical World
Beaudine is a new collection of pendant lamps by Eindhoven-based firm JSPR. Designed by Dutchman Jasper van Grootel, who also founded the company, the range was inspired
by marine life. “Each fixture consists of different, wave-shaped petals forming an abstract mantle around a luminous pearl,” says JSPR. Each lamp is handcrafted from lightweight,
anodised aluminium, and is illuminated by a dimmable LED bulb; there are three shape options and five colour choices. “This collection is ideal to create dynamic landscapes by
combining all three designs in both private and public settings,” adds JSPR. “While choosing from three different models and five different anodised colours you can already hear
the gentle roar of ocean waves.” No word, though, on whether using these lamps also helps attract mermaids.

www.jspr.eu

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Water-born Art
Rotterdam-based eco warriors The New Raw,
in collaboration with Athens-based Aikaterini
Laskaridis Foundation, have unveiled their latest
project. Second Nature seeks to raise general
awareness of the issue of marine plastic pollution,
by taking discarded synthetic fishing nets and
turning them into decorative seashells via the
medium of 3D digital printing. Abandoned
fishing gear, aka ghost nets, poses a serious
environmental threat. This kind of maritime debris
can sit on the ocean floor for many years, trapping
fish and other sea creatures. At The New Raw’s
mobile recycling lab, currently located in the Greek
village of Galaxidi, retrieved fishing equipment is
sorted and put into a grinder to create textured
filaments suitable for 3D printing. The upcycled
end-product is a collection of digitally crafted
seashells. “Plastic is a major contributor to the
pollution of the seas,” The New Raw cofounders
Panos Sakkas and Foteini Setaki remind.
“However, living in urban regions, we tend to forget
about our dependence on the sea, which is crucial
to our food and oxygen supply. With Second
Nature, we want to give plastic a second life.”

www.thenewraw.org

Magic Membrane
German architectural cladding specialist Vector Foiltec has produced a plastic shell for The Shed, a new Manhattan cultural centre designed by Big Apple architectural practices
Diller Scofidio + Renfro and The Rockwell Group. The cladding is silver-coloured, translucent, and made of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), a fluorine-based plastic. It is
lightweight, durable and has excellent thermal properties, insulating the building most efficiently. The skin consists of 148 air-filled cushions and an internal steel structure.
“The architects attached great importance to a homogeneous appearance of the shell,” says Vector Foiltec. “The cushions are therefore designed so that all foil seams run in a
continuous line. Another design specification involved the facade-roof interface, where the triangular ETFE foil cushions must curve over the structure at a 90-degree angle.” The
shell primarily covers the eight-storey volume’s movable roof section, which can be extracted horizontally, creating a covered plaza adjacent to the building. The building has just
opened to the public.

www.vector-foiltec.com

hinge 274_8
 < T F B S D I >

Totolly Cool
International Sanitary and Heating (ISH) 2019 is a biennial trade fair for bathroom fixtures, toilets, heaters, air-
conditioners and renewable energy systems. Among the exhibitors this past March was TOTO, maker of toilets
and bathroom fixtures. The brand, which began life in Japan and now has showrooms across the rest of the world
(including Hong Kong), showcased its latest taps and showerheads at the five-day-long event. “Newly launched,
uncompromisingly designed washbasins and faucets are introduced,” said TOTO. “With these new products, TOTO
will achieve a wide-ranging lineup and offer customers the [joy of having multiple choices].” ISH is held in Frankfurt,
Germany; this is the sixth time TOTO has taken part.

www.toto.com.hk

Romancing the Stone

Through the Depths is a
new installation by Jaipur-
born artist-cum-industrial
designer Vibhor Sogani.
Standing 12 feet tall, the shiny
stainless-steel disc occupies
the entrance to marble
manufacturing firm Stonex
Industries in Kishangarh, in
the northwestern Indian state
of Rajasthan. The artwork
symbolises the process and
difficulty of extracting precious
stones from the depths of the Back In Shape
earth. “It is with incessant and Doing the rounds at the Salone del Mobile in Milan this April was the
intense efforts that brilliance Genoa outdoor chair collection by Italian manufacturer TrabA. Designed
comes out,” says Sogani. “It by Cesare Ehr, the range comprises a stool, chair and armchair. “The
is with unrelenting focus and distinguishing element is the ‘one-line’ backrest, obtained by curving
passionate perseverance that a single metal tube which, with its virtually endless wavy line, also
the outcome gets magical. extended to the armrests in this new version, is an elegant addition to
Through the Depths is an ode every space, bringing a sense of lightness,” says TrabA. The tubular
to such passion, endeavour metal backrest and the legs are powder-coated and available in a
and intent.” It took nine months number of colours; the seat, which is slightly curved, is made of ash
to complete and erect the wood, left natural or painted, and has the option of being upholstered
installation. with fabric, leather or polyurethane.

www.sogani.design www.traba.it

hinge 274_10
< T F B S D I >

MILANO design by
Antonio Citterio

Hand Over Fist

Venerable Italian door-handle-maker Olivari showed it maintained a firm grip on its interior design specialism, at the
recent Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano. The theme of the company’s presentation was Art Meets Design.
Mounted on the walls of their booth was a selection of luxury handles, many of them designed in collaboration with
famous architects such as Antonio Citterio, Carlo Colombo, Rem Koolhaas and Zaha Hadid. Assisting in Milan was
Olivari’s Hong Kong distributor GID. “[We are] proud to help present the new collection of Olivari at the Salone del
Mobile this year,” said GID. “During the show our Hong Kong and China sales team members greet all the visitors,
especially [those] from China, to introduce four new models together with the existing prestige collection.” Olivari
was established in 1911, in Italy’s Piedmont region, and till this day remains a family-owned firm.

www.gid.com.hk info@gid.com.hk

Bathroom Tango
Also on display in Frankfurt for this year’s ISH was BLOOM, a wash stand, and GLOBO, a range of washbasins, both by
Italian-artisan manufacturers Glass Design. The two mesh together well, making the bathroom unit BLOOM + GLOBE.
BLOOM has four legs, two towel racks and a storage shelf, and is available in matt black or white, or in an “Old Brass”
finish. The circular GLOBO wash basin is made from crystal and comes in six colour options (four brand-new hues –
ottanio, storm grey, ruby red, and ginger – have been added to the traditional finishes of black and white). “BLOOM +
GLOBO is a design solution suited to functional, vibrant spaces as well as those of a compact nature, and can be used
for both residential and contract applications,” says Glass Design.

www.glassdesign.it
 <QSPKFDU
OFXT>

MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT – MISSISSAUGA, CANADA

New York firm Cooper Robertson has provided masterplanning

services for M City, a 16-acre development in Toronto suburb
Mississauga, the sixth-most-populous municipality in Canada.
Situated on the shore of Lake Ontario, the ambitious project will
deliver 10 high-rise buildings containing both residential and
commercial components, a pedestrian-friendly network of streets,
and two acres of public parkland. “Mississauga has realised that
long-term success requires long-range planning,” says Cooper
Robertson partner Donald Clinton. “By emphasising a pedestrian-
centric community with a vital mix of uses, smart, sensitive
developments such as M City show that seemingly conflicting
urban issues of growth and liveability actually have the potential to
converge in positive ways.” M City, owned by Rogers Real Estate
Development Ltd, is expected to take a decade to complete; work
is underway.

RETAIL HUB – SUZHOU, CHINA

Benoy’s Shanghai office is set to deliver Joy Breeze, a shopping complex in East China city Suzhou, to client COFCO. The project will have a gross
floor area of 300,000 sqm and will comprise a retail mall, shopping streets, a transport hub and a car park. Features of the scheme include a network
of balconies, rooftop terraces and public squares. Joy Breeze’s design draws inspiration from Chinese culture. “We were inspired by a passage from
the Analects of Confucius which speaks of former eras and the feeling of enjoyment in the springtime,” says Qin Pang, director of Benoy Shanghai.
“Our design has aimed to evoke these feelings and memories of happy spring days spent exploring new places.” Construction begins this year.

hinge 274_12
 <QSPKFDU
OFXT>

MUSEUM BUILDING – COSTA MESA, USA

Morphosis, an architectural studio led by Pritzker Prize-winner Thom Mayne, is to design a building for the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) in
Southern California. The new 52,000 sqft facility is to be situated on the campus of the Segerstrom Centre for Arts in the municipality of Costa Mesa;
it replaces the OCMA’s venue at Newport Beach, which closed last summer after 41 years of service. “The move to Segerstrom Centre for the Arts
fulfils the museum’s longstanding priority of better serving its visitors with an expanded programme of concurrent special exhibitions and installations
from the collection,” says OCMA board of trustees’ president Craig Wells. The new building will have nearly 25,000 sqft of exhibition space, a fifty-
percent increase on the defunct Newport Beach volume, as well as an additional 10,000 sqft for educational programmes, performances, and public
events; there will also be administrative offices, a gift shop, cafe, roof terrace and outdoor plaza. “Morphosis has designed an extraordinary new home
for the museum, which will support our mission of enriching the lives of a diverse and changing community through innovative and thought-provoking
presentations of modern and contemporary art,” says OCMA CEO Todd Smith. “The change will be transformational, as we continue to grow and play
an ever-larger role in Southern California’s dynamic arts scene.” Ground will be broken this year, with completion scheduled for 2021.

MASTERPLAN – NOVOROSSIYSK, RUSSIA

Zaha Hadid Architects have been selected to design a 13.9-hectare

masterplan for a waterfront development comprising a series of public
spaces and amenities, as well as facilities for international conferences
and trade fairs, in the Black Sea port. The project, which will consist of
nine volumes with a collective gross floor area of circa 300,000 sqm, will
be completed in phases, with the first delivering a hotel and various
facilities for civic, corporate and cultural events. “Setting the orientation
perpendicular to the sea, the masterplan ensures maximum open,
unimpeded views towards the sea, as well as a comfortable layout
considering the wind movements in and around the site,” says ZHA.
“This results in a configuration that is porous and well knit with the city
fabric, inviting residents as well as visitors into and around the volumes.”
First-phase construction begins later this year.
Renderings by VA
 <QSPKFDU
OFXT>

CULTURAL FACILITY – TULSA, USA

Seattle-based practice Olson Kundig has been selected as lead architect and exhibit designer for The Bob Dylan Centre, a facility dedicated to the
study and appreciation of the Nobel Prize in Literature-winning singer-songwriter. Housed within will be audio recordings, videos of live performances,
books and films about the artist, handwritten manuscripts, notebooks and correspondence, photographs and artwork, personal documents and effects,
unreleased studio and concert recordings, and musical instruments previously owned and used by Dylan. “This is a deeply meaningful project for
us – not only acting as architectural support to Bob’s transformational legacy and creative, disciplined force, but also in preserving the teaching value
of his legacy for future generations,” says Tom Kundig. The centre is to be located on Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard in the Tulsa Arts District. The
city is known for its folk and country music connections, and nearby are other musician-themed museums, including The Woody Guthrie Centre,
memorialising one of Dylan’s own idols. The Bob Dylan Centre will also house Dylan’s own archives. “I’m glad that my archives, which have been
collected all these years, have finally found a home and are to be included with the works of Woody Guthrie and especially alongside all the valuable
artefacts from the Native American Nations,” says the Nobel laureate. “To me, it makes a lot of sense and it’s a great honour.” Tulsa-based practice
Lilly Architects and audio-and-multimedia specialists Plains of Yonder are partnering with Olson Kundig for the project. The Bob Dylan Centre is
slated to open in 2021.

RESIDENTIAL BUILDING – VIENNA, AUSTRIA

Renderings © Zoom visual project gmbh

Austrian architectural studio heri&salli has been commissioned to design Forum am Seebogen, a residential volume that contains spaces for other
usages such as temporary exhibitions by local artists, flexible workspaces and public areas. heri&salli describes it as “a heterogenic project, where
living, working and imparting of culture form a fruitful symbiotic relationship, was developed”. The project was conceived on the premise that it should
only require a short period of construction and a modest budget, to deliver a “high-quality living space”. And in order to achieve these aims, the
architects employed modular design systems, with a view to exploring their efficacy. “With a special focus on the potential of modular system design,
a contemporary prototype was created,” says the studio. The client is Familienwohnbau, a Vienna-based developer specialising in building family
homes. Collaborating on the project are landscape architects Paisagista Liz Zimmermann and construction planning consultants Werkraum Ingenieure
ZT-GmbH.

hinge 274_14
 British engineering at its finest
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CARLOS Collection

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 <SFQPSU>

Milan, Italy
This 58th edition of the world’s most famous furniture fair left no one disappointed. As the centrepiece of a week of design-related
events in the northern Italian city of commerce and style, Salone lived up to its vaunted reputation as the foremost place to study
the best furniture in the world. Always bridging commerce with art, Salone is a wonderland for architects and interior designers,
presenting the highest-quality work, cutting-edge products, technological innovation, timeless craftsmanship, and ample examples of
the high art of furniture-making. It is organised under three categories: Classic, Design and xLux, the latter essentially marrying the
first two. Thousands of new products are unveiled here, some as clever tweaks of familiar forms and materials, others as genuinely
groundbreaking originals. Even the most established of brands in this field need to constantly refresh and innovate, which keeps
Salone brimming with excitement.

Visitors in the hundreds of thousands meander (or hasten) through the halls in mixtures of awe, lust, appreciation and, occasionally,
cynicism. Naturally, in a show with something for everyone, not everything pleases all eyes. The comprehensive scope of Salone is
almost mind-boggling; truly a phenomenon that has taken on a growth-life-cycle of its own. It owns its place on most design calendars,
and activity in the booths ranges from casual scanning to serious deal-brokering. Side events, seminars, lectures and presentations
round out the week, providing foot-soothing respites and sidebars and chances to pause and digest. The biggest names erect booths
that are like buildings, and you needed to queue up to get in, sometimes waiting for serious amounts of email-catchup time. Once
inside, you were swept along by the general throng, constantly photo-bombing without meaning to. Occasionally, it all felt like pure
chaos. But the celebrities here were always the chairs, sofas, tables and cabinets so lovingly framed, pedestalled and lighted. The
Oscars of furniture?

There are almost 200 countries typically represented at Salone – in other words, any place that makes a stick of furniture – and there
is simply no other event in this category that even comes close to Milan’s. Overwhelming? Absolutely. Essential? No question. Here
are some highlights from 2019:

DAS GANZE LEBEN

hinge 274_16
DIMENSIONE CHI WING LO

DURAME

E15
OLIVARI

MADE IN RATIO

NIKARI OBJEKTO
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WALTER KNOLL LUDWIG MENZEL

VICCARBE

PLANK RIVA 1920

 <SFQPSU>
Milan, Italy
In tandem with the Salone Internazionale del
Mobile, this 30th edition of Euroluce just about
sums up an entire industry under one enormous
roof. Unlike the furniture fair, the lighting event
lands in Milan every second year, giving it more
time to gather together innovations, artistry,
bling, and advances in technology. Indeed, it is
arguably the crystallised meld of art and science,
and it attracts buyers, critics and fans from all
over the world. This year over 420 exhibitors
turned up with the latest offerings, half of them
from outside Italy. The contents ranged from
decorative to outdoor, public to private, one-
offs to systems and even lighting application
software. There was lighting for hospitals and
government institutions, shows and events,
home automation and industrial lighting. Energy-
saving remains a principal topic of interest to the
field, relevant at all scales. Buyers and lookers
roamed the hall gawking, taking notes, making
plans and, often, deals. These industry fairs are
now central to the way modern supply meets
markets, usually through retailers, designers and
distributors, so an event as comprehensive and
well organised as Euroluce is basically essential.
For architects, interior and lighting designers,
of course, the sharpest target of interest is the
‘What’s new?’ question. In Milan, the answer
was, ‘Plenty’.
Amid the cacophony of choice for lighting
fixtures that is Euroluce, it is helpful to have some
manner of professional guidance, and one could
hardly do better than follow along with Zodiac
Lighting staff. The Hong Kong-based lighting
experts, in their over 30 years of business as `the
city’s premier lighting importer’, attend the fair
to visit their regular suppliers (some of whom
they’ve worked with for decades), keep an eye
on trends in the industry, and scope out possible
new partner-companies and products. Zodiac
feels Euroluce is essential for their work because
it collects together all the major – and a good
number of minor – players in the lighting field,
really summarising the continent’s achievements
in both technology and design.
As Ivan Fu, Senior Manager – Brand and Retail
Division of Zodiac Lighting, puts it, “Euroluce is
hinge 274_20
the world-renowned lighting exhibition that puts
people back at the centre of lighting design.”
The fair this year didn’t disappoint. Hundreds
of exhibitors, and tens of thousands of visitors
from all over the planet, roaming the aisles and
dipping into the booths, networking, shopping,
admiring… it might almost be said that the lighting
fair outdid Salone del Mobile in some ways. It was
easier to navigate, more manageable in size, and
more consistent in quality. There were, of course,
some duds among the jewels, but the excitement
generated by the huge temporary ‘showrooms’ of
Flos, Artemide, Vibia and others were matched by
the focussed intrigue inside the smaller booths,
including up-and-comers, and stalwart artist/
craftsman outfits revealing their latest one-offs or
sculptural lamps to a new audience.
In other words, there truly was something for
everyone, and if anyone at all arrived with even a
bit of scepticism, they left with genuine respect.
European lighting is alive and very well, indeed.
And somehow despite dealing essentially with a
fairly small-scale, outwardly singular-purposed
product [light fixtures], companies large and small
manage to innovate, create, originate ideas and
abilities to a remarkable degree. R&D is vibrant,
aesthetics are exceptional, materials ever refined
and added to. The lighting industry, arguably more
than the furniture industry, is a perfectly balanced
marriage of art and science.
At the technological level, the big players are the
obvious leaders for the most part, as they have
the budgets to support significant research and
testing departments, and the resources to try
lots of things and have many of them fail. The
larger companies also tend to commission major-
name outside designers and architects to design
lines for them, and those people aren’t used to
being told ‘it can’t be done’. So Flos or Delta Light
or Vibia can include significant technological
innovations under their roof and, sure enough,
at Euroluce 2019 they showcased impressive
advances in lighting technology, which since the
rapid adoption of LED, has raced into remarkable
corners of possibility. Wireless charging, minimalist
connections and switches, exceptional materials
and finishes, seemingly infinite choices regarding
the quality of cast light, and so on. It is impossible
to remain nonchalant about what these companies
are producing, and where they are leading the
industry. Euroluce had plenty of dropped jaws
and wide eyes this year… It was an assembly
of amazement.
On the aesthetic side of the equation, things
were at least as interesting. It must be said that,
evidenced by walking through the entire fair, while
there are still plenty of companies cranking out
tired designs of questionable inspiration (to be
polite), there were many more making genuinely
beautiful and original forms, shapes and solutions.
To a visiting architect and editor, it was probably
this which surprised the most. One sort of expects
lighting experts to push technological progress
on a regular basis. But how can these companies
continue to invent aesthetically? And yet they
do. New forms, references, tweaks and directions
flowed through the fair, and you never had to
walk too many metres before catching sight of
something you’d never seen, or even imagined,
before. Whether designed in-house or by some
commissioned starchitect, fixtures large and small
earned their rightful place among the very best
being made anywhere, at any time in history.
Trends? Perhaps a couple. Many companies are
bringing cluster designs to market, which can
be purchased in different quantities, and then
agglomerated into ever larger compositions by
architects, designers, lighting designers, and so
forth. This is clever; starting with a single small
fixture, it opens up almost endless variation and
lets end-designers be creative and original, from
project to project. Minimalism is alive and well,
but often done with verve and a bit of cheek or
wit. There were also purely sexy minimal lights
that will remain timeless once installed. Feature
lamps and chandeliers will always be important for
residential, hospitality and office projects, and there
was a king’s ransom worth of those, from the more
restrained to the bling-kings. Indeed, Euroluce
dispelled any notion that tastes have converged on
only one direction… The world wants it all, and this
fair provided it.
 While the highlights were numerous, some companies were a `must see’:
v
Brand van Egmond
Started years ago by William Brand himself a trained artist,
and still run and guided by him, the company has found
measurable success creating high-end lighting fixtures and
arrangements for bespoke clients all over the wealthy world.
Handmade following an intense process of model-making
exploration, the fixtures are labour-heavy and show it. That’s
helped make them desirable to sheiks and leaders and
celebrities and institutions, and kept the designer very busy.
There is deep research into metals and finishes and, naturally,
the brand doesn’t pump out new designs in spades. Instead it
focusses on single new concepts, following them through to
market or unique commissions. Updating classics with a new
twist, or taking inspiration from nature or the digital world; it
doesn’t really matter where the ideas come from, this atelier
is the kind of ‘old-school’ operation the bigger boys like
to emulate.

Flos
What do you say about one of the biggest names in
lighting? That they are tired and resting on their laurels?
That they are just about maximising profits? Not a bit of
it. The brand remains at the sharp forefront of design,
with the means to commission some of the world’s top
designers and architects. The results at Euroluce spoke for
themselves. If you could squeeze into their gigantic booth
for the crowds, you entered a world of lighting wonder that
reconfirmed – as if such reassurance were needed – that
Italy is staying put at the pinnacle of quality and research
and ideation. Flos doesn’t just throw money at projects, it
carefully selects, nurtures, cultivates and evolves long-term
relationships with designers, only bringing the results to
market when there is literally no way to further improve
on them.

Catellani & Smith

This small father-and-son company has held its niche
in the industry for three decades already, and while it
makes what are now its own catalogue classics, it’s also
very much involved in researching new design directions.
These are fantasies of light that range from the decorative
and elaborate to the uber-simple. An early acolyte of LED
technology, the firm has pushed its potential in every
collection, and it shows. This is a brand that proves you
don’t need to be huge to push boundaries, and that
sometimes small is just fine, thank you. Another name to
know and track, if you seek a way through the industry’s
ever-changing landscape.

Vibia
The largest Spanish company at Euroluce, this outfit is
comparable to Flos in reach, ambition and method. It
engages cutting-edge designs from remarkable talents
all over the world, and nurtures them through, in some
cases, seemingly impossible technological demands.
Running through the collection this year was a minimalist
elegance that unified otherwise entirely different forms
and concepts. This stuff is really hard to do, but Vibia keeps
doing it. The crowds were in awe.
Bocci
An Italian-named Canadian company that specialises in
amazing glasswork, Bocci had an ample booth this year (one
of the best-designed at Euroluce, in fact) that showcased the
latest evolution of its interests: gorgeous clusters of glass
orbs in unique colour tones and effects. Handblown, organic,
lyrical and dreamy, the designs are nonetheless thought-
through from the perspective of real-life applications,
installations and demands of the market. This duality of
aesthetics and pragmatism lifts Bocci to a higher plane in the
industry. But every single fixture seems like it was designed
for a one-off, museum-piece existence.

Tokio
This is a tiny outfit, really almost a one-man operation, but
it has already produced a small set of noteworthy fixtures
and series, driven by the unbounded passion of its leader/
designer. With the feel of a startup, Tokio studies technology
from a scientific perspective, then transforms that science
into modular artworks that happen to shed light. Clearly
embracing computational 3D design techniques, the
fixtures are ready for future-forward offices or residences…
or movie sets.

Studio Italia Design

This company is a midsize family operation now run by the
founder’s sons, though the patriarch still putters around in
the atelier. This year the company unveiled a cluster fixture
that was the centrepiece of its club-like booth. A big push
into new markets such as China has SID very busy indeed,
and it is hewing a path through the demands of art and
industry, hoping to widen the world’s appreciation of Italian
design and quality.

Pieter Adam
A small booth at Euroluce that acted as something of a
fantasy excursion. Stepping into the world of Pieter Adam,
who was himself present, is like a happy trip into colour, form,
reference and imagination. Maximal, quotational, original,
these crafted artisan pieces are conversation-starters and
eventual family heirlooms. With the collaboration of his
wife, who has initiated her own extraordinary brand, these
residential lamps feature animals, humans, wild fabrics,
luscious metals… and conjure a modern safari into realms of
whimsy and joy.

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A Chat with the Expert
Ivan Fu, Senior Manager
– Brand and Retail Division, Zodiac Lighting
h: Why is Euroluce important for Zodiac and why
do you attend?
IF: Euroluce is the world-renowned lighting exhibition
that puts people back at the centre of lighting
design. As one of the leading lighting companies
in Hong Kong, Zodiac Lighting endeavours to
import and showcase the latest lighting trends and
technologies to Hong Kong designers.
h: Do Hong Kong designers appreciate the quality
of good lighting for their projects?
IF: Zodiac devotes time to bringing brilliant ideas
to light the project up. And all the designers and
customers appreciate Zodiac products, as our
imported lighting all assure good quality and
excellent conditions.
CoeLux
A fascinating product line from a brand that emerged directly
from scientific research. CoeLux recreates the sun and the
sky… almost literally. It is a system that uses advanced LED
capabilities and super-high-tech glass to provide the closest
thing on Earth to the properties of actual sunlight. For the
many spaces that lack sufficient natural light, or simply want
more of it, even at night, CoeLux can provide. The possibilities
were demonstrated in a series of rooms in the booth, and
visitors were left gobsmacked. This may well be where
lighting is headed.
h: Are there any trends in new lighting that
excite Zodiac this year?
IF: To adapt perfectly to the space, some lighting
brands offer modular lamps whereby the user
can choose predefined references or create their
own configuration of the product, which breaks
through the design limits. And most of the brands
have created their own configurator web. It helps
designers to imagine the lighting outlook instantly.
h: Is the Asian market for lighting unique or
different in any way, from that in other parts of
the world?
IF: Asian market places more focus on valuable
materials (like glass, metal, etc). As precious
materials directly affect the quantity and the
quality of the light, it can also elevate the feeling of
a room and the level of illumination.
Penta
Another of the bigger outfits at Euroluce, Penta’s booth was
a gallery of past and present designs that expressed the
broad aesthetic grasp of the brand. Its catalogue included
some updated reissues of 20th-century classics, as well as
commissioned series from current name-designers. Both
indoor and outdoor fixtures were shown in the booth, which
itself qualified as museum-grade.

Delta Light
One of the biggest companies in the industry, Delta
skipped the crowds of Euroluce to unveil their own, super-
cool showroom and office downtown. Amid the throngs
squeezing through the space, one could view some of Delta’s
newest advances, not least in the lighting lab, where lighting
effects can be demonstrated and tested. There, Delta showed
the forward edge of after-installation controlling, from zoom
features to variable diameters achievable via Bluetooth. This
new flexibility of effects means designers and end-users gain
unprecedented control and potential even after fixtures have
been installed, opening up a world of possibilities. Delta’s
showroom/office may feel like a cutting-edge gallery or
nightclub, but there is serious science behind the flair.

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 Arpel

Arturo Alvarez

Lumina

Marie Martin
 <DPWFS
TUPSZ>

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For most of the middle class, in most countries,
work consumes a third of their 24-hour
day, or roughly half their waking hours. A
fair number work even longer. Many do
this in offices operated by the companies
they are employed by. So the character
and functionality of those offices ought to
be rather important to all those workers,
spending all those hours in them. Yet for
decades, most people frankly didn’t give
office design much thought. They showed
up, sat down at their desk, and got down
to business. They took short breaks to stretch
their legs, get some water or coffee, or have
lunch. Then, at 5 pm or perhaps a bit later,
they turned off their computer, picked up
their purse, briefcase or backpack, put on
their coat, and headed out the door… only
to repeat it all starting the next morning.
Mondays were a slog, Fridays a bit cheerier,
Wednesday was ‘hump day’. Sometimes,
the offices had windows onto outside
weather, parking lots, streets or even a bit of
greenery. The lucky ones who had risen up
the corporate ladder were assigned nicer,
roomier, corner offices, with bigger windows
looking onto, well, the same stuff. Assistants
– they used to be called ‘secretaries’ – sat in
a common pool outside these corner suites,
at the beck and intercom-call of their bosses.
Waiting areas clustered near the reception
zone, or in smaller pods of space near executive
rooms. There were conference rooms that usually
explored the outer realms of monotonous design,
pantries that nailed the definition of ‘neglected
kitchen’, and restrooms that… actually, we don’t
know what those were like.
Then, sometime in the most recent decade or so,
everything changed. A revolution occurred, one
which banished banality and welcomed visual
delight; which sent functional habits out the door
and replaced them with radical new ideas for
using space. Such as shared desking, no enclosed
offices, nooks for reposing in, event spaces,
multiple breakout zones, and pantries that could
pass for Michelin-starred mensas. Other crazy
ideas crept in, too: cool furniture, free snacks,
original artworks, atriums with slides, napping
booths, colour! Many people, particularly those
working in the new technology fields, credited
new technology with the changes. Mobile
devices, for instance, and the ubiquity of Internet
connectivity, allowed personnel to work anywhere
at anytime, liberating them from specific physical
spaces. Other people, especially those working
for Starbucks, credited the social evolution that
was happening in coffee joints, where people
brought colleagues or computers to continue
their work over longer time periods, fuelled by
ever-taller vessels of weirdly flavoured lattes.
Still others, mostly those under thirty, pointed
to the superior intelligence of the youth,
membership of which demanded newness on
principle, and had no intention of working in
places that looked fusty with age or at all like
their dad’s old workspace. No matter who was
truly responsible, companies and designers
responded by jumping into action, and turned
office design on its head.
Today, any self-respecting firm, in almost any
field, offers its staff interesting, comfortable,
casual, efficient, amenity-laden workplaces.
Or they sub it out to WeWork. And the interior
designers and architects commissioned to
realise these places are mining the deeper
reaches of their imaginations to be inventive
at a time when, alas, the ‘new’ is starting to
look awfully same-same. After all, once the big
guys (Google, Apple, McDonalds, LV, Citibank
and so on) have created offices cooler than
any of their staff’s homes, what’s to follow? This
annual study aims to answer that. So we take
a look with a simple question in mind: is there
still fresh fodder in the Office Design field?
BANDA AGENCY
KIEV, UKRAINE
BALBEK BUREAU
Photography by Yevhenii Avramenko
For the offices of a creative agency in Kiev, function meets fun, in the assumption that
staff who feel comfortable and inspired will produce better work, and clients who come
to the firm for creative ideas will appreciate an environment already full of them. The
programme wasn’t particularly unusual: open workspaces, a couple of meeting rooms,
two lounge areas, a bar/party/presentation spot, and something connoting reception.
The client, Banda Agency, desired an unconventional setup that would make its
personnel feel comfortable and almost domestic, the better to nurture their artistic sides,
as creative types are delicate personalities that need to be coddled.
The intentional eclecticism of the scheme matches ad hoc furnishings, both mod and
retro, with a collection of very different sub-spaces taking advantage of the building
that is located in a historical section of the city. There are pods of efficient, modern,
open desking, and then a series of nooks and corners that are individual. A constructed
‘barn’, complete with timber boards and a shallow pitched ceiling, tucks into a corner
of the plan as a visible insertion, not quite touching the ceiling slab. This houses the
executives. There is another glass-enclosed meeting room with a giant oak table paired
with modern office chairs under factory lamps. But the intended headliner of the project
is a ‘swimming pool’ meeting room built into another corner. It is enclosed in glass panels
hinge 274_28
for sound insulation, but is a fully-formed, blue-tiled plunge pool – complete with
stepladder – in the middle of which is the meeting table. No verification yet if it can
actually be filled with water to keep tempers cool. Certainly it’s a conversation
piece.
Discreet artworks appear here and there, and lighting is as varied as the furniture,
though generally leaning towards attractive metal-factory or laboratory in character.
Tonality is an important part of the design. The general hue is pale grey, including
the polished concrete floors, the better to set off splashes of bright colour occurring
sparingly throughout the office. Besides the bright blue of the swimming pool, there
are touches such as a lipstick-red, studded leatherette door, a bright floral rug in
the ‘barn’, and the rich tones of natural wood and leather in occasional chairs and
tables. But it is obvious that Balbek opted for a restrained use of colour tones; the
variety was to be focussed at the scale of spatial enclosures and bigger gestures.
Control is important here, lest the project seem just a flea-market of momentarily
interesting ideas. After all, as comfy and informal as Banda wanted its employees to
feel every day, it is still a professional-services business that has to get things done. Its
clients will see that right away, even in their bathing suits.
KCI GROUP HEADQUARTERS
KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN
CHAIN 10 ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN
INSTITUTE
Photography by Kuo-Min Lee

The site for this corporate base was dense and confined. Traffic, pollution, noise,
abundant hot sunshine, passersby… How to create a workable environment with a bit
of serenity for personnel? As well, the building had to offer a strong exterior presence
representative of the client’s corporate identity. The resulting design certainly addresses
these challenges – and with verve.

The building, though not overly large, immediately commands the intersection of the
city. It is a contemporary set piece in steel, concrete, glass and greenery that announces
interesting planes and fine proportions. The mass is broken into smaller volumes that rest
atop or aside one another, juxtaposing colour tones, scales and reflectivity. Nearer the
corner of the site, a raised concrete wall sets the mood right off the bat, hinting at a
‘shield’ from the city corner. It is raised off grade on slender posts, so that it clearly reads
as a deliberate screen, not unlike a signboard, though in this case unadorned with
graphics. The corner quadrant itself is left as a spatial void for the entrance sequence, a
slightly raised forecourt accessed via broad steps, with lovely landscaping. It doubles as
a staff garden space. The upper storey of the two-level HQ is clad in almost-black metal,
to contrast with the attractive concrete ground-level band. This upper box cantilevers
over the lower floor, and its windows are slightly concealed behind vertical louvres,
hinting at a programme change upstairs, and a bit of coy introversion.

The interiors of the project are almost domestic in scale and character… well, if that
means the private villa of a rich, tasteful client. Rooms adjoin and flow into each other,
but are deliberately individual in use and furnishings. There is no bland stream of open
space here. Internal landscaped ‘light courts’ hide behind the metal screen of the
facade to offer lovely, diffused natural light to the spaces. There is modern furniture and
discreet artwork throughout, and you get the sense that staff here feel like part of a
large, industrious family. Views through or across spaces, particularly the exterior garden
ones, which vary in scale, make for a constantly interesting yet becalmed atmosphere
throughout. And there are areas that are more reserved and private in feel, perfect for
concentrated work or conversations.

This is the kind of ‘corporate’ environment guaranteed to strike pride into its occupants,
and incite envy elsewhere.

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SINNERSCHRADER STUDIO PRAGUE
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
KURZ ARCHITECTS
Photography by BoysPlayNice

This fresh new space occupying an industrial shed in Prague, is for German digital
agency SinnerSchrader, and was designed for its staff, rather than for clients. That is
important because, given a tight schedule and budget, Kurz Architects had to set
priorities quickly… and stick to them. They and the client decided that the personnel
were to be uppermost. The solution lays out a rational use of the rectilinear floorplate,
with clusters of work tables for the teams at SinnerSchrader, and marked by a diagonal
central axis that acts as a circulation spine. At either end are communal gathering and
lounging areas, one with the pantry, one near the entrance. A series of smaller meeting
and brainstorming pavilions are set up along the spine. After that, it’s up to the materials,
furniture and colour tones to give the space its verve.

Kurz states,“The space emits calmness, clarity, strength and transparency. It focusses
on the human, not on company hierarchies or to impress others.” And this is largely
accurate. The design is both casual and businesslike. Not too much is made of the lovely
industrial shell that houses the space, though it is visible throughout, and contrasts very
nicely with the light-factory personality of even the new bits. Translucent polycarbonate
boards, Marmoleum, metal sheets coated in zinc, wool carpets and trendy casual
seating scatter across the office but never shout for attention. The popular tendency
towards attention-and-credit-seeking cutting-edginess is thankfully absent here; by now
we’ve seen ‘young’ office design for years, with all its tropes, and Kurz is very wise to
steer clear of what have become cliches. That doesn’t mean SinnerSchrader is stuffy
or ‘elderly’… on the contrary, this is clearly a place where bright new-economy brains
work. But the pantry is straightforward and cheerful, the ‘fun’ hanging chairs are few and
welcome, and there is no sign of trying-too-hard artwork or giant graphics. A turquoise
tone wraps all the steelwork overhead, to unify the space with its most distinct marking.
Galvanised corrugated sheeting complements the glowing, polycarbonate, ribbed
panels of the meeting pavilions; both materials conveniently discourage the attachment
of post-its or whiteboards. The wood floor runs a blond warmth underfoot, save for
the charcoal pathway of the central axis, and perimeter walls are cleanly white. The
wonderful height of the skylighted ceiling is the prominent star of the space, as it should
be. Kurz knows when to get out of the way.

To what extent the quick turnaround time of the project helped keep things understated,
only the designers know. But the benefit of the doubt is justified: SinnerSchrader is
restrained but not dull, and presents a persuasive unity that meshes very well with the
given spatial envelope. One might argue that the same design emplaced into a generic
office floorplate might induce yawns. But that’s irrelevant; what the designers have
done is marry the client’s DNA with a very particular space, and make the relationship
feel natural.

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THE NEST
WARSAW, POLAND
BEZA PROJEKT
Photography by Jacek Kolodziejski and Beza Projekt

This quirky coworking office space is a bit of a slap to the recent trends of industrial-loft-
like cosharing office environments so popular across world cities. It groups ochre yellow
with a strong sky blue and rose brass to come up with its colour palette, and then makes
colour the main component throughout the design, right down to the stationery. Other
tones make guest appearances, but always in supporting roles: cherry red or purple
upholstered chairs, skin-pink here and there, a bit of jade turquoise in ‘bamboo’ tiles
wrapping the bar, a touch of grey here, a dab of black there… you get the idea. Floors
are in lively terrazzo or carpet. A marble-pattern wallpaper was created for the structural
walls, lest anyone cast eyes on a simple surface of white plaster or bare concrete.

The Nest is a six-level venue packed into a narrow, vaguely wedge-shaped floorplate
with floor-to-ceiling glass windows on three sides of every floor. The sharp, urban building
was designed by G5 Architekci, and is distinguished in exterior character: a svelte, glass-
sheathed ‘flatiron’ volume on a prominent corner of the city. Its relatively small footprint
means users can occupy different parts of the facility depending on requirements or
availability of an open desk or meeting table, and on repeat visits not feel bored. But
throughout The Nest, all furniture and fittings, materials and colours are consistent, so if
you lack a fondness for turquoise, you might opt for the nearest Starbucks instead; the
colour is relentless. The furniture was also custom-designed by Beza, and leans towards
an indirectly retro vocabulary of rounded corners and double-toned desks and tables
and cabinets, as well as planters and casual seating nooks. It’s rooted in traditional office
furniture, but tweaked into conformity with the project’s tonal rules.

The sponsoring notion here was a ‘private club’ atmosphere, more than an anonymous
coworking hall. That works well with the different, smaller-sized floor levels. Comfort and
cosiness were ambitions, hence the plethora of soft furnishings and fittings, rich textures
and, presumably, rich colouration. As work is now, for many people, blurred into non-
work time, environments and definitions, The Nest wants its users to – nearly – ‘feel at
home’, not that many homes are quite this vibrant. As you ascend The Nest, different
floors diverge from each other in subtle ways: reception and showroom, coffee bar
lounge and hot desks, child-friendly area, events, office, conference room.

Beza Projekt have delivered something with a definite personality. If one resisted the
specificity and sugary palette for being a bit too strong for serious work, you could argue
that coworking spaces are aimed precisely at occasional workers, travelling types in
need of a place for a day or two; people who drop in for a meeting or a couple of hours
online, then dash out for their next rendezvous. This is not the everyday workplace of a
constant staff working for one company. So why not have a little more oomph to set it
apart? Blue is new.

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INFINITE CREATIVITY TECHNOLOGY
KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN
PENY HSIEH INTERIORS
Photography by Hey!Cheese
This medium-sized office for an interactive gaming company in Taiwan is functional
and dense, with a main hall for personnel laid out in a conventional grid of desks, plus
a few key ‘design’ spots of flourish to set up a characterful identity. In fact, the designer
Peny Hsieh deliberately contrasted elements to bring a charge to the space. Case in
point: straight lines and curves. Another: “roughness and delicacy” in surface textures
and materials.
To appeal to the youngish demographic working in today’s tech firms, workplace
designs have to make at least an effort at edginess, amenities, forward-leaning spaces.
The main workroom of Infinite Creativity is hardly revolutionary: a big space in greys and
white, under a raw concrete ceiling, revealed ductwork, and hung fluorescent-tube
light fixtures. Banks of desks covered in monitors outline the stations the staff sit at all day,
and there’s a vague sense of worker-bee industriousness in the air. But that is presumably
balanced by adjacent spaces of a bit more interest, screened off by a long grid of white,
open shelving that mimics an empty bookshelf wall. Behind this is the reception, entry
and executive zone, with a series of prettily enclosed meeting rooms and offices behind
steel-framed glass panels that hark back to Paris or Milan, circa 1930. Dark, polished
flooring runs a tonal carpet under all the grey and white, while discreet bits of blond
wood appear here and there in cabinetry. In the reception and waiting area, brass-disc
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fixtures drop spots of accent lighting over sofas or easy chairs, in recognition of the
overhead realm. The furniture here is intentionally eclectic, a mix of this-and-that small
chairs and sofas lined along a carpeted ‘runway’ against the white screen.
There is a cosy library-lounge room with casual seating, placed at one corner of
the plan from which to enjoy large-windowed views over the city. Not far from the
waiting area is a pantry for staff – a facility now compulsory in most offices. The star of
the design, though, is unquestionably the reception zone. At its centre is a sculptural
desk in concrete plaster that seems to grow out of a winding ‘ribbon’ that descends
from the ceiling and wraps around a structural pier. This waist-height feature is a
plastic, sensuous opposite to most of the straight lines of the office. Sheathed in
polished silver-grey hue, the form splashes the client’s personality onto visitors’ eyes
the moment they step into Infinite Creativity. In a sense, it is indulgent and even a bit
obvious, as if a single formal metaphor could summarise a company or its output. But
because the ribbon so directly contrasts with the many straight lines and grid patterns
visible all around it, the device sort of works. Yes, it’s unsubtle, but it’s also restricted to
this one move, so it’s less hamfisted… as if the professional, earnest staff working here
also wanted to show their lighter side. In design, playfulness is a serious component.
CREATIVE CREWS OFFICE
BANGKOK, THAILAND
CREATIVE CREWS LTD
Photography by Takdanai Raktawat or as noted

Bangkok is not a pretty city, let’s be honest. But like Taipei, it hides aesthetic riches
behind its outwardly modest looks. It is full of creative people doing exciting work in
design, fashion, art, music, social media and technology. Tucked away inside banal,
makeshift buildings, these busy bees of youthful energy and inventiveness toil away
happily, producing things of beauty and true innovation. In fact, one could argue that
the ‘hidden away’ aspect of the city is a quite essential component of its character.
You have to go looking for things in Bangkok, digging under the mess, struggling through
the chaos and dysfunction, to discover what’s really there. And this office space for an
architecture-and-design firm is in that sense the perfect example of the larger truth. It
is concealed behind the weathered walls of a narrow, seven-storey block in the city’s
Talad Noi district, amid alleyways, a Chinese shrine, and plenty of other equally humble
structures. Of course, that must have been part of its allure for the designers. They set
about connecting two adjoining row houses to create their new work lair.

In a way, the generic, concrete-frame structure offered great freedom. Although the
district is confined by planning restrictions, these buildings are wonderfully simple in form:
regular grids of posts and beam-frames in reinforced concrete, with forward and rear
elevations essentially freed from structural interruptions. It’s about as straightforward a
method of enclosing space as you can think of. Cue the talent.

Floors 1 and 2 are leased out for extra income. Above these is a floor of meeting spaces
with an adjacent double-height, carved-out corner that works like a semi-outdoor
garden space. This can be used for events, lunch, meetings, presentations, and so forth.
By removing the floor slabs of two bays at the corner, CC produced a sectional feature
that opens the block up and introduces a kind of sky-terrace feeling. A sizeable tree sets
the mood. This space can also be subleased out when it’s not in use. Floors 4, 5 and 6
are the office levels, and a staff dormitory and lounge area claims the top floor. Smaller
pantries are scattered on odd-numbered levels. The result of this stacked programme
is an almost domestic feeling to the CC Office. The nature of the design, however,
counters that somewhat. The scheme leaves virtually intact most of the ‘scars’ and marks
of previous users, many of whom were residential. This lends a wonderfully rich patina
on many surfaces, such that you can’t immediately discern what’s recent and what’s
historical, right down to a charming crayon sketch of an imaginary island on one of the
walls. Columns and beams are scuffed with use and banged edges; walls artfully retain
marks and even stains in some cases, if they look good. The original concrete staircase
was replaced by a steel element that connects the floors, but the diagonal marks of the
previous stair are left visible to tell the tale. And a number of contextual details, such as
scissors gating, were introduced as quiet references to Bangkok’s un-posh side. Materials
include plywood, stamped steel, concrete floors, and aluminium.

The result is a sort of palimpsest, with new layers laid upon old and ‘melting’ into them,
rather than covering them up. The personality of the office is raw, ugly-beautiful, sexy.
There are dim corners and surfaces that appear dirty, then something new and more
deliberately attractive. It makes for a place of excitement, and invites exploration – two
elements on the list of what architects seek every day.

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Photography by Art4D Magazine

Photography by Art4D Magazine

EDGELAB STUDIO OFFICE
GUANGZHOU, CHINA
EDGELAB
Photography by Xiaobei Zuo (Enwan Photography)

Designed for the use of designers. EDGELAB’s own office is squeezed into a six-metre-high
shopfront space in Guangzhou, dividing the section into two levels by adding a second
storey using steel. This lifts the actual working space above an open-feeling, gallery
reception area dubbed ’T.E.M.P.’, that can be used for everything from greeting and
meeting clients to late-night mini-raves. Art shows, performances, cocktail parties or even
subbing it out for a bit of cash… The lobby gallery opens onto the street through huge
glassfront windows, letting the world watch and making EDGELAB a kind of fishbowl of
creativity. An enclosed meeting room floats like a temporary pavilion in one quadrant;
the new staircase rises in a sibling framed pod. And guess what? The meeting room can
actually be moved around, opening up different layout options for the gallery space
as needed (the staircase stays put). A crisp white (the dominant colour of the project)
reception/bar organises the front section while doing functional duty, and views all the
way through to the garden at the rear ramp up the transparency factor, literally and
figuratively. By using steel ‘sandwich’ panels to support the upper storey, intermediary
columns were obviated, further liberating the T.E.M.P. space. Suspension cables assist with
the load, clamped to upper-roof beams.

Upstairs is a cosy communal workspace loft fronted by a full-width horizontal window

onto the world outside. A couple of narrow openings have been carved into the floors,
connecting ground and first floor in terms of light, air movement and sounds. Although
they eat modestly into the usable area upstairs, these apertures connect the whole
place, and bring spatial interest to the section and layout of the work level. There is a
larger section left open directly over the exhibition area nearest the main entrance,
setting the mood right at the get-go.

The materials and colour tones used here support the artistic-laboratory vibe of the
company. Everything is either raw concrete or white paint. Steel structure and trim are
put in the white category, along with most of the furniture, diverging from the more
common trend for black. There is occasional plywood for warm contrast. It makes for a
fresh, bright and cheerful ambience throughout EDEGELAB, and certainly meshes with
conventional art gallery hues. Because the building looks directly towards a large park
across the street, lush greenery joins the general palette, making the white option seem
even more well considered. Indeed, from the second-level ribbon window, a verdant
band of green appears almost like a photorealistic landscape painting. Hard-toiling
designers will be able to recharge their weary imaginations – and monitor-taxed eyeballs
– many times a day.

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OCAD U CO
TORONTO, CANADA
QUADRANGLE
Photography by Adrien Williams

This lakefront outpost of the institute’s main campus a bit further north takes full
advantage of four-metre ceiling heights and perimeter walls of glass to explore OCAD’s
ethos of experimentation, innovation and creative problem-solving. The art-and-design
education efforts are well supported in the faintly edgy interior design, using colour,
graphics, pixellation and functional variability to enable CO, as the institute is known, to
maximise pleasure and efficiency. Because CO engages in varied methods of teaching,
from traditional seminars to workshops and labs, the space had to stay out of the way,
but still provide meeting rooms, open nooks and corners for spontaneous confabs, and
large, well-lighted spaces that occupants could use as needed, including by rearranging
tables and whiteboards, etcetera. The entrance area sets the mood. Under a high
ceiling doused in cheery orange (welcome during Toronto’s dim, long winter months), is
a casual seating area set upon a colourful carpet, backed by giant ‘CO’ letters in lipstick
pink. With the wall of glass just behind giving onto a broad cityscape, the atmosphere of
professional adventure is set in motion. Nearby, a green-toned nook of student lockers
is handy, and there is a dark blue kitchen/pantry/cafe area open for use by anybody.
Blue tones also appear in the executive offices, just to keep those folks a little less stuffy.
In fact, colour is central to the design by Quadrangle. It provides implicit spatial focuses,
where walls and doors aren’t necessary, leaving the whole 13,000 sqft facility more
flexible and open. For instance, along wide corridors, nooks punch into the wall to furnish
built-in bench seats and task lighting. These are bathed in strong, individual colours, and
invite small conversations or individual work.

The largest area of the floorplan is given over to the ‘Transit Zone’, which can be opened
up as a single huge space for events or gatherings, or sectioned off by movable panel
doors into medium-sized labs or teaching rooms. There are also some more conventional
meeting rooms enclosed in acoustic glass. Pixellation, a motif borrowed from the Wil
Alsop-designed original building a few kilometres away, appears here and there as
a reference.

CO’s general character of ‘serious playfulness’ fits well into this newly transforming
part of the city. The eastern waterfront is rapidly sprouting flashy condominium towers
and innovative commercial and institutional architecture, and its future spread is on
the books, with Google’s prospective city located just a bit further east. Toronto has
rediscovered its lake waterfront, belatedly, and the students and staff at OCAD U CO
are at a frontier. Quadrangle captures a bit of that spirit in the colourful, user-friendly
spaces of this project.

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MICRO-CITY FOR CREATIVES
MONTREAL, CANADA
IMPERATORI DESIGN WITH LUMIGROUP
Photography by Stephane Brugger
The field of office design keeps getting more interesting, though now by increments
and subtle details rather than revolutionary changes. This new space for a 300-person
audiovisual production company in Montreal brings the previously disjointed staff teams
into one large space on a single floor spanning 53,000 sqft in total. Within that vast area
are many zones and individual spaces, lest personnel feel lost in its expanse. Variety ruled
over unity, as a deliberate eclecticism won over the imaginations of the client during
the design process. This would be a lively, informal set of adjacent spaces and areas
only loosely linked by the existing polished concrete floors, exposed ceiling ductwork,
and regular rhythm of windows wrapping three sides of the formerly industrial block. The
disparate components do share an underlying vibe and character, acting something
like a party of sympathetic, but unlike, personalities. This makes for a visually interesting
environment for the staff.
Pods of interest appear as cubes, pavilions, small nooks and the like. Workers can
congregate, cluster, nest or hibernate in different numbers depending on mood or
circumstance. Nowadays it is assumed that staff don’t just sit at their desks all day,
staring at monitors or working through stacks of paper; they move around, drink coffee,
brainstorm or concentrate, anywhere and at any time. So offices need to be ready
to both stimulate and accommodate their creative juices. And let’s face it, making
meeting pods out of polycarbonate panel doors or mini-rooms out of plywood isn’t
expensive. Furniture can be IKEA-casual when paired up with a bit of colourful artwork or
cleverly mismatched in bright tones. Neither permanent staff nor company clients really
want marble, carpeting or dark wood veneers these days – they are happier seeing
originality expressed through unexpected materials collaged carefully. Everyone’s style
eyes are growing sharper, presumably.
hinge 274_44
Micro-City is quite a bit just that: a miniature ‘city’ of different spaces, positive objects
and negative voids, that houses different people doing different things, and through
which you can wander pleasurably in curious exploration, to find what’s around the
next corner. Colour tones overall are restrained in backdrop – those lovely, smooth
concrete floors, white ceilings, silver metal ductwork, and pale timber secondary
beams – the better to let chairs, tables, artwork or infrequent feature walls or screens
take centre stage or pop out in contrast. The huge lounge area spreads away from
a large pantry bar and feels like a trendy hotel lobby… perfect for presentations,
casual working on mobile devices, or just taking a break from working. It’s ironic that,
nowadays, an actual office can resemble a hotel lobby in being inviting for work
(and that in terms of atmosphere both lean towards coffee shops where people
now go to be productive). That’s what has occurred in both design genres, not that
anyone’s complaining.
What perhaps most benefits Micro-City is the enormous overall scale of the office.
It allows a more spacious layout than normal, and the by-now-familiar sprinkling
of ‘special’ pavilions or features is greatly advantaged by larger gaps between
them. It provides ample square metreage of pure circulation space, which in turn
encourages roaming. You can imagine a typical workday here encompassing many
meandering strolls, perhaps whilst in conversation or on a device, which a standard
office layout wouldn’t allow. ‘Trips to the water cooler’ at this office have got to
be highlights of the daily routine. Imperatori Design and LumiGroup have together
concocted a place that feels awfully generous to its lucky occupants.
MACQUARIE R&D CENTRE
BEIJING, CHINA
CUN DESIGN
Photography by Ting Wang

The client operates in the field of robotic arms, and this 400 sqm space in Bejing’s Galaxy
Soho development was to be a microcosm of what they’re up to. Zaha Hadid’s buildings
here swoop and bend in curvaceous glory, so CUN DESIGN referenced that in two
meeting rooms located at either end of the plan. In fact, the overall footprint of the raw
space was curved to start with, itself a result of Soho’s rounded forms, and not the easiest
plan shape to deal with. It was not unlike a banana with both ends sliced off. It also
suffered a low ceiling height of, in places, a mere 2.1 metres (which more or less ought
to be made illegal). With a programme of fairly conventional needs, such as President’s
office, conference rooms, display area, and reception, fitting the square into the round
hole took up the designers’ energies.

Perhaps to supply a counterpoint to the existing curves, CUN DESIGN placed a square
box of a room in the centre of the space, which functions as an open office area. Taking
inspiration from a BMW motorcycle, the scheme uses elements in functional relationships
that may seem jagged or unsmooth, but which actually allow productive use when
combined. In a nod to the German vehicle, an orange band of LED lighting runs through
the spaces like a racing stripe, unifying the different bits and pieces and dolloping a
little sex appeal in the process. This fixture rises and turns, bends around corners and
reappears after interruptions, almost playfully. Materials follow suit: plastics, translucent
glass, stainless steel and so on.

There is no doubt that robotic components also pushed the designers in a certain
direction. The meeting room is a white zone straight out of science fiction. Dark planes
contrast with white panels in the monochrome design, all of which sets up nicely for the
orange lighting strip. Medium grey flooring runs underfoot, the better to soften all that
darkness a little. It is an adult, sensuous place, yet tilts towards the near future in just the
way one would expect for a robotics company. Time to boot up.

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NORTH DRIVE HEADQUARTERS
TORONTO, CANADA
REFLECT ARCHITECTURE
Photography courtesy of the architects

North Drive is a Canadian developer interested in emphasising community, nature and

‘honest’ materials. Their new headquarters sits across the street from one of the city’s
major public parks. So a logical starting point for the design concept was nature, and
that led to the idea of a ‘mini-park’ running through the interior design. High Park is a
neighbourhood of green-lined streets and mid-sized, modest single-family houses. Larger
condominium buildings are starting to enter the fray, especially along the Bloor Street
corridor fronting the park itself. For North Drive’s offices, which double as a client sales
centre, expressing the brand’s ethos was vital. It is a very contemporary space, with
ample raw concrete, black metal and glass. But it’s gentrified a touch, by pale wood
floors, blue felt vertical panels, and bursts of flora, in mini-atria, courtyards and even on
the ceiling.

From the street, it might be mistaken for a high-end furniture showroom. And inside it’s
not overly explicit that this is a busy workplace. There is an inviting pantry bar with bright
red stools, a glass-enclosed meeting pavilion, a very comfortable reception/lobby area,
and discreet lighting throughout. The chalky blue panels that grace the main desk area
are a stylish and pragmatic solution to the open-office-or-cubicles question. They provide
privacy but don’t chop up the space, and happen to lend this area of the plan a subtle
distinction. All this is packed into a modest floorplate, but the darkened ceilings and very
pale flooring help underline the horizontal dimension, letting the eye wander further.
Reflect Architecture has presented an image of chic sensitivity and attention to detail,
which hopefully does reflect its client’s works.

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GRAMMARLY OFFICE
KIEV, UKRAINE
BALBEK BUREAU
Photography by Andrey Bezuglov or Yevhenii Avramenko

For this digital writing-assistance firm with other offices in New York and San Francisco,
growth prompted a move into bigger digs, and Balbek Bureau was tapped for the
1,750 sqm commission. Aside from the standard need for desk space, the client required
24/7 operations and significant server-and-IT equipment space. Given that the premises
were located on the top two floors of a mid-height office building in the city, the
designers had the advantage of lofty ceiling heights and expansive views out the glass
curtain walls… which happen to follow a bulbous curve that describes the building’s oval
shape in plan. The scheme lays in groups of open-office areas, with desks for the tech
workers, and then sprinkles around special pavilions and feature spaces, from reception
to presentation forum to Skype booths for international communications at all hours of
day or night.

Most of the main-floor space is double-height or more, and the principal design feature
is a winding, sensuous suspension bridge that connects a few mezzanine spaces, such
as meeting rooms, nap rooms, lounge spaces and so on. This bridge, which consumed
nearly 25 tonnes of steel in its realisation, overlooks the entire lower space, so that if the
boss is doing laps up there, staff might want to ensure they aren’t on Facebook. There is a
little bit of the panopticon character to the element, but it’s mainly a positive alternative
place for workers to stretch their legs in, take a personal phone call, or simply enjoy on
their way to a meeting or nap. Because it is designed as a lightweight element without
vertical supports beneath it, and because it curves and winds into and out of view, it
makes quite an interesting character in the whole scheme, and helps connect – even
when viewed from below – the disparate spaces of the Grammarly plan layout, which is
itself somewhat complicated.

Other aspects of the design are the use of bright colours here and there, and of
signature furniture items. Both of these inclusions help to humanise the space and lighten
the mood. There are also television rooms, a campfire corner with real fireplace and
grass-green carpeting, rough-board timber walls and bookshelving, and so on. That this
office is occupied by a tech firm is immediately evident from the design, and it includes
most of the usual, by-now-mandatory ingredients (pantries, privacy nooks, play areas,
etcetera). The question is always what the designers do with the recipe. Balbek Bureau
has hewn to a familiar approach, but had a fairly large canvas to work with, especially
in section, which allowed the suspension bridge invention. Luckily so, as that walkway
feature literally elevates the project above the predictable.

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SANTANDER DIGITAL GENERATION
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
TODOS ARQUITETURA WITH ENTRE ARQUITETOS
Photography by Ricardo Bassetti

This is a ‘retrofit’ of a massive corporate campus of Santander, the international banking
giant, for its digital departments. It is a campus in the true sense, where the outdoor
space between and around the grouped buildings is almost as important as their
interiors. In order to bring some sense of organisational logic and readability to the
precinct, colour was used extensively, as a kind of coding mechanism. Of course, it also
embodied some of the innovative spirit of the work that ensues here, and hews to the
current trends for brightly toned office amenities and features. Each of the three principal
structures was attacked in a different way. First Gate, which is basically the entrance to
the campus, was wrapped in a metallic skin, culminating in a lipstick-red pavilion that
thrusts forward in contrast. After dark, particularly, this gesture acts as a beacon to the
whole place.
The smallest structure of the ensemble is Colab, a centre for creativity and innovation,
with a series of ‘laboratories’ scattered around its perimeter that each feature
different types or styles of furniture, again to help identify sub-groups or research
teams within the whole.
Linking all of these is a general formal approach, with quiet background materials
and tones sparkled with brighter, more specific spots and exceptions, as well as the
enormous outdoor courtyard plaza that each of the structures opens towards. This is a
shared, collaborative ‘garden’ space enjoyed by all, with areas of shade, greenery,
and even small, open ‘idea pavilions’ where sudden inspiration can be caught on
whiteboards or discussed with fellow brains while on a smoke or lunch break.

The largest structure, called Big Data, was gutted of its partitions and cubicles to provide Santander Digital Generation doesn’t exactly do anything new or revolutionary.
giant open-plan office areas punctuated with meeting pavilions in glass and bright But working at this scale is exceptional in its own right, and weaving together such
colours. These small enclaves in the overall ‘plaza’ of the floorplates, both organise a complex programme and vast quantity of requirements into anything remotely
movement and furnish necessary places for quieter, more focussed labours and unified is no small feat.
discussions. They may be playfully toned, but they are nests of productivity. As in the
other building, floor patterns of colour groups suggest programmatic structure – teams
and departments can associate with their own colours, helping to break down the
enormous size of the workforce.

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Y20
HANGZHOU, ZHEJIANG, CHINA
WJ DESIGN
Photography by Qiang Shen

Slightly expanding the normal definition of ‘office space’ – or perhaps merely following
it into current territory – the client for this project, which is located within a wetland zone
outside of Hangzhou that is home to startups, investment firms and the like, wanted
a place for work, conferences, presentations and exhibitions. Its site played a big
role in defining the character of the scheme, as it is set upon a lovely small lake amid
lush greenery. The plan of the building was already unusual: a semi-organic creature
sprouting branches or arms from an L-shaped base that wraps one corner of the lake.

The main entrance is a giant glazed window framed in white concrete, facing onto
a small forecourt space that is well used by staff and visitors. This has been sunken in
section to excite the relationship with the water level of the adjacent lake, making it feel
almost nautical, and setting the general mood of the project. Inside, plenty of wood
in light tones was introduced to ‘soften’ the heavy concrete structure that existed.
Together with minimally detailed glass enclosures, stepped levels and many built-in
furniture arrangements, a new world has taken over. Good indirect lighting was crucial
to the mood of the spaces, which are vaguely assigned functions according to their
position along the snaking plan layout. The narrow cross-section of the wings helped
deliver natural light to most areas of the office, and even more openings were cut into
perimeter walls to enhance this, offering pleasing views to the gardens. High-quality
modern furnishings accent the nooks and corners of the plan, and as you move through
the spaces, each section appears almost as its own mini-project. But it all holds together
through materials, colours and lighting.

There is no question Y20 is a calm place to work in; there are no ‘back office’ halls of
packed desks and bright lights. It is consistent from end to end. With outfits such as
WeWork presenting attractive alternatives to traditional office design, private companies
such as Y20 in a sense need to justify their own spaces, and using interior design as one
of the methods is obvious. WJ Design has produced a place that you want to be in,
whether to work hard or otherwise.

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 <QSPKFDU
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Olympe de Gouges University Residence

Toulouse, France
ppa architectures, with scalene architectes and AFA Photography by Philippe Ruault or as noted

Photography by Antoine Seguin

This new campus addition includes student accommodations for 615,

plus three staff apartments, communal spaces, landscaping, and campus
integration. It is a cluster of blocks forming a common courtyard garden, set
amid low-rise houses and buildings on three sides, and a motorway on the
fourth. Clad in white panels, the buildings seek a modest, straightforward
presence that slips easily into its context. The architectural approach
emphasises flexibility and interpretation. The blocks mostly raise themselves
up on a ground level of posts, the better to free the public realm for visual
connection and circulation. The resulting greenspace is a park that weaves the
campus into the neighbourhood more easily.

As a gesture towards student life, there are plentiful activity amenities, as well
as spaces for relaxation, social interchange, and killing time. Even at the heart
of the scheme, in the enclosed courtyard space, the openness of the buildings
is on display. Wide terrace corridors let rooms spill outside to the communal
realm. The walls here are panelled with plywood, lending a nice touch of warm
domesticity to the otherwise effectively toneless spaces. Staircases enclosed
in wire mesh run from ground to fifth floor, and sights are enlivened by the
comings and goings of fellow students staying here. The more opaque facades
clad in the white aluminium panels sport ‘shutters’ that are angled open in
random patterns, making these walls interestingly changeable.

hinge 274_56
 The buildings are kept hyper-simple in structure, layout and aspect; they are not unlike blank
frames for inhabitants to interpret and modify as they go. The rooms are bright, white, minimal
but well outfitted, with custom furniture that answers needs and then gets out of the way. Beds
serve as sofas, kitchen counters extend to become desks. No Hong Kong resident will find the
suites small, but in France their 16 sqm is modest, hence this is compensated by the roomy
corridors in front, obviously intended to foster sociability. A clever programme of graphic signage
and icons was developed to suggest uses and to characterise the complex. But students will not
have problems knowing Olympe as theirs, at least while they study here. It is a fresh, youthful
scheme that captures a sense of optimism and purpose. In both its private and public areas, the
residence seems exactly what is called for.

Photography by a+b
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SIS PREP Gurugram

Gurugram, India
PAL Design Group Photography by Suryan//Dang

One of PAL Design’s specialties, kindergartens

and preschools, reveals this latest outing in
India: a three-storey facility serving toddlers
from one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years of
age. Adhering to the belief that educational
spaces can also be comforting and fun, the
scheme of the prep school offers a series
of rooms and areas dedicated to varied
activities, all unified by ample daylighting and
pale, cheerful colour tones. Rounded edges
also characterise the project, the better to
‘soften’ the ambience (and prevent bruises).
The trick with interior design for children is to
avoid cliches and patronisation. SIS PREP does
that, seeming an adequately serious venue
for teaching, even while acknowledging that
play is a vital part of doing so. Creativity is the
lynchpin here, as it should be. The students
are gently challenged to interpret, participate,
and enjoy the furnishings, climbing pieces,
openings and references.

There are areas for sports and play, like a

double-height room with basketball hoops
and pink, soft padding around the edges,
or a wonderfully popular room with rope-
netting floor for bouncing above open air. The
necessary storage cupboards are introduced
with whimsical features and graphics, and
corners again padded just in case. And there
is a plethora of sitting/climbing surfaces to
let the kids express energy, or take a rest with
a book or toy. A highlight is an open-domed
reading nook with a structure that doubles
as shelves wrapping a blue bench. Pale wood
veneer appears throughout the scheme as a
unifying counterpoint to the pinks, blues and
greens. And the washrooms are like spas in
miniature, with luxurious sinks as sculptural
objects and walls in white-and-grey mosaic tiles.

In fact, SIS PREP is fairly high-end throughout,

feeling as much like a private club as a daycare
centre. The function-designated spaces,
such as for music or for art, complement
other areas open for interpretation, and,

hinge 274_58
importantly, most of the components overlap or share visual connections,
so that there is a constant sense of communal activity. But there are also
quieter nodes to pull away and calm down in… spaces perhaps used by
teachers as often as by students. SIS PREP is another in a lengthening
oeuvre of educational spaces for very young people that PAL Design Group
is developing, each elaborating on similar themes and manners,
and collectively making a statement about what helps kids and their
minders thrive.
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Warehouse Gym
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
VSHD Design
Although a lot of things in Dubai are really huge, this swank new gym in the
city’s Design District occupies a mere 600 sqm in total, and squeezes in a
workout area, cycling studio, circuit-training zone, and juice bar, along with
the necessary support services such as locker rooms and bathing areas. Not
only was the space limited, but also, the floorplate was irregular in shape, as
it had previously been designated for use as three separate retail spaces. The
project needed to resolve the space and layout issues, and present a finished
space that captured the personality of both a boutique fitness facility and the
design-forward ambience of its location.
One obvious direction might have been to use a retread of the common ‘hip
industrial warehouse’ style, but that seemed boring. Instead, VSHD came
up with a tweak of all that, hitting on a hybrid model that nods to warehouse
simplicity but also to a more chic, luxury retail component. Materials are kept
hinge 274_60
Photography by Nik and Tam
towards simple on the scale, but not so predictable. There are handsome
surfaces of concrete bricks laid in patterns, buffered by sections clad in gold-
copper metal alloy, glass and steel, and trendy lighting fixtures, all uniting to
convey a sense of strength but not roughness… perhaps like the bodies that
will use this place?
Warehouse Gym exploits its location, with views out of glazed curtain walls
over the design district and city. The reception desk doubles as a juice bar,
with casual seating adjacent and visible from the street, as if beckoning
passersby to come in and get a bit healthier. The idea is for this space to
interact with casual visitors, even some who may stop in for a refreshment
and never get sweaty. This approach downplays the usual ‘workout’ intensity
in favour of a more informal, club atmosphere. But the business isn’t relying
on selling smoothies; framed windows into the hardcore areas, or presenting
workout equipment as
works of art, pepper the
experience. At the centre
of the plan is a semi-
transparent ‘cube’ that
can adapt itself to different
uses, from meetings to
stretching to group workout
classes.

Warehouse Gym carefully

remains on the simple
side of the formal scale,
and avoids tripping into
glam luxury territory. That
in itself is something a bit
radical in Dubai, a city not
famed for restraint. But
coming here to burn a
few calories doesn’t mean
you can’t appreciate fine
details, or how materials
can benefit from contrast,
or how good lighting makes
not only humans but also
surfaces and tones look so
much better. This design is
definitely in shape.
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Xiamen HAIGAN Xiaoyouyu Seafood Restaurant
Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China
Xiamen Fancy Design & Decoration
Inserted into the ground floor of an uninspiring industrial building, and sporting
a tongue-twister of a name (at least in English), this large seafood restaurant
nonetheless rises above the humdrum to present an essay on detail-heavy
interior design, allowing specific, small-scale interventions to produce an
introverted world of its own. It is a dense, visually layered approach to design,
with nary a minimalist corner in the place, but it does set out some interesting
juxtapositions and manages, perhaps against the odds, to convey an overall
image that is unitary.
The space is huge, and has been subdivided by platforms, steps, half-walls,
water features and built-in furniture into a ‘landscape’ which patrons meander
hinge 274_62
Photography by Jin Weiqi
through on their way to dine, passing a plethora of intimate nooks and corners
with tables or architectural flourishes. Any design company with ‘Fancy’ in its
name basically starts off with an extra challenge, but the firm does have some
ideas and flair, if not yet a strong editorial bent. The first smart decision dealt
with colour tone: HAIGAN is literally all in black and white and greys, which run
as a common denominator through the place. It also allows the very rare bursts
of bright colour – red, usually – to pop out like lipstick on a corpse, startling and
welcome. Most of the dining seems to happen in VIP or private rooms, though
many of these are partially open to the larger space. An ’S’ vaguely organises the
plan layout, forcing patrons to wind their way through the restaurant, presumably
to better enjoy all of the design input along the route. That is all well and good.
A low-height mezzanine was squeezed into the section, and significant portions HAIGAN, it may be in the realm of volume. There is just so much going
of the footprint were given over to non-seating visual treats, such as fish ponds on that it risks being blurred. The eye needs occasional rest to appreciate
or non-programmatic elements such as concrete shelves. Lighting is generally intensity; you can have too much of a good thing. Still, for residents of
low, which helps enhance the compositions in vertical dimension that present Xiamen with a hankering for lobster or scallops, they might learn a thing or
themselves at every moment. The designers are clearly affectionate towards two about design at this venue.
concrete, and there are a number of small, quite handsome details in the
stuff that appear without apparent reason, but which do actually improve the
experience, together creating a kind of internal ‘garden’ that, with time, visitors
might explore and interpret. It’s as if the Fancy crew had toured the works of
Italian master Carlo Scarpa, and then come home all enthusiastic to translate
them on a bigger, Chinese scale. No crime in that. If there is a weakness in
 <QSPKFDU
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Muh Shoou Xixi
Xixi Wetland National Park, Hangzhou, China
goa
This restful, exquisitely laid out project is a combination of new buildings and
renovations to existing structures. Programmatically it is a hotel set within
a delicate, alluring wetlands national park; a nature preserve of small lakes,
modest forests, and the various birds and insects that inhabit them. There
were five older buildings on the site, scattered in proximity to each other
among the water bodies. The new portion of the complex, housing reception
lobby, restaurant and banquet hall, sits in its own precinct nearby, and is an
essay in restrained contemporary architecture. The designers at goa needed
to ease the property into modern functionality, update the stubby blocks, add
the public portion, and ensure that it all cohere, as well as not disturbing the
ecological viability of the sensitive site.
Connecting the different elements was one of the first planning challenges of
the commission, as there are considerable distances, not to mention large
extents of water, between them. Subtle pathways used by guests and others
by staff were the answer; the result feels very much like an organic parkland
in which one comes upon the buildings as if by chance. Existing persimmon
hinge 274_64
Photography by Shiromio Studio
trees were undisturbed as the new routes and structures were carefully
positioned into the wetlands. A thorough tree survey was also conducted
at the outset. Sustainability and ecological care were the cornerstones
of the overall effort, and the spaces and forms resultant declare this
approach categorically.
The architecture is orthogonal, complex, low-lying and unabashedly modern.
Horizontality dominates the outlines of the buildings, with indoor-outdoor
spaces expertly merged and overlapped, as if the buildings had grown out
of the ground over time. Narrow proportions, slender components, humble
planes and textures all conspire to make the gentlest of impressions,
allowing nature due prominence from all perspectives. That said, the
architecture also enhances views and frames outlooks, orienting itself
towards stands of trees or flat surfaces of the lakes such that one wants
at times to wander forward, at others to pause and contemplate. Materials
are varied, from wood and stone to rough steel and concrete and tile. Yet
they are all of a family, merged into compositions that emphasise modesty
and respite. Lighting design is equally thoughtful, always selected and situated
to softly beautify or nudge attention towards something beautiful. Furnishings
are modern but quiet.

The hotel thrives upon the seasons. In warm weather, it is a calming retreat
from the bustle of modern urban China; a reminder of pleasure derived from
what nature provides us. In winter, it transforms into a white world of silence
and rest, reduced to essential forms dusted with snow and ice. Muh Shoou
means the ‘final fruits left on the trees after harvest’ – a gesture by farmers
of the past representing their intention of leaving something for animals, in
the hope of attracting good fortune for harvests the following season. It is a
term referring to nature and generosity. The architects at goa have created
a further interpretation of this in hard matter, capturing a set of moods that
seem intricately connected to this lovely place. Despite its relatively modest
scale, the hotel seems a worthy place to make a pilgrimage for beauty.
 <QSPKFDU
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Pizza 22
Moscow, Russia
DA. bureau Photography by Sergey Melnikov

Basement caverns, salt warehouses, pizza... What’s not to like? This mostly underground pizza-
parlour in Moscow is situated in a former salt works with two levels of basement storage that now
constitute the main restaurant space. With no access to natural light – though less an issue in
the evenings, when most people eat pizza – the designers had to effect a welcoming, cosy place
for patrons to linger in. The answer, besides artificial lighting cleverly concealed, was light-toned
materials and custom-designed furnishings, plus plenty of potted trees. The colours stick to greys,
black and white, with crucial accents of vermilion, such as in the dramatic steel staircase linking
basement and ground-floor levels. The perimeter walls of old brickwork were painted chalky white,
and smaller details are in black steel. The floors are in a white, cracked-tile pattern that feels
almost like an outside patio, and picks up precious light and reflects it. Other areas of flooring
are in raw concrete. The planters themselves are in speckled, terrazzo-like concrete. There are
hanging features of louvred steel discs in red and black to enliven the overhead areas.

Luckily, the ceilings of the lower level are very high, and gently ribbed in attractive brick vaults.
Thanks to the intermediate-level mezzanine overlooking it, this lowest room feels less like a sub-
basement. An open kitchen acts as a visual stage towards one side of the lower-level space,
behind the red stair. The latter, because of its bright contrasting tone and position, is deliberately
stagey, rendering arriving diners temporary celebrities as they descend into the crowd; a metal
‘red carpet’ on the diagonal.

Pizza 22 is a party-like room (great for private parties) that goes a long way to ‘solving’ its inherent
spatial drawbacks. The industrial vibe of the new design fits tightly with its site, and when you
remember the space used to be filled to the brim with the city’s salt, you feel like ordering another
cold one… which is just the ticket for F&B establishments.

hinge 274_66
 <QSPKFDU
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Ecole Maternelle La Ruche

Perthes-en-Gatinais, France
TRACKS Photography by Guillaume Amat

Set upon the edge of a park near the centre of a historic town in the region of
Siene-et-Marne, this simple project for a kindergarten immediately announces its
diagram through section, elevation and materiality. It is crystal clear, and straddles
tradition and modernity in as few words as needed, something like a physical haiku.

On so many levels, the building is appealingly straightforward and thus ‘readable’. It

lines up its rooms in a programmatic hierarchy following the kids’ own chronological
growth. The sequence of single-storey pavilions are joined together under equally-
angled pitched roofs – alluding to classic drawings by children, as well as the
roofscape of the village nearby. The height of the roofs corresponds to the varying
width and length of each piece of the ensemble, again following functional logic.
They all hold to a single plane on one elevation, facing the park, but push out
and pull in on the opposite flank, as needed. Bigger, taller halls hold bigger uses
or groups. A set of three near the centre of the plan mark an access point and
maternal area. The building is modest in overall scale, and by being all on one level,
offers easy access and circulation to staff and small attendees. It also encourages
unity and overlap, as you can see what’s going on throughout, and feel other nearby
parts of the school at all times. A linear corridor gallery runs down one side of the
plan as a lively spine to the scheme.

The interior spaces are fresh, bright and high-ceilinged where appropriate. The
classrooms feel not unlike little houses for the children to attend each day, and

hinge 274_68
materials inside pair up white walls with plywood ceiling boards and pale wood flooring. All the
principal rooms feature large windows onto the greenery just outside. That external part of the
project was important: a garden space for play and learning, including an area of raised planters
in an ‘Educating Garden’. There is some hard surface for practicality, along with plenty of woodchip
zones for safe play.

The school is structured in timber, and clad in wood strips that form patterns on the elevations, as
well as zinc cladding on roofs and some walls. At the entry zone, the roof structure continues as a
portico under translucent white panels. This space is more than a drop-off for parents – it is ideal
for rainy-day fresh-air activities. The wood struts that clad the elevations provide an economical
answer to the question of how to enliven the pavilions. Literally and formally, these facades do a lot
with quite a little, and abstract the school’s aspect just that little bit more, the better to deliver the
intended imagery. This is a settlement for learning.
 <QSPKFDU
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Arabica Coffee
Kuwait Abu Al Hasaniya
nendo
The eponymous Japanese designer Oki Sato - known everywhere as nendo
- has turned his talented imagination to an ever-wider range of challenges,
and now ventures closer to actual architecture projects. This corner coffee-
shop in Kuwait is an outpost of a popular Tokyo company, and brings a spot
of Japanese formal precision to the warm, arid Middle Eastern nation. The
concept is appealingly simple, and divides the square plan along a symmetrical
layout that points directly towards the angle of the entrance door. At the back
wall – two walls, actually – rests the counter serving coffee and sweets, against
minimalist racks supporting large bags of coffee beans. The graphic simplicity of
this wall, which is the only opaque vertical surface in the space, is strong, and
puts attention squarely on the beanbags as the source of what patrons come
to enjoy. The linen bags are kept behind a layer of glass, as a sort of enhanced
image, not unlike a reliquary or sacred vault. Given coffee’s rise in importance
to daily life worldwide, the move feels about right. The servery counter is all in
white, and so are the actual coffee machines, grinders and brewers, the better
hinge 274_70
Photography by Takumi Ota
to hew to the overall, faintly clinical vibe. This also keeps the tonal underline
on the few other colours allowed here, not least the tan, linen coffee sacks.
This whole rear service section of Arabica Coffee is raised about a metre
above base-floor level, and the rest of the space is stepped into three
tiers of amphitheatre seating, which wrap around a 90-degree bend at
the centrepoint, letting visitors all face outwards to the city. Tiny tables on
brass stems are spaced apart rhythmically along the steps, so that cups
and plates have somewhere to sit, too. It’s really a single viewing pod,
with nary a ‘bad seat’ in the joint. Even the staff behind the counter watch
over the whole space. The pathway to order and receive your coffee is
protected by a skinny brass railing, keeping it separate from those already
sitting down to sip. The seating area can accommodate up to 30 people
at a time, and more can step outside to use the terrace, where part of
the concrete floor projects forward to act as a bench. Two substantial
structural columns frame the interior, conjuring a sort of bullseye from
the doorway. The glass windows and door are frameless – in many light
conditions they seem to disappear entirely. At night, Arabica Coffee is an
attractive ‘fishbowl’ hard to resist entering. You get what nendo was up to
when looking inside after dark: the rising section together with the gentle
tonal darkening towards the rear acts like a magnet.

nendo’s designs, at all scales, capture a sweet zone between minimalism

and figurative warmth. They are always friendly to the eye, expertly
detailed and manufactured, and ideally proportioned. As he tiptoes into
the field of interior design and architecture, these qualities come along
with him.
 <QSPKFDU
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Denning House
Stanford University
Stanford, California, USA
Ennead Architects
Stanford University’s academic reputation precedes it. Its architectural one is
almost as laudable, as the institution is considered to have one of the loveliest
university atmospheres in the US. But the most familiar buildings at Stanford
adhere to a particular contextual genre and era. This new 18,000 sqft
addition to the institution goes another way. Denning House is home to a new
facility at the university: the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program, which invites
collaboration between distinguished scholars and students working on a variety
of issues. The building offers these smart people classrooms, dining room,
meeting rooms, and many casual, unprogrammed nooks and spaces – both
indoors and out – to bump into each other and spark intellectual brilliance.
The project’s site is unique, set beside Lake Lagunita on what was previously a
hinge 274_72
Photography courtesy of the architect
parking lot, and surrounded by picturesque California Oak trees. It is bucolic and
redolent of the state’s superb climate and ample sunshine.
To take fuller advantage of the site, Ennead put the more public spaces up
on the second floor, where they could overlook the views, and moved the
administrative, conference and service spaces to grade level. You reach Denning
House primarily via a curved, pleasing ‘forest pathway’ leading to the porch of the
building and then the lobby, then up the public staircase to the main level, with
its expansive glass walls towards the visual reward. The building curves gently on
its lake-facing elevation, and attaches a long, somewhat narrow outdoor terrace
there, where occupants frequently carry their thoughts or conversations to.
The character of Denning House is particular and strong, largely because it
is realised almost entirely in Douglas fir and cypress wood, both for structure
and cladding. With its informal, compartmentalised massing and verdant
site, it becomes something like an oversized treehouse or retreat, more than
a stuffy academic institute. You could be inspired to big ideas here… or lose
your thoughts to the opposite, perhaps just watching the birds. The use of the
wood is moderated for different surfaces. It includes open screens, patterned
decorative sections, and straightforward vertical boarding. The fact that almost
all surfaces are in wood guarantees a consistency to the mood set at Denning
House. This building doesn’t just add the stuff where it’s prettiest; it seems to
emanate from trees.
There is a nice tradition of intellectual retreats in America, and this one
eases itself right into that. It is a welcoming, humble building that offers its
amenities and facilities on open hands. No one will be rushing to finish up
and get home. And in so far as Denning House hosts thinking on solutions to
global problems, its architectural respect towards nature, in both aesthetics
and sustainable technologies, is a fine symbol. Ennead Architects have
fashioned a warm, intelligent place… which seems very ‘Stanfordian’, come
to think of it.
 <QSPKFDU
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Swarovski Manufaktur
Wattens, Austria
Snohetta Photography by David Schreyer

Think ‘Swarovski’ and you immediately reach

for your sunglasses. Few retail brands conjure
‘bling’ more readily. But kudos to the company
for making their sparkly crystal products into
a respectable, lucrative business and a name
known worldwide. If any cynicism remained,
another bit of proof that the company is fully
mainstream is their choice of A-list architecture
studio Snohetta to design their fresh
manufacturing-and-design centre. This expansive
facility gathers together most elements of the
company under one skylighted roof, streamlining
functions and staff teams for increased synergy.

The building fits tightly into a slightly trapezoidal

site – basically a wide rectangle with an angled
front wall. The exteriors are staid, metal-clad
walls that give only the vaguest hints of the
polished baubles being created and worked
with inside. There is a handsome, glass-curtain-
walled courtyard elevation that faces an existing
sibling building (linked via a bridge at level two).
Inside, the lumens ramp up significantly, both
from ample daylight and artificial sources.
Everything is white and bright. The vibe is a
cross between a laboratory and a corporate
HQ. Clients can actually come here to work with
the company on custom-design items or larger
projects, and prototypes or samples can be
produced hyper-fast, right onsite. The idea of
merging clients, production teams, researchers,
artists, technicians and machinists (no mention
of accountants?) under the same roof renders
the building multivariant from a functional point
of view. Thus the fairly open-plan approach to
the space. There are some smaller, contained
spatial pods at Swarovski Manufaktur, but for
the most part, this is a lofty, single volume in
which a multitude of activities take place, right
down to lunch and coffee at a centrally placed
pantry kitchen.

The roof sports 135 skylights that indirectly

wash the hall in natural light. The colour
palette is stainless-steel grey, white, beige or
transparent… acres of glass subdivide spaces

hinge 274_74
or provide acoustic control. There is a wood-veneered area for displaying
some of the company’s wares and holding client meetings in; a kind of
semi-retail space within the building. Floors are either blanched carpet,
blond wood or large white tiles. Major walls and ceiling are white. Partition
panels are white. Machines are… white. A sizeable, central amphitheatre
structure – not in white, but close to it – rises up to provide a casual
seating area for presentations or breakout chats. It takes full advantage of
the high ceiling height of the hall. A mezzanine space occupies part of the
floorplate, nestling some more conventional office space underneath. There
is an absence of large-scale architectural gesture at Swarovski Manufaktur,
of the kind one might have anticipated from a firm such as Snohetta.
However, at the much more subtle level, there are clues that design minds
were here. Overall, though, given both client and designer names, the
project is understated and direct. It’s a ‘roll-up-your-sleeves’ kind of building.
Which suits its daily occupants just fine.
 < G V M D S V N >

Doha, Qatar
Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Photography by Iwan Baan (exterior) and Danica Kus (interior)

hinge 274_76
Becoming something like the
go-to man for Middle Eastern
mega-museums, Jean Nouvel
has unveiled an astonishing,
unexpected entry to the genre
in Doha: a national cultural
institution of nearly unrivalled
scope. It is destined to drop
jaws and spark debate, but at a
minimum, it has achieved what
its clients no doubt hoped for:
increased attention to the tiny,
oil-and-gas-rich state.

The site is waterfront and

elongated, fronting a segment of
the city’s more banal high-rises.
A motorway and park separate
it from the water’s edge. The
programme is ambitious but
typical for these types of facilities:
plenty of exhibition space, service
areas, storage, lecture and
meeting halls, restaurants and
gift shops, and a courtyard that
joins the museum to the historic,
and now restored, Royal Palace,
which has been incorporated
into the experience as a kind of
climax and contrast.

The concrete building is made

of a series of tilted discs that
overlap, conjoin, interrupt and
crash into each other like some
mega-collision of outer-space
vehicles. The discs are pale
sand in tone, and dusted with a
delicate patterning of lines that
evokes many things, from Islamic
mosaics to the fissures of terrazzo
floors, or the natural veining in
marble. Nouvel has made vast
surfaces of concrete seem fragile
and ornamental, yet remain skin-
smooth and pretty, all without
sacrificing the expressive strength
of the discs. Possibly the cleverest
moments – when Nouvel and his
team demonstrate their deftness
with enormity – are when the
more vertically set discs touch the
flat ground plane as pier supports.
That no ‘secondary’ system of
components was needed to float
the roofs is testament to a level
of formal skill that ought not be
taken for granted; it would have
been so much easier to do this in
other ways. But thank goodness
for the scheme’s almost ruthless
 adherence to a unitary formal concept; by staying
with a single, clear idea, the architects have been
able to push it so much further. Nouvel cites the
desert rose – a clustered aggregate of mineral
crystals formed naturally in arid and seaside places
– as his inspiration. And, yes, the museum does
seem somehow ‘shaped’ rather than constructed.

It is a building that changes form as you view it

from any different spot. Take it in, then walk two
metres and repeat: it will have evolved before your
eyes. It can seem robust or feminine, otherworldy
or historical and familiar, threatening or magnetic.
And always it caresses the huge sky overhead with
those rounded shapes, seeming to look upward
itself, from shaded eyes. The glass, when it appears,
is recessed and darkened, intentionally protected
from Qatar’s brutally hot climate. The building
shades itself. Inside, it provides a gently moderated
version of its discs, with some floors tilted slightly,
walls and ceilings echoing the angles from outside,
but less radically. The galleries are necessarily

hinge 274_78
varied, and there are dark spaces and bright ones,
large ones and small ones, as you move along a circular,
1.5 km route through the exhibition halls. The plan is
basically indescribable, appearing like an intestine or
bulging worm bending its way into an oval ring that
eventually frames the palace.

But this project was never about the plan, with all due
respect. Rather, it was – is – all about the three-dimensional
verve and beauty of its suspended discs. It is a giant,
ruffled, silk petticoat just fallen to the floor. One would
have thought you can’t do this sort of thing, at least in
the staid, permanent stuff of architectural matter. But it
turns out you can. Enormous, immodest, radical cultural
or national institutions springing up left, right and centre,
sponsored by oil riches or hierarchical political systems, or
even egomaniacal billionaires, have provoked elements of
backlash with justification. But we need also to remember
that grand architecture was always produced by power
and money. Really good buildings don’t evade their political
or social associations entirely, but they are given the chance
to rise above them.
 Next in hinge

Five stellar Focus features that dine, live, teach and reflect.
Photography by Brigida González

Library Kressbronn a. B. by Steimle Architekten

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