Hasta La Ideas

When the Accutron wristwatch launched in the ’60s, it redefined what timepieces could look like—and how they could draw their power thanks to a proprietary tuning fork movement. With a new Accutron on the horizon, the brand tapped COOL HUNTING Editor in Chief David Graver to join entertainment reporter Bill McCuddy and editor Scott Alexander for The Accutron Show, a podcast about more than watches—in fact, an episodic discussion on art, culture, collecting, retro-futurism and design. With guests including Wine for the World founder Mika Bulmash, art advisor Maria Brito, and the founders of Hudson Whiskey and Assouline Books, each episode delves into a new world. The Accutron Show is available on Spotify, Apple and Stitcher, with new episodes available each week.

Image courtesy of Accutron

London studio Sybarite has designed a store for fashion label Joseph in the Miami Design District to include round balconies, curved railings spiral stairs as a reference to the city’s seaside architecture.

A black metal corkscrew staircase is among the details that takes cues from Miami’s seaside architecture dating back to the 1940s and 50s.

Featuring contrasting white polished-marble stair treads, it twists through a circular opening to lead from womenswear on the ground floor to menswear and accessories on the first floor.

Smoked-black glass wraps around the opening with a curved black balustrade adding to the decorative motifs. Sybarite said other details include the irregular wall cutouts that form windows.

Marking the fashion label’s largest store to date, the 243-square-metre Miami Design District space is among a number the British studio has designed for the fashion label.

In each, Sybarite follows the theme of opposites common in Joseph apparel with contrasting tones of black and white, and harsh and soft materials.

“Our designs for Joseph are based on opposites and the unexpected to provide a complete brand experience for the customer,” said Sybarite co-founder Simon Mitchell.

White-painted walls and concrete floors are a backdrop to black metalwork fitted with LED lighting that forms frames around clothing rails and extends up in an angular form to meet the ceiling.

Plinths for bags and shoes made from oriented-strand board (OSB), brass and Corian are arranged in groups on an area of the ground floor marked by a brass grid embedded in the concrete floor.

A pop of colour is provided by the till desk made of Italian green marble, following on from a recurring concept in Jospeph stores in which a different marble from around the world is used.

Sybarite has also used geometric shapes of softer carpeting, as and rich shearlings and velvet upholstery in the changing rooms, to add a more cosy elements.

The studio completed the Joseph store in 2018 making the latest addition to the Miami Design District, which property developer Craig Robins transformed from a formerly neglected area into the hub for design boutiques, luxury fashion brands and art galleries.

Other fashion brands that have opened up architecturally interesting shops in the area include Christian Louboutin, which has a flagship store covered in tree bark, Dior, which has a boutique sheathed in curved white concrete panels, and Tom Ford, which is housed in a pleated concrete shop designed by ArandaLasch.

Founded in 2002, Sybarite has completed a number of retail and hospitality interiors, including shops for fashion houses Alberta Ferretti and Marni.

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The UK government’s planning reform proposals, which were revealed yesterday, will fail to address the root causes of England’s housing crisis according to architects and critics.

The government’s Planning for the Future white paper, which aims to reform the planning system, prioritises the interests of developers over the building of good-quality, affordable housing, architects told Dezeen.

“The government are proposing to hand volume housebuilders the right to build whatever they want,” warned architect Charles Holland. “This is unlikely to be either beautiful or affordable.”

“While there’s no doubt the planning system needs reform, these shameful proposals do almost nothing to guarantee the delivery of affordable, well-designed and sustainable homes,” said RIBA president Alan Jones.

White paper aims to fast-track development

In the Planning for the Future report, the government laid out proposals for ways to fast-track schemes that conform to pre-set beauty standards or will be built in areas earmarked for development.

Prime minister Boris Johnson called the proposals “radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the second world war”. The current planning system was created in 1947.

But the proposals are an attempt to “destroy” the planning system, according to Dezeen columnist Owen Hatherley, who noted that while affordable housing was a focus of the white paper, the question of social housing was conspicuously absent.

“Since 2010, the government has had only one idea for planning,” he said. “To attempt to at once destroy it and social housing along with it, while also preserving the pickled villages and protected landscapes that make up the Tory base.”

“There’s not enough provision for social housing”

Co-founder of architecture firm dRMM Sadie Morgan called on the industry to “make the best of the reforms proposed” but agreed that there “are aspects in the reforms that are of concern”, especially relating to social housing.

“There’s not enough provision for social housing, which needs much greater investment,” Morgan told Dezeen.

“The target for carbon-neutral homes by 2050 is too slow and design codes are only ever as good as the client and architect who interpret them,”.

“But I do welcome the commitment to good design; the involvement of local people in the planning process as early as possible; and the recognition of local services through a hopefully non-negotiable infrastructure levy,” added Morgan, who was given an OBE for services to the advocacy of design in the built environment.

Housing crisis caused by “structural inequalities”

The UK is currently in the grip of a housing crisis, with an estimated 8.4 million people living in unaffordable or insecure houses according to the National Housing Federation.

The possibility of scrapping section 106 – a legal agreement between a planning applicant and the planning authority to provide infrastructure to make an otherwise unacceptable planning application, acceptable – was floated in the paper.

The plans would turn the existing community infrastructure levy into a single tax based on floor space that would be paid by the developer to the local authority upon occupation. A discount would be available for including affordable homes in developments.

“While the government has identified a lack of affordable housing as a major problem, this isn’t an effective plan to deal with it,” Holland told Dezeen.

“The white paper blames the planning process for delays and blocks to housing development and therefore proposes deregulation as the answer,” he added.

“The housing crisis is really about structural inequalities between different areas of the UK. What we should be doing is addressing how to create jobs and places to live across the country as a whole.”

“Marginalisation of architects here is shocking”

The proposals also marginalise the opinion of architects, according to Holland.

“It is also very noticeable how absent architects and architecture is from government thinking,” he said.  “If you want to increase the quality of housing design in the UK then the marginalisation of architects here is shocking.”

RIBA president Jones agreed that the proposals missed the point, warning the changes could “lead to the creation of the next generation of slum housing”.

“The housing crisis isn’t just about numbers, and deregulation won’t solve it,” he said.

“If the government is serious about addressing the dominant position of large housebuilders and the lack of quality social housing, the secretary of state needs to make changes to the tax system, look at why land approved for development lies untouched for years, and give local authorities power and resource to promote and safeguard quality.”

The architecture community responded with similar energy last year when the government announced its commission into improving design quality. The Building Better, Building Beautiful final report eventually recommended the fast-track for beauty included in the Planning for the Future document.

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A linear red-brick wall obscures the textured interiors and art-filled courtyard hidden inside McLean Quinlan‘s low-rise Passivhaus home in Devon, UK.

The energy-efficient dwelling, aptly named Devon Passivhaus, nestles into a sloped walled garden that was once owned by an old English country house that fell into a state of disrepair.

In an effort to celebrate and give prominence to this rural setting, McLean Quinlan‘s design is deliberately pared-back with “simple and clean” forms and materials that are modelled on the old garden wall.

“The land has formed part of the grounds of a large country house for over 300 years as an orchard abutting large walled gardens,” McLean Quinlan told Dezeen. “The footprint and walls of the original garden inform the design of the house.”

“Our client is a keen gardener who is undertaking the huge task of restoring the gardens to their former glory, the materials were chosen to ensure the building feels connected to the garden that inspired it.”

The owners of Devon Passivhaus commissioned McLean Quinlan to build them a “home for life” with barn-like rooms and vaulted spaces, as their old residence no longer served their needs.

However, the rural setting of the site demanded a more unique approach tailored to the site in order to meet the criteria of Paragraph 79 – a clause of the UK’s planning policy that only allows “exceptional and innovative” new-build homes in the countryside.

“The clients came to us to build a ‘home for life’, anticipating vaulted spaces and barn-like rooms but had to adapt their original aspirations to achieve planning under the exacting criteria of Paragraph 79,” said the studio.

“The design was led by the aim of building an outstanding and innovative house in the context of a historic walled garden,” it continued. “It was to be simple and clean and was kept low rise to link it back to the garden architecture that informed the design.”

From the approach, Devon Passivhaus’ brick facade is disrupted only by an oriel window and discrete front door that is modelled on small gate openings typically found in walled gardens.

This brickwork extends out from the edges of the house to hide its other facades, which are wrapped by glass and dark render intended to “recede visually” into the garden.

The building’s envelope performs to the highly energy-efficient Passivhaus standard, achieved using substantial amounts of insulation and triple-glazing throughout, which ensures stable inside temperatures and high air quality.

It is also fitted with air source heating, a heat recovery system, solar power and battery storage, which work collectively to provide over 100 per cent of the required energy for the home and an excess of approximately 40 per cent that is fed back into the grid.

Inside, Devon Passivhaus comprises an open plan living room and kitchen, alongside a central courtyard, library and four bedrooms. A hidden staircase in the living area leads down into a basement level where there is a large study.

Like its facade, the interiors are designed to have a strong connection to the surrounding gardens, so the rooms are all positioned around the home’s perimeter to look outwards.

The glass-roofed courtyard forms the heart of the house and is intended for use as a winter garden. It also doubles as a gallery for the client’s collection of ceramics and introduces natural light in the depths of the dwelling.

Material finishes throughout are earthy and tactile, helping to create a “serene” environment and connect the home to the garden further. This includes reclaimed textured terracotta tiles and rough sawn oak flooring, teamed with clay plaster walls and charred wood cabinetry.

McLean Quinlan is a British architecture firm headed up by mother and daughter duo Fiona McLean and Kate Quinlan, alongside Alastair Bowden. It has offices in London and Winchester.

Other recent projects by the studio include a stone house in Jackson, Wyoming, which is modelled on a nearby 19th-century log cabin, and another home in Devon with walls of weathered stone and timber.

Photography and videography by Jim Stephenson.

The post Linear brick wall conceals earthy and tactile interiors of Devon Passivhaus appeared first on Dezeen.

At Oregon, Washington, California and Colorado properties, guests benefit from proximity to natural wonders

Over the past few years in particular, hotels and other hospitality outlets have ramped up their hands-on approach to pleasing guests with unique amenities, creature comforts and a sense of participating in a lifestyle. With the hospitality group LOGE (which stands for live outside, go explore), lifestyle is the goal but all five pared-back properties are built around the understanding that the US has stunning outdoor destinations that people want to enjoy easily. Since 2016, LOGE has acquired motels, hostels, lodges and campsites in close proximity to natural wonders and they’ve been enhancing the community aspects and outdoor areas of each, while bringing a minimal design edge to the overall experience (and providing appropriate gear rental). For the dedicated adventurer, the road trip traveler or even the casual surfer/hiker/climber, each of the LOGE properties respect that you do not intend to spend that much time indoors.

LOGE CEO and co-founder Johannes Ariens grew up in the wilds of Washington’s lush Olympic Peninsula. His childhood was spent driving up and down the 101 with his family—often enjoying the outdoors. An avid outdoorsmen, Ariens would first climb at Smith Rock, right near Bend, Oregon—where he established a LOGE property. In fact, the LOGE properties were first scouted around the idea of driving from his home in Seattle to pursue outdoor activities.

“I think that the progressions of where our locations landed was akin to that,” he tells us. “In these secondary markets, there isn’t really a place for people to come together in a way that’s priced for frequency—for those who want to be able to use the property only to get back outdoors again and again. That’s how the first property came to be—Westport, I was driving there 15 to 20 times a year from Seattle.” This coastal property caters not only to surfers and kayakers, but all who cherish time in fresh air.

“There aren’t many companies that serve as well-priced lifestyle brands in these areas,” Ariens continues. “Many think of themselves more as luxury or mid-market lodging. How can they be a lifestyle brand when they have a consumer class changing their spending habits to fit into their experiences? We are going for frequency and building an ongoing relationship. We want to be affordable and accessible to a lot of people.”

He adds, “The markets we go into, we have to completely change how we address operations and dive into what consumers perception of value is.” He notes that travelers going on a mountain biking trip don’t necessarily want to stay in a place with a spa—which, for a hotel, is an amenity that leads only to partial revenue and high operating costs that often have to be supplemented from revenue elsewhere. LOGE caters to the traveler who just wants to go mountain biking.

“I’d rather take one or two more trips than have that spa option,” he says of his own travel desires. He isn’t alone. Though he adds, “I do want to have a place on the property that’s fun to hang out. So we realized we could put a fire pit out there and it can be nice and social, but it does not need to be luxury. It can be a place where people come together and eat and drink.”

The second LOGE property to be developed sits in Leavenworth, Washington—roughly two hours east of Seattle, in the central Cascade Mountains. It’s an enchanted destination, centered around rock climbing. “I was doing 10 to 20 trips a year there and would generally sleep in the back of my truck,” Ariens says. What he felt it lacked was a social setting. “At the end of each trip, I would go out to a restaurant but there was no central place to share stories and find other solo travelers to recreate with. I wanted to find my people. I was looking for familiarity.”

Bend was the third LOGE location. “It just makes sense,” Ariens says. “It’s an all-around recreation location, but it has not blown up into a resort town. We then started working our way south for the fourth property, Mt Shasta, an oddball kind of unique place that is, to a certain degree, a misunderstood gem. It’s one of the energy centers in the US, like Sedona. There’s a lot of spiritual tourism. It’s breathtaking.” All of these factors—as well as its remote but affordable identity and rugged terrain, populated with waterfalls and natural springs—led to interest.

Finally, LOGE opened in Breckinridge. Getting to Colorado was a big deal for the small team—and they intend to pursue more locations there, as well as in California, though Ariens admits they’ve already grown quickly. “Five locations from zero in a few years is really intense. With Covid-19 we are stabilizing the company in a significant manner—from a fully remote check-in and attention to all exterior corridors.” But he admits that, with their focus on the outdoors, they “couldn’t be better positioned to help travelers through this.”

Though each destination is so different, the LOGE team does infuse all of their properties with the same sense of familiarity, altogether making them places travelers do want to return, even if only for a brief night of rest.

Images courtesy of LOGE