The Patio system features variously sized room dividers that can be easily connected into combinations of two or three frames to organise a workspace flexibly and change it as it evolves.
The dividers enable the creation of everything from small nooks for focused work or video conferencing to larger spaces for collaborative work, presentations, or relaxing with a coffee.
The Patio dividers can be accessorised with upholstered or acoustic panels, whiteboards, video screens or planters, and come with either casters or fixed feet depending on the desired use.
There is also a Patio Fold version of the product, which can be unfolded to create an instant scrum area or focus room and then quickly stored away.
“The mobile room divider is multifunctional, adds playfulness and can be used in many ways by combining dimensions, interiors, fabrics and colours,” said Bronwasser. “The open nature of Patio creates connections and strengthens team spirit.”
Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.
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Promotion: the Rooflight Company’s range of skylights includes a design developed especially for buildings that are listed or located in conservation areas.
The Conservation Rooflight has a traditional feel that takes its cues from Victorian cast-iron-framed glazing, so it looks appropriate when installed on heritage properties.
The design also incorporates the latest technologies, ensuring it meets modern standards of thermal efficiency.
The Rooflight Company believes that its Conservation Rooflight provides the best option for remodelling buildings that have a historic character that needs to be preserved.
“The Conservation Rooflight benefits from meeting all building regulations and conservation officer requirements, so it’s a natural fit for projects in conservation areas and areas of outstanding natural beauty,” said the UK-based Company.
“It further benefits from a sleek design that blends into the roof tile on the exterior and allows the plasterboard to be taken right up to the glass on the interior, giving the appearance of a single pane of glass installed with putty. No frames in sight.”
The design was recently used for the renovation of a bungalow located in a conservation area in Henley-on-Thames, a picturesque town in Oxfordshire, England.
With the addition of 16 Conservation Rooflights, homeowner Joy Williamson was able to add three bedrooms and two bathrooms on a new first floor slotted in under her existing roof.
These skylights offer a much more streamlined appearance than would have been possible with traditional skylights or dormer windows, so are in keeping with the building’s traditional aesthetic.
The minimal frames also help to optimise the amount of natural light in the new bedrooms and bathrooms.
“Each space has an abundance of natural light, whilst the exterior of the bungalow remains in keeping with its surroundings with the stunning backdrop of Henley-on-Thames,” said the Rooflight Company.
The Conservation Rooflight can be used on sloping roofs with pitches ranging from 17.5 up to 65 degrees.
Produced from three-millimetre-thick steel with a protective polyester powder coating, the latest version has been engineered to minimise risk of rust or leaks.
The product can be produced in a wide range of sizes, and in either portrait or landscape orientation.
For more information about the Conservation Rooflight or to see the full product range, visit the Rooflight Company’s website.
The photography is by Dan Abrams/the Rooflight Company.
Partnership content
This article was written by Dezeen for the Rooflight Company as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
The Twig seating, first designed in 2008, is modelled on boughs of trees, with the idea that the units can be placed adjacent to each other to create a larger, more branching form.
This biophilic shape has the effect of creating natural meeting points in the crooks of its branches, which aims to encourage social interaction.
The standard version of the seating is made of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic for outdoor use and can be optionally illuminated from within.
For indoors, there is an upholstered version, which can be covered in any fabric or leather.
The Twig collection is fully recyclable, and the units are available with or without seating backs.
Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen’s huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.
Dezeen Showroom is an example of partnership content on Dezeen. Find out more about partnership content here.
For the fourth year in a row, this Halloween candy maker Mars Inc. partnered with recycling company Rubicon Technologies on this “Trick or Trash” initiative. “Request a special Trick or Trash™ bag so you can reduce waste and recycle your Halloween Candy Wrappers,” Mars writes.
The idea is that they ship you this bag, for free, that you use for trick-or-treating. Afterwards you deposit all of your candy wrappers in it, and “and drop it off in your nearest USPS box to be properly recycled, we’ll take it from here.”
“Research shows the vast majority of wrappers from the 600 million pounds of candy purchased in the United States each season ends up in landfills due to limitations in most curbside recycling programs. Mars’ collaboration with Rubicon underscores our commitment to contribute to a circular economy where packaging material never becomes waste, but is recycled, reused, or composted and supports the Mars Sustainable in a Generation Plan.”
That’s all fine and good, but obviously hides a much larger problem. First off, how many people are actually ordering and using these bags? Then there’s the larger issue: People eat candy all year round, not just on Halloween. And like most food, it comes packaged in films that will never be recycled. Why? Because most recycling facilities available to your average citizen don’t accept packaging waste, and even if they did, our recycling rate is abysmal.
I don’t doubt that this is a good bit of PR for Mars, and that the environmentally-minded parents or children that order these bags feel temporarily good about themselves. But this is doing nothing to address the larger problem, which is that companies package their goods in materials that can’t or won’t be recycled—and we citizens, en masse, are all too happy to buy them. “Trick or Trash” indeed.
Ever since I started working on a Macbook, I have barely used a mouse. But I’ve seen how it can be inconvenient and non-ergonomic at times for my friends who still need to use it. This particular device hasn’t had much innovations over the past years so it’s always interesting to see product designs that seek to bring something new to the market. For mouse devices, what users are looking for of course are ones that are ergonomic, tailor-made, and can bring new features to the table.
The SliderMouse Pro is a “tailor-made” mouse concept that brings an innovative and ergonomic design to your typical device. It’s not just the usual wired or wireless mouse with the round shape but it actually looks like a keyboard itself. The sleek design and wireless interface will make it easier for you to use it and its contoured shape and comfortable grip brings an ergonomic element to something that you probably use more than four hours every day.
The device has a sliderbar so your cursor control is freer than if you’re using a regular mouse and you won’t have to move your hands or wrists unnecessarily. It also has a large scroll wheel with smart buttons around it for things like copy pasting as well as forward/backward navigation. There’s also a wrist rest which is something that computer users need especially if they spend most of their working time using a screen, keyboard, and mouse. The wrist reests are detachable and customizable and can be tailor fit to the hand size of the user. It comes in light grey fabric, dark grey fabric, or sustainable bamboo.
The SliderMouse Pro is a pretty unique and useful design for a mouse. However, if you have a small table, it will probably not work since it takes up a lot of space and is almost as big as a keyboard. But if your concern is more about the functionality and the ergonomics of a mouse, then this should be perfect for your needs. Well, if it becomes an actual device someday.
The longest-serving Malt Master’s career parallels his rarest release
An age statement on a single malt scotch whisky bottle symbolizes more than the liquid’s years spent maturing in the quiet recesses of a remote Scottish warehouse. That number is a herald of flavor, an easy orientation toward value in a complex market, and a demonstration of a brand’s patience and capacity for risk. As such, the golden numerals found engraved on The Balvenie Sixty do more than announce the arrival of the distillery’s oldest release ever; they speak to a vision that’s bridged heritage and innovation amidst decades of global change. Further, the path of the liquid within this highly exclusive release parallels that of The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whisky‘s legendary Malt Master, David Stewart MBE, who, on 3 September 1962, began to work as a clerk for the distillery. 60 years later, Stewart is the longest serving Malt Master in scotch whisky history (a role he’s held since 1974) and his inventions have become industry standards.
The Balvenie Sixty was announced on 25 October, limited to 71 bottles worldwide, making it the rarest release from whisky-maker. “This is from a single cask,” Stewart tells COOL HUNTING. “We’ve got a few of these barrels, in consecutive numbers, all filled in the same day in June 1962. Back in 2012, we bottled one of these to mark my 50 years.” The Balvenie also bottled another from the parcel for the DCS Compendium Chapter 5, aptly named the Malt Master’s Indulgence.
“I’ve been watching the development of this cask for 30 or 40 years, but more closely recently,” Stewart continues. “It’s a European Oak hogshead, a 250-liter cask. We don’t quite know the history of the cask or how many times it was filled before 1962 but we think it might have been filled before because the wood has not dominated the whisky. It still has all of those lovely vanilla, toffee and citrus notes that we expect from Balvenie.” 60 years in that cask infused the scotch with an intense, luxuriant richness. It measures 42.4% ABV and concludes with a lengthy, spiced finish.
So for 60 years, European oak influenced The Balvenie Sixty and the result was decadence and deliciousness. But what of the Malt Master’s affect on an entire industry for those 60 years? Well, it’s even more impressive. During Stewart’s tenure, there was an initial increase in whisky interest, then a shattering of the market, and finally the reemergence that we’re in today.
“The ’70s were big—but the ’80s were a poor decade for scotch whisky,” Stewart says. “There was a slump in demand and a number of distilleries were mothballed and others cut production. We cut production, as well. If we move forward to recent time, there are a lot of boutique distilleries—some out on the islands, Islay and the Shetlands. And we’ve seen growth at The Balvenie and Glenfiddich [Balvenie’s sister brand at William Grant & Sons and neighbor in Speyside, Scotland].” Now, there’s an insatiable global thirst.
Stewart’s innovations were integral to the return of single malt scotch whisky—and that’s because the Malt Master makes whisky for people to enjoy. Surprise is engrained into his work. “We created The Balvenie Classic range back in the early ’80s when I was experimenting,” he tells us. “I was asked to create these three different Balvenie Classics: a no-age-statement, a 12 and an 18. We had a vatting at that time—a combination of three different barrel types all mixed together. I knew the difference between Spanish oak and American oak. I began to transfer from one to another, to see what happened. I sampled them every month.” This was the invention we now call cask finishing. And Stewart’s experimentation led to the creation of The Balvenie Classic 12 Year, which evolved into Balvenie’s beloved DoubleWood 12 in 1993. “Of course, the whole industry, all over the world, is now finishing in other casks to subtly alter the character of their whisky,” Stewart says.
Since 1993, Stewart’s name has been on the bottle. It’s a gesture he thinks fondly of—and his children and grandchildren have pointed it out to him in airport duty-free shops. Beside his name on The Balvenie Sixty is that of Kelsey McKechnie, who was recently named Malt Master, as well. “It was Kelsey who chose the one cask for this bottling,” Stewart says, explaining that she joined the brand after a graduate program and impressed everyone with her ability to nose whisky early on. She’s been Stewart’s apprentice for four years now.
“The 60-year-old cask has been such a dream to work on and I feel a little bit like a cheat in some respects to be able to say that,” she tells us. “We do a lot of re-casking; that’s when we move spirit from one wooden vessel to another to dial up the flavor or to create new flavors. This, however, has been left entirely untouched since 1962. Apart from sampling it every now and then and making sure the oak and the spirit are doing what they should, my job has been pretty easy.” McKechnie easily noted the beautiful balance between the liquid’s signature distillery character and the influence of European oak.
“David’s been in this role for six decades and he will openly say he learns new things every day,” McKechnie says of his mentorship. “When we find new flavors in the warehouse, we get to ask ‘How did that happen?’ and ‘How can we recreate this flavor again?’ It’s all on a quest to make sure the quality of the spirit is consistently perfect. But, day-to-day, he set an attitude toward blending. He’s created such a relaxed environment.” Perhaps it’s this work culture that makes not only this milestone $145,000 release so spectacular, but also their highly sought-after core range, which includes the 14 Year Caribbean Cask and 21 Year Portwood.
The Balvenie Sixty’s hand-blown crystal bottle and crystalline tube casing act as an exclamation point to the liquid—and to Stewart’s career. Etched on all of the layers are quotes from Balvenie colleagues about the Malt Master’s contributions. In some ways, it’s also a nod to a little-known fact: Stewart was one of five whisky blenders invited by glassmaker Raymond Davidson to lend their thoughts on the creation of the Glencairn glass. It’s now one of the most cherished ways to enjoy a dram of single malt scotch whisky and undeniably the best way to sip The Balvenie Sixty if the opportunity arises.
Architecture studio Populous has designed a stadium for the American football team Buffalo Bills in New York state, which aims to reimagine historic architecture with modern materials.
Due to open in autumn 2026, the venue will be developed by Populous to pay homage to the history, heritage and architecture of the Bills‘ home city, Buffalo.
“The stadium will create a new place to foster the iconic culture of the Bills fan base, while creating an exciting vision for the future of the franchise and the community,” explained Populous senior principal Scott Radecic.
“As we continue to work with the Bills, we look forward to creating an industry-changing stadium that reflects Buffalo’s strong community and history.”
Stadium to will have stacked seating
The Buffalo Bills stadium is set to be built adjacent to Highmark Stadium – the team’s current venue – in the town of Orchard Park in southeast Buffalo.
Its current design was revealed in new visuals by the studio and centres around a stacked seating bowl, which is designed to “enhance crowd noise” while being intimate and sheltered.
Around its edges will be large areas carved out for Buffalo Bills fans, featuring a mix of local food and drink vendors.
According to Populous, the stadium’s design is intended to have a contemporary aesthetic and “football-first environment”, while reimagining historic and iconic architecture in Buffalo with modern materials.
The studio said its reference points include the Rockpile, the city’s former outdoor soccer stadium, as well as Kleinhans Music Hall and a multipurpose indoor arena known locally as The Aud.
Local music venues among references
“Our approach to the design takes its cues from historic architecture in Buffalo, such as ‘The Rockpile’, ‘The Aud’, and Kleinhans Music Hall,” said senior principal Jonathan Mallie.
“[It] merges their projection of strength with modern materials and a building form that is set to create an intimate and intimidating football-first environment.”
Founded in 1983 by Gyo Obata, George Kassabaum, George F Hellmuth, Populous is an architecture studio best known for its design of landmark sporting and music venues.
Interiors specialist StudioIn2 was inspired to mess with dimensions using full-height partition walls and tall furnishings inside this Taipei apartment by the 1989 comedy film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
But perhaps horror flick Paranormal Activity would have been more fitting, as the sliding doors are intermittently moved around by an eery, supernatural figure.
A ghostly figure was captured haunting the mezzanine of the Pape Loft, which fittingly occupies a renovated church overhauled by Toronto firm StudioAC.
The studio created the minimalist two-bedroom house by carrying out a “design purge”, though the renovation failed to banish the sepulchral wraith.
Van Staeyen Interieur Architecten converted a dark and dusty attic in Antwerp into a living space that features arched portals, curvy furniture and yellow decor accents.
Despite the playful new interior, the attic appears to be haunted by a ghost child who was captured playing in multiple locations in the renovated loft.
Brazil-based Studio MK27 has used wood, rattan and stone textures to create the buildings for a holiday resort on the Fari Islands archipelago in the Maldives.
Patina Maldives occupies one of the four islands that makes up the artificial archipelago, which was built over approximately 10 kilometres of reef on the northern edge of North Male Atoll.
Studio MK27 has designed architecture and interiors for buildings across the island, including an arrival pavilion, a spa, a kid’s club, and a cluster of bars and restaurants.
Accommodation is provided by a mix of beach suites, private in-land villas and water villas that project out to sea.
Never rising above the tree canopy, the buildings are dotted around the island in an arrangement designed to create areas of vibrant social activity and spaces of complete seclusion.
“Patina is unique in the Maldives: an opportunity to be together in isolation,” said Studio MK27 founder Marcio Kogan. “[It is] one of the most remote places on Earth and still a place designed for people to meet one another.”
“Patina Maldives embraces our natural conflicts: desire for peace and party, for nature and design, technology and rusticity, self-indulgence and deep reflections,” he added.
The materials palette throughout consists of earthy colours, matt finishes and natural textures that are intended to chime with the natural landscape.
Many of Studio MK27’s own designs can be found in the furnishings, including woven lighting pendants, neatly crafted shelving units, and cabana and deck chairs co-designed with Norm Architects.
The villas feature high-tech sliding window systems that allow the interiors to be opened up on three sides at the touch of a button, as well as custom-made blackout blinds.
“We escalate the textures and emotions from zero to 100, from soft shadows to overwhelming light,” said Studio MK27.
“It’s a rhythm with contrast, pauses and transparencies. From slow dolce far niente to exuberant real vitality, it is a place for people to bond with nature and each other, for people to experience the essential with glamour.”
Many of the buildings are characterised by clever details.
The spa centres around a shallow pool, with a skylight above offering a play of light and shadow, while the kid’s club is defined by colourful window apertures.
The bar and restaurant area, known as the village, has its own sense of style.
Arabesque, a restaurant serving Middle Eastern cuisine, combines patterned terracotta blockwork with copper lights, while the Brasa grill is designed as a Latin American smokehouse.
Studio MK27 has worked on many projects in idyllic locations, such as the beachside Vista House, or Jungle House, which is located in a rainforest.
The studio spent five years developing designs for Patina Maldives, which officially opened in May 2021.
Timber interiors and larch cladding reference the surrounding Bohemian Forest at this pared-back cabin in the Czech Republic, designed by French practice Les Archinautes in collaboration with local practice 3AE.
Overlooking Lipno lake close to the Czech Republic’s border with Germany and Austria, the cross-laminated timber (CLT) cabin was designed to provide a rest stop for people who come to ski and hike in the nearby mountain ranges.
Informed by a wooden dwelling that once stood on the site, the cabin’s simple design drew from the architecture typical to the area, which Lyon-based Les Archinautes describes as “wooden, compact and cozy.”
“The morphology of the house stands on several principles of Bohemian Forest architecture: rectangular floor plan, compact shape, orientation along the contour line, creation of a covered porch and more pronounced articulation of the gable,” said the practice.
Clad in thin larch planks, the cabin is raised on a low wooden platform, which extends to create a terrace along two sides of the home sheltered by the oversized eaves of the roof.
Seeking to bring the surrounding forest into the cabin as a “material, smell, and colour,” the CLT structure has been left exposed throughout the interiors, which are organised to capture views of the landscape.
The focal point of the cabin is the ground floor living and dining space, where a large table, kitchen counters and concrete fireplace sit underneath wooden beams and overlook the lake through a large square window.
Alongside this space, the main ground-floor bedroom and two smaller first-floor bedrooms tucked beneath the roof capture glimpses of the forest and mountains through skylights and small, round windows in each gable end.
“The view of Lipno lake, with two major peaks in the background, becomes the main point of the project, centred around the dominant gabled square window facing toward the lake,” said the practice.
“Wooden walls in the interior create a pleasant and warm atmosphere. The exposed wood is painted with hard wax oil, white pigment and a UV filter, ensuring the wood retains its fresh colour for decades to come,” it continued.
Complementing the exposed CLT walls and ceilings, the minimal interiors are finished with oak flooring, simple light fittings and white tilework in the bathrooms.
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