Architectural Series by Andrés Gallardo Albajar

La Muralla Roja est devenu un vrai terrain de jeu pour les photographes. Designé par Ricaordo Bofill, les murs roses et les dizaines d’escaliers tournants du complexe ne cesse d’attirer des artistes du monde entier depuis des années.

Après une première série intitulée La Muralla InfraRoja, le photographe espagnol Andrés Gallardo Albajar revient avec une seconde série sur ce bijou architectural. Il présente cette fois une magnifique série photo dans laquelle il s’amuse avec les perspective et les jeux d’ombres.







Bathhouse spa with sensory deprivation tank opens in old Williamsburg soda factory

A 1930s soda factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has been transformed into bathhouse with a subterranean spa influenced by Scandinavian saunas, Russian banyas and Turkish hammams.

Bathhouse by Verona Carpenter Architects

Founders Jason Goodman and Travis Talmadge collaborated with Manhattan firm Verona Carpenter Architects to reinvigorate the space to be a unique venue for social bathing called Bathhouse.

The 600-square-metre underground spa is lined with original brickwork and geometric matte-black tiles. A custom aqua and white tile mural by illustrator Amit Greenberg displays an Ancient Roman-inspired bathing scene as a focal point on the back wall.

Bathhouse by Verona Carpenter Architects

Among the globally influenced therapies are two red cedar saunas: one “tropical” with more humidity and the other with less moisture that is more typically Finnish-style.

There is also a steam room, a trio of thermal pools – including a traditionally Russian cold plunge – and multiple heated marble slabs adapted from a Turkish hammam.

Bathhouse by Verona Carpenter Architects

The pools are surrounded by 10 private treatment rooms with original vaulted ceilings.

Programming incorporates ancient wellness rituals and modern recovery techniques developed by sports professionals, such as athletic massages, stretching, head-to-toe scrubs and cryotherapy.

The spa also has a sensory deprivation chamber with an isolation tank designed by Float Labs, which is saturated with Epsom salts to create a feeling of weightlessness.

“Float Labs makes the only tanks that are UL-certified (a global safety certification), and ours is the only one on the East Coast,” Goodman added.

Bathhouse by Verona Carpenter Architects

In the women’s locker area is a “ritual room” with a single cast iron bathtub that sits underneath a preserved 30-metre-tall brick smokestack that’s been illuminated.

Bathhouse’s facilities also include a restaurant. Two separate street-level entrances were created to access the two, but the interior space is free flowing.

Bathhouse by Verona Carpenter Architects

“The original entrance had a ladder leading straight down to the basement level,” Goodman told Dezeen. “There was no real ceiling because of the height of the smokestacks, so we had to construct an entirely new ground floor.”

A handmade cement-tiled desk sits in the spa’s reception, leading into a custom concrete walkway flanked by plant-filled infinity mirrored boxes.

Bathhouse by Verona Carpenter Architects

New York restaurateur Akiva Elstein designed Bathhouse’s street-level eatery with waxed canvas banquettes, pine wood accents and industrial ironwork.

“Our guests can just put on a robe after enjoying the baths and head up to the restaurant for a seasonal meal,” said Goodman. “It’s all meant to be a very social experience.”

Bathhouse by Verona Carpenter Architects

Bathhouse joins a number of contemporary facilities tapping into the benefits of the communal bathing culture, as explored in a 2016 exhibition curated by Jane Withers. Examples include Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals in Switzerland and a sauna in Gothenburg, Sweden, designed by Raumlabor.

Photography is by Adrian Gaut.

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The HoitBox helps you cut iCloud fees by being your own personal secure home-based server!

You shouldn’t have to Marie Kondo your phone every time you run out of space on your internal storage… and neither should you have to pay monthly fees to store your photos on someone else’s cloud server. It isn’t just a waste of money, it’s also unsafe because technically that isn’t your server. With the ever-increasing numbers of subscriptions we’re being bombarded with, a cloud-based backup service is just entirely avoidable. Think of the HoitBox as your personal server that resides inside your house. Easily accessible over Wi-Fi, the server sits in your own home and is owned entirely by you. No subscriptions or annual/monthly fees and definitely lower chances of some other company secretly changing their terms of service and getting full access to all your data… or worse, selling it.

HoitBox lets you own your personal data. You can back up your devices and media onto your own cloud server via your own Wi-Fi network. You don’t need to rent out a server from Apple, Amazon, Google, or Microsoft, and more importantly, you can upgrade your storage by simply stacking a new drive onto the HoitBox. Each drive-block has a terabyte of storage, which should easily let you back up nearly 15 of your 64gb smartphones. If you want to go a step further, store your media on the HoitBox and you don’t need to pay Netflix or HBO for movies you already own and have a downloaded copy of… or even Kindle for the PDFs in your ownership. The peace-of-mind of a dedicated server lets you save potentially thousands of dollars annually, and lets you know that your data is safe in your own home, not on some offshore server farm.

The power of HoitBox is its ability to simplify and domesticate the cloud-storage system. With a modular design that’s easy to upgrade and delightfully minimal to look at with its ABS and Aluminum body, and an app that poses practically no learning curve, HoitBox lets you back up all your devices, from your phone to your laptop or even your DropBox, bringing all your data back where it belongs… in YOUR hands.

Designer: Aesop Ghim

Click Here to Buy Now: $594 $700 (15% off). Hurry, for a limited time only.

HoitBox: Easy Mass Cloud Storage With No Subscription Fees

Break free from storage limits and monthly fees with your own personal “plug & play” cloud. Find that file you need wherever you are—instantly. Have all your digital content in one place, in the privacy of your home or office, and backed up to a device you trust.

For Everyone. Setup HoitBox in 30 Seconds

HoitBox is so easy to set up that all you have to do is pair your device via Bluetooth and connect to your network via Wifi.

As Much Storage As You Need

When you need more space just keep on stacking (up to 3 bays). Their expandable, stackable drives give you up to 24TB. That’s like 12,000 hours of movies or 4,800,000 photos!

Instantly Access Your Stuff

HoitBox comes with its very own free cloud service to keep your digital life right at your fingertips. Easily access your files anywhere via their iOS app, Android app, or web service and never be without again.

Watch the app demo.

No Monthly Fees. Period.

Never pay monthly cloud storage fees. Never fear to lose your personal stuff because you canceled your subscription. With HoitBox, there’s only a one time cost of purchasing the product.

HoitBox hits the sweet spot. The easiest access to your stuff at the most affordable price.

Click Here to Buy Now: $594 $700 (15% off). Hurry, for a limited time only.

Circular rooflight illuminates meditation room in Mexican beach house

Lyons Garden by Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura

A serene meditation room overlooking the Pacific Ocean is lit by a large round skylight in this seaside retreat designed by Mexico City studio Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura.

Lyons Garden by Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura

The project is located in Playa Blanca, in the Mexican beach town Zihuatanejo. Perched above the Pacific, the area has long been a popular vacation destination, due to its sandy beaches and warm climate.

Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura designed the home around a courtyard wrapped by a colonnade, to give the owners the most green space possible. The studio said the clients envisioned the home as a getaway for meditation.

Lyons Garden by Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura

“Beyond satisfying an architectural function, the programme of this residence responds to a superior need: the holistic quest of full communion and interaction with the enveloping and traversing nature,” said Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura.

The colonnade culminates at the meditation room, a shaded space covered by a roof, and enclosed only by sliding glass walls. “Due to a remarkable circular opening in the deck of this room, the rain, the wind, the light and the natural habitat are freely and fluidly integrated in this space.”

Lyons Garden by Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura

A pool runs from inside this space to outdoors, framing the room and its sweeping views of the ocean.

“A swimming lane integrates into the pool and operates as an alternative access to this area while it dilutes the limits between interior and exterior spaces: there are no borders, the inside is the outside.”

Another key feature of the property is its pale pastel hue tone, which the studio created by adding Tepetate, a type of clay commonly found in the area, to the concrete mix.

“Naturally Tepetate has a reddish colour, so when you add grey concrete you get this characteristic tone that makes the volumes  an imperceptible element within its natural environment,” the architects said.

Lyons Garden by Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura

All of the home’s spaces open out to the courtyard via the shaded walkway that snakes through the property. An overhanging roof slab with angled edges covers all of the rooms, which the architects laid out in separate volumes according to their function.

The communal areas are located at the back of the home, near the main entrance. They are organised as an open-plan living and dining room, next to the kitchen. A rooftop patio above this space acts as a perch from which residents can enjoy the scenic surroundings.

Lyons Garden by Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura

“The stairs head to a gazebo where it is possible to contemplate the sky, the stars and the immenseness of the ocean,” the studio added.

Towards the centre of the 750-square-metre home, two bedrooms are each contained within their own structure, and separated by a breezeway.

Lyons Garden by Colectivo Lateral de Arquitectura

To further integrate the owner’s quarters with nature, the bathrooms are partially open to the sky. The openings allow for semi-interior gardens that the architects filled with potted plants.

The climate of Mexico’s West Coast allows for open, breezy spaces that are practically outdoors.

Other projects that make the most of these conditions include a home enclosed by wooden slats by Magaldi Studio, and a minimalist residence by Zozaya Arquitectos fronted by knotty bamboo stalks, also in Zihuatanejo.

Photography is by Claudio Napolitano.

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Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Bubble submarines, solar farms, electric Kombi vans, and more innovation from around the world

Heliogen’s Solar Farm Could Drastically Reduce Global Emissions

Backed by Bill Gates, clean energy company Heliogen has developed a concentrated solar energy source that could eliminate carbon-emitting industrial processes—essentially “transforming sunlight to create and replace fuels.” The advancement would allow heavy machinery to forego fossil fuels and employ those created from the process (like hydrogen or syngas), ultimately reducing global carbon emissions by 10%. The technology at the center of Heliogen’s innovative idea involves advanced computer vision software, a field of mirrors, and temperatures of up to 2732 degrees Fahrenheit (1,500 degrees Celsius). Find out more at designboom.

Reclamation of Black-Owned Farmland

According to census data, there were 925,000 black farmers in 1920. By 2017, that number dropped below 50,000. Discrimination within the industry, institutionalized racism upheld by USDA agency workers, purposefully incorrect documentation of ownership transfers, the industrialization of the agriculture industry, and many more reasons lead to the decline. Plenty of banks, certification organizations, and distribution networks also actively discriminated against black farmers. The US government admitted wrongdoing in a 1999 class action suit—the largest of its kind in US history. Now, a new generation of black business-owners are returning to farms. One in particular, Soul Fire Farm, is driving up interest by hosting training sessions on organic and sustainable farming. For evidence of the trade’s rising popularity, look no further than the aforementioned program’s waitlist: three years. Read more at Vice.

Netflix Saves NYC’s Last Single-Screen Movie Theater

Shuttered earlier this year, NYC’s iconic Paris Theater recently reopened for a limited run of filmmaker Noah Baumbach’s latest feature, Marriage Story. The last single-screen movie theater in the city, the Paris originally opened in 1948 (after a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by Marlene Dietrich), making it one of the oldest art house destinations in the US. Over the years, it has focused on foreign films (first French) and independent cinema. Netflix has stepped in to save the venue, announcing that a lease agreement has been reached. The streaming service intends to use it for theatrical releases of its films, as well as special events. Read more at Vulture.

Plastic Bubble Subs Grant Humans Access to the Deep Sea

As we continue exploring space, there’s a large subset of researchers and investors that are working their way into the depths of our oceans—of which we have discovered 5%. Most of those scientists are using technology that originated in the ’80s: bubble crafts. But clever, contemporary upgrades are making these spherical vessels more efficient than ever. These days, the vessels cost between $2 million to $5 million, can plunge 7,500 feet underwater, and can carry up to seven passengers. Their 12-inch-thick walls are usually translucent all over so researchers, photographers, and biologists can peer out into the dark depths. As interest in this sort of excursion grows, ambitious investors are working to develop glass iterations that could venture even further, with some aiming for 36,960 feet. Read more at The New York Times.

VW’s Charming 1972 Type 2 Gets Electrified

Commissioned by Volkswagen, Californian-based EV West has given the classic 1972 Type 2 Microbus (aka the Kombi, Transporter or simply Microbus) an electric upgrade. Specializing in energy system conversions, EV West replaced the internal-combustion engine with an electric powertrain and 35.8 kWh battery from a “donor” 2017 E-Golf. This upgrade results in a 25-mile range and more horsepower than the original, but maintains the classic vehicle’s undeniable charm. Find out more at designboom.

Scientists Imagined Undersea Cities in the ’60s

“No one can doubt that history will repeat itself and man will be forced once again into the sea for a living,” read British marine biologist Sir Alister Hardy’s New Scientist article from March 1960. Hardy was not alone in believing this. Concurrently, underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau asserted that oceans held potential for larger utopian living. In an excerpt from Anthony Adler’s forthcoming book, Neptune’s Laboratory: Fantasy, Fear, and Science at Sea, Popular Science delves into the retro-futuristic language, developments and political environment around this period of time. Read more (and see imagery) at PopSci.

The Arrivals’ Cell Signal-Blocking Parka

NYC-based brand The Arrivals has designed a new parka with the intention of wearers reconnecting to nature. Inside, the puffer jacket (called the Aer) features a Faraday pocket made from a blend of polyester, copper and nickel. This combination blocks radio-frequency identification (RFID), Near Field Communication (NFC), electromagnetic fields (EMR and EMF) and radiation signals—all the methods of delivery to mobile phones for push notifications, GPS tracking, text messages, and more. “We live in a time where we are more connected to our devices than to the environments we inhabit,” Jeff Johnson (co-founder of The Arrivals) tells Dezeen. “We began conceptualizing solutions that would enable users to reconnect with the outdoors by disconnecting from everything else.” Read more there.

Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.

FREAKS wraps French warehouse conversion in corrugated steel

Sammode warehouse conversion by Freaks

Architecture studio FREAKS has clad an old printing warehouse in France shiny corrugated metal cladding and converted it into a research centre for lighting company Sammode.

Located in Lamotte-Beuvron close to Orléans, the converted offices combine highly controlled testing areas and well lit work spaces.

Sammode warehouse conversion by Freaks

To achieve this, four wooden boxes clad with spruce house testing areas, spread across the warehouse like buildings-within-buildings.

These rooms are connected by a series of open spaces and corridors.

Sammode warehouse conversion by Freaks

Closed-off rooms are designed to be airtight and light-proof to allow Sammode to test the resistance of their technical light fittings.

There are also zones for prototyping and assembling the lights.

Sammode warehouse conversion by Freaks

The external walls of the timber boxes hold shelves and kitchen areas.

FREAKS also built large metal shelving units and wall-mounted grids, from which light fittings can be hung.

Sammode warehouse conversion by Freaks

In the open spaces, meeting rooms are in three greenhouse-like structures with glass panels in black frames.

While the people inside can be seen by the colleagues, the acoustic properties of the glazing mean that conversations are kept private.

FREAKS left the steel supports of the existing warehouse exposed, along with ventilation ducts and electrical cables, to create an industrial-feeling space.

As well as keeping existing small openings in the existing structure, additional windows and skylights have been inserted to provide ample natural light inside.

Sammode warehouse conversion by Freaks

Externally, the entirety of the former warehouse has been clad with corrugated steel panels.

FREAK used a mix solid panels and perforated panels, placed front of windows to allow light through and give views outside.

Sammode warehouse conversion by Freaks

“The alternation of solid and perforated sheets allows a transparency that lets you guess volumes in the background,” said the studio.

“This transparency allows a qualitative highlighting of the facade that refers to the activity of Sammode itself.”

Sammode warehouse conversion by Freaks

At one end of the building, the corrugated metal cladding continues and wraps around a garden space.

An area of decking has seating overlooked by a run of windows in the warehouse elevation.

Sammode warehouse conversion by Freaks

From the roof protrudes a space housing a 5 metre-high photogoniometer, a device which is used to calculate light intensity.

Previous projects by FREAKS include a collaboration with Danish studio BIG for a new cultural centre in Bordeaux, and the refurbishment of an apartment in Paris centred around an arched storage unit.

Photography is by David Foessel.

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Lorenz relaunches self righting clock that kickstarted Richard Sapper's career

Static clock by Richard Sapper relaunched by Lorenz

Italian timepiece manufacturer Lorenz has relaunched a clock that was designed by Richard Sapper in 1960 to utilise mechanisms salvaged from second-world-war torpedoes.

The German-born designer created the Static clock when he was just 28 years old. It won the prestigious Compasso d’Oro design award in 1960.

The founder of Milanese company Lorenz, Tullio Bolletta, commissioned Sapper to design the timepiece using electro-mechanical movements taken from torpedoes that were discarded at the end of the second world war.

Bolletta had purchased a railway car containing around 1,000 of the mechanisms, and asked the designer to develop a clock around these large, battery-powered movements.

Static clock by Richard Sapper relaunched by Lorenz

Tullio’s grandson, Pietro, is behind the relaunch of the updated version, which he said was prompted by regular inquiries from customers around the world who wanted to know where they could buy it.

“Static is an iconic product for our brand and its special design helps to distinguish us in today’s timepiece market,” Bolletta told Dezeen. “We are convinced that a person with a Static on their table declares a passion for good design and unique products.”

Static clock by Richard Sapper relaunched by Lorenz

The unusual table clock features a cylindrical housing with a counterweight and a flattened section at one end that enables the clock to right itself if it is tipped over.

The playful design appears imbalanced, with the dial seemingly floating a long way from the small contact point that rests on the table surface. The angled dial and glass protrude from the body so the clock seems to reach out towards the user.

In a book about his career published by Phaidon in 2016, Sapper described the Static clock as “difficult to make”, because the internal mechanism could only be accessed from the front of the single piece of turned metal.

“Then it has this flat spot, which is cut into the volume for the clock to rest on the table,” he added. “When you tip the clock over, it would roll on the table until it found the flat part, and then it would stand upright again. So that was ‘the game’ of that clock.”

Static clock by Richard Sapper relaunched by Lorenz

The Static clock was the first significant commission Sapper undertook on his own. He developed it at home in his apartment, while also working at at the office of renowned Italian architect, Marco Zanuso.

The clock helped establish Sapper’s reputation, leading to further commissions from the likes of Siemens, Brionvega, Artemide, Knoll and IBM.

He also created several iconic products for Italian brand Alessi, including a harmonic whistling kettle and a set of espresso makers that Alberto Alessi discussed in a series of films made by Dezeen.

In order to achieve the same high standards of materials and manufacturing embodied in the clock’s original design, Lorenz sourced a new movement from Germany and commissioned local producers to develop the other parts.

“It took almost two years to identify small manufacturers in the surroundings of Milano that could satisfy our needs in terms of quality, flexibility and production capacity,” Bolletta pointed out. “All 13 of the new components used to make the Static clock are made in Italy.”

Static clock by Richard Sapper relaunched by Lorenz

In addition to spending several years re-engineering the product, Lorenz developed a dedicated online shop where customers can learn about the history of the clock and purchase it.

The relaunch of the Static clock reflects the enduring popularity of Sapper’s work and his influence within the industry.

Following his death in 2015, leading contemporary designers posted tributes on social media featuring objects such as the Tizio lamp he designed for Artemide, and the nipple-like TrackPoints from his iconic ThinkPad computers.

A website dedicated to Sapper’s work and design legacy was launched in 2013. In an interview with Dezeen at the time, the designer described how he turned down a chance to work at Apple, and gave his opinion on how commercialism has negatively impacted design’s evolution.

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This week, people reacted to Elon Musk's Cybertruck

This week, Elon Musk envisioned the future while Norman Foster looked back to the past

This week on Dezeen, Tesla‘s futuristic Cybertruck polarised opinions and we continued  our high-tech architecture series.

The Cybertruck is a bulletproof electric pickup truck made from cold-rolled stainless steel that has armoured glass windows.

The vehicle’s unconventional, sci-fi-style design divided opinions on social media, as some praised Musk for his “courage” in creating such a “fascinating” vehicle, and others labelled it as “ridiculous”.

Lego also responded to the launch by mocking Tesla with a “guaranteed shatterproof” brick model of the Cybertruck.

Foster’s HSBC building in Hong Kong is a revolutionary high-tech skyscraper

We continued our high-tech architecture series this week with a profile of Italian architect Renzo Piano and his mile-long Kansai International Airport.

We also took a look at Foster’s high-tech high-rise building designed for HSBC – the forty-four-storey headquarters for the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which established the architect as a global brand.

Crystal Palace was “birth of modern architecture” says Norman Foster

Foster also revealed to Dezeen that if he could visit any building from history, it would be the Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton to house the 1851 Great Exhibition in London.He cited this building as a major influence on high-tech architecture and branded it “the birth of modern architecture”.

Foster + Partners completes luxury Principal Tower in London

Foster’s firm completed its first residential skyscraper in London this week, which takes the form of three different-sized volumes arranged in a cruciform.

Named Principal Tower, the 50-storey building contains 299 luxury apartments and marks the completion of Principal Place – a mixed-use development located between Shoreditch and the city’s financial district.

Frank Gehry crowns Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul with glass sails

Also in architecture news, Frank Gehry topped the white stone building of Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul with a stack of sweeping glass sails as a nod to traditional Korean architecture.

Designed to “give an impression of flight”, the glass panels help to filter light throughout the building’s interiors, which were designed by architect Peter Marino.

Snøhetta aims to make all its buildings carbon negative within 20 years

This week Snøhetta announced that it will aim to make all its buildings carbon negative within the next 20 years.

The move will mean that all their buildings will generate more energy than they consume over their lifetime, which includes the carbon emitted during the production of building materials, construction, operation and decommissioning.

Plastic bubbles incorporated into high-rise to reduce concrete usage by 35 per cent

Also popular with Dezeen readers was a German construction project that saved an estimated 136 tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere by building with concrete slabs that include air pockets made of recycled plastic.

The inclusion of these air pockets mean that the slabs comprise up to 35 per cent less material than solid reinforced concrete.

TBA adds cedar-clad extension to white farmhouse in Quebec

Other stories that Dezeen readers enjoyed this week included a cedar-clad extension to a white farmhouse in Quebec, a brightly coloured logo for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, and IKEA’s redesign of the Mars Desert Research Station.

The post This week, people reacted to Elon Musk’s Cybertruck appeared first on Dezeen.

Studio Ben Allen designs artichoke-shaped garden room

A Room in the Garden by Studio Ben Allen

Green shingles cover the exterior of this octagonal, flatpack garden room in south west London, designed by Studio Ben Allen.

The design of A Room in the Garden was informed by the bizarre and playful 18th-century Dunmore Pineapple pavilion in Scotland, as well as the form and colour of an artichoke.

A Room in the Garden by Studio Ben Allen

Inside, the space can be used as a study, lounge or bedroom, lit by a large window overlooking the garden and a central skylight.

Studio Ben Allen built it from flatpack kit of CNC-cut timber elements that are notched and pre-drilled.

A Room in the Garden by Studio Ben Allen

The project is both easy to construct and deconstruct to re-build elsewhere, should the owners choose to move.

It took just 20 days to construct the project, with the only specialists required being an electrician and a spray insulation contractor.

A Room in the Garden by Studio Ben Allen

Shades of green were chosen for the exterior to “surreally camouflage” the building, playing with the references to fruit and vegetables and picking up on the colours of the trees, grass and plants surrounding it.

“We were interested in trying to dematerialise the internal octagonal geometry on the outside with something more organic and visually complex, with the intent that at some point the surrounding planting would develop,” said studio founder Ben Allen.

A Room in the Garden by Studio Ben Allen

Double doors lead into the room, which can be pushed fully back to open the space into the garden during warmer months.

Inside, the space is defined by the timber columns of the structure, which meet at the top to create a latticed pattern around the skylight.

A Room in the Garden by Studio Ben Allen

One side of the room is occupied by a desk and the other by a wooden bench, which can be opened out to create a bed in the centre of the space.

“The interior is designed to adapt with the seasons,” said the studio.

“The exposed timber structure which rises to the ceiling converging and framing the skylight gives a central focal point and top-light, ideal when seeking a place to read or for quiet contemplation.”

A Room in the Garden by Studio Ben Allen

A datum of green-finished wood wraps around the lower half of the interior, with a two-tone tiled floor mirroring the angular geometry of the exterior.

Allen founded Studio Ben Allen in 2014, and has used similar methods of creating simple, geometric wooden forms for an office in Birmingham, as well as in the renovation of a flat in the Barbican Estate.

A Room in the Garden by Studio Ben Allen

Architect Charles Holland also created a colourful pavilion inspired by historic follies. Polly is a nine-metre-high structure shaped with a parrot set in a National Trust garden in North Yorkshire.

Atelier SAD has designed a shingled pavilion that’s shaped like a pinecone for children to use as a portable classroom.

Photography and film by Ben Tynegate.


Project credits:

Architects: Studio Ben Allen
Team: Ben Allen, Omar Ghazal, Marco Nicastro, Arthur Wong, Massine Yallaoui
Client: Jonnie and Rachel Allen
Structural engineer: Format Engineers
Landscape design: Daniel Bell Landskip
Installer: Sullivan and Company
CNC cutting: Hub Workshop

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Chocolate-Covered Dragées

At Milla Chocolates, chocolatier Christine Sull Sarioz looks to architectural forms for inspiration, particularly for the shapes of her bonbons and glossy bars. She also makes roasted and caramelized nut dragées with several layers of organic dark chocolate and dusts them with cocoa powder, raspberry, coffee or nuts. Dragées—also known as Jordan almonds—symbolize happiness, health, longevity and wealth. They are a traditional gift or favor for celebrations in European and Middle Eastern cultures, and eternally delicious otherwise.