Dezeen Showroom:designer Todd Bracher has created the customisable Trea office chair for workplace furniture company Humanscale, which supports its user’s back with a recline mechanism.
Trea has a contoured outer shell with a gentle curve at the edge of the seat designed to reduce the impact on the back of the knees and improve comfort for the user.
Trea is a minimalist workplace chair by Todd Bracher and Humanscale
“I wanted to design a multipurpose chair with a visual simplicity and unique recline mechanism that would allow it to be used anywhere and by anyone,” said Bracher.
“Trea offers intuitive comfort by mimicking the human body’s natural recline and embracing its sitter in a supportive shell,” Humanscale added.
It has a contoured shell that reclines to provide back support
Designed to suit a variety of interior settings, the chair can be customised with different bases, finishes and upholstery options.
“Trea can be adapted for both office and home interiors,” said Humanscale.
“The chair’s four-star, cantilever or four-leg bases are interchangeable, so Trea can be customised for different environments and uses while maintaining visual consistency throughout a space.”
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.
Graphene. A wonder-material that’s fabricated from a mere sheet of carbon molecules, but is stronger than steel, more conductive than copper, and has applications in electronics, biomedicals, aerospace, and even in warfare. You wouldn’t expect it to also be the perfect material to make blankets, but here we are. Meet HILU, a unique blanket that’s made from actual woven graphene fibers with the exclusive Adaptex Technology. It has the unique ability to thermoregulate you while you sleep, giving you warmth in the winters and keeping you cool in the summers. It’s soft, but stronger than steel, while also being hypoallergenic, naturally anti-bacterial, and eco friendly.
HILU graphene-made blanket adjusts to your body temperature so you can sleep all night comfortably, regardless the season.
The genesis of the HILU reminds me of the birth of the internet. The internet was invented by DARPA as a military venture to bring computing to the front lines. The internet today has evolved to connect humans across the globe, allowing them to share everything from information to cat videos. The creators of the internet clearly didn’t see their technology having this many uses, but turns out it did. The same holds true for graphene and the HILU blanket. Designed to be the world’s first graphene-based thermoregulating blanket, HILU keeps you warm or cold depending on how you feel… it can even thermoregulate both parts of a bed independently, keeping one half cool and another warm based on the users’ preferences!
It all starts with HILU’s fabric construction, which is made from pure graphene fiber. The makers first dissolve graphite into liquid graphene crystals through a proprietary wet spinning process. The liquid crystals are then dried to create graphene fibers, and woven together with Adaptex technology to create a blanket that possesses the ability to react to one’s body temperature and thermoregulate accordingly. Designed to be soft, comfortable, and OEKO-TEX100 certified, HILU replaces your traditional cotton blanket or duvet, providing an alternative material that’s so advanced it’s even used in microchips.
Made of genuine graphene fibers, HILU blankets are the strongest and most durable in the market.
Ultimately, the world’s first pure graphene blanket makes a pretty bold promise – to ensure you sleep perfectly and peacefully regardless of how cold or hot you’re feeling. If you’re the kind to fight with your partner about what temperature to set the thermostat or AC at, the HILU was clearly designed for you. If you wake up with hot flashes and cold sweats, HILU just regulates itself based on your body temperature to ensure you’re comfortable in the hot weather or even the cold. During the summer, it absorbs and dissipates heat within the fiber, ensuring you don’t end up sweating at all, and the HILU’s anti-bacterial nature means you don’t have to worry about washing the blanket every couple of weeks (although maybe you just should… we don’t want to reward bad behavior here!)
Each HILU comes with a staggering 10-year warranty, and ships in both Queen and King bed sizes. Although the graphene fibers only come in the standard satin gray finish, the HILU offers three different stitch-color options (gray, blue, yellow), and you can even add a memory foam eye mask (or two) to your pledge!
The biggest reason why we lose important things like keys or even eyeglasses is that we don’t have a proper place for them. More often than not, we simply drop them wherever we feel like it and then forget where that convenient yet semi-random location was. Deciding on a single place to leave your keys, however, is just the first step. Developing the habit of actually placing them there and only there is perhaps even more important, and nothing develops habits better than associating with something rewarding, like a welcoming and calming sound whenever you place or remove this metal keyring from its wooden base.
Some people place a bowl or some container on a shelf near the door so that they can drop keys off the moment they enter. Others try to be a bit more creative and screw a hook on a wall so that they can hang their keys and see easily see that spot when they arrive and before they leave. It’s a simple solution that can be effective only if you actually create the good habit of putting the keys there in the first place.
Developing good habits is usually considered to be difficult unless you associate something positive or memorable with the action. For placing keys in their right place, you can’t really use rewards like chocolates or money, so you might be forced to think of something else. Fortunately, the Wakka key holder provides a simple reward that won’t force itself on your consciousness. On the contrary, it creates a rather soothing association both in the way it looks and, more importantly, in the way it sounds.
This acoustic keyring is made of two parts. The ring itself is made from polished metal, which gives it a very stylish and luxurious appearance. Instead of a hook, you place the ring on a small dome shape affixed to a wall, probably one near the door. The base is made from either maple or walnut, and its color and natural grains contrast nicely with the metallic ring. Seeing these two beautiful things together is already a satisfying visual reward, but it does one even better.
Thanks to strong neodymium magnets, the base accomplishes the seemingly impossible task of holding the keyring in place. Those same magnets make the ring snap into position as well as generate a brisk tapping sound when you remove it. The sound is crisp, clean, and not overbearing, giving it a calming character similar to the rhythmic tapping of a Japanese bamboo fountain. It’s the kind of sound that is subtly addictive, creating that association that you need to form that habit. With a minimalist and elegant key holder, not only will you have peace of mind knowing exactly where your keys are, you will also inject a calming rhythm to your very busy life.
Charlie Hammond spent years working in London’s start-up culture, which led him to feel perpetually exhausted and stressed. He knew he needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of the metropolitan city, and he finally zoned in on the West Coast. He moved to Los Angeles since it provided not only the comfort of a big city but also quiet access to nature. His time in LA, and the peace of mind he acquired there, inspired him to provide a similar experience to other frazzled workers!
Hammond then brought to life his idea, ‘Find Sanctuary’. Find Sanctuary is a renewed and revamped version of remote working. It includes a collection of 40 tiny cabins in Big Bear, California that can be rented, providing exhausted employees with an opportunity to work in a peaceful environment, and regain some of their composure.
“The site is perched in the mountains above a cloud cover, so it evokes a sense of awe,” says Hammon. “There are pine trees, rugged mountains, and birdsong at night—it’s a special place that draws you into the present.”
The first cabin is built upon a hilltop and is amped with stunning views of the surrounding mountains. The wooden cabin has been equipped with high-speed WiFi, and a built-in desk with a stunning view as well, to make your workday efficient and serene. The desk is crafted from Baltic birch, and placed in front of a window. The cabin also features a shower with a skylight, a loft-style reading nook, a wood-burning fireplace, a king-size bed, and a large deck with a sunken tub. The sunken tub is placed on a Douglas fir deck, and gives the guests the impression that they are floating above the clouds!
The exterior of the cabin has been clad in a vertical grain Douglas fir, perfectly complementing the interiors which boast Baltic birch. The birch is also softly stained to provide a boost of warmth and texture. Hammond says that he chose the wood for its ‘aesthetic and function’, as well as its strength, and ability to create clean joinery. Impressive windows span the interiors, with expansive views of pine trees, the sky, and the clouds. “Both the sleeping area and the work desk face a window that frames the backdrop, almost like a landscape painting,” said Hammond.
Find Sanctuary is expected to release in 2023, and each cabin will be rented out for 400$ a night. With these beautiful minimal cabins, Hammond’s hope “is to make time in nature a regular part of modern life.”
As someone who has lived in the city all my life, I would often get the urge to just escape to a beach or any nature oasis somewhere in the middle of a work day. But of course that seems impossible most of the time since I’m stuck in the concrete jungle. There have been designs and concepts of bringing nature closer to the city but unfortunately for me, I can only look at these from my computer screen and hope that someday, we’ll get something like them in my city.
Designer: OBMI
This new design for a unique kind of resort is created for urban areas that would like to have an oasis in the middle of all those buildings. Aera is a luxury vertical resort conceptualized in the context of an area that may not have enough space to house a full resort and to bring some semblance of water and sand to those living away from the beaches. This is definitely a first in terms of concepts and designs for nature retreats and it can be built in the middle of all the buildings, giving city dwellers a temporary escape.
Using the usual structural grid of a hotel tower, the design for Aera is made up of seven districts that includes dining, art, fashion, drama, garden, wellness, and family. Topping it off is a sky deck and a pool with a view of the urban sprawl surrounding it. So this is definitely not for those who are afraid of heights or falling off a pool into the streets below. But if you love the idea of a connection between the oasis within the resort and its surrounding buildings and streets, then this will be a treat for you.
Each level is like a micro-landscape with trees, walking trails, fountains, and other relaxing and refreshing scenery, in the midst of all the shopping, food, and artsy things in the different districts. The idea is to get people into a better headspace in the middle of the city without having to travel if they can’t travel at the moment. It pales in comparison to actually sitting on the beach and relaxing but it’s an option if you can’t go to that beach.
US hospitality firm Method Co has turned a Gilded Age-era bank building into a boutique hotel in Wilmington, Delaware, which boasts the city’s first rooftop bar.
The Quoin offers 24 guest rooms within a four-storey Victorian Romanesque brownstone that was constructed as the Security Trust and Safe Deposit Company Building.
The lobby at The Quoin features a mixture of contemporary and Shaker-influenced furniture
Completed in 1885 by Philadelphia architect Frank Furness, the downtown building features original arched windows and mouldings that were preserved during the renovation, which Method Co‘s in-house team undertook in collaboration with Stokes Architecture.
“Pronounced ‘coin’, the name is derived from the Old French word meaning ‘corner’ or ‘angle’, honouring the legacy of the original building, while also referencing the legacy of the original banking house — connecting the building’s history, location, and architecture through a single thread,” said Method Co.
The hotel’s main restaurant and bar is located just off the lobby
The building’s time period influenced the colour palette for the hotel’s interiors, based on paints dating back to 1820.
Natural motifs were also introduced through hand-drawn illustrations, and various patterned wallpapers found throughout the communal areas and the bedrooms.
Patterned wallpapers with natural motifs are used throughout the interiors
In the lobby, an eclectic mix of contemporary and Shaker-influenced furniture forms a cosy lounge area around a black fireplace.
Three food and beverage spaces have been given distinct identities.
Bedrooms on the top level have extra character thanks to the original arched cove windows
Just off the lobby, The Quoin Restaurant and Bar serves wood-fired fare based on the cuisines of southern France and northern Italy and features wood panelling and banquette seating that create an intimate setting.
A craft cocktail lounge, named Simmer Down, has an original brick ceiling and a mural painted by Reverend Michael Alan.
The bar on the rooftop, billed by Method Co as the city’s first, is designed as a happy hour spot with cushioned rattan seating and offers light bites on the menu.
Bedrooms are simply decorated, with wallpaper used to create feature walls behind the headboards, as well as wooden furniture and herringbone parquet flooring.
The rooftop bar is billed as Wilmington’s first
Those on the top level have extra character thanks to the cove-arched windows and walls that curve to follow the roofline.
The building was constructed in 1885 as Security Trust and Safe Deposit Company Building
This is the company’s first venture in Wilmington, the largest city in the small coastal state of Delaware, which is known for its beach houses.
Examples of these include an oceanfront residence by Robert Gurney and a single-family home built using wood reclaimed from a nearby agricultural structure by DIGSAU
A celebration of Black rave culture, a bubblegum emo track, jangling folk-rock and more this week
Kelela: Happy Ending
Produced by LSDXOXO with additional production by Bambii, “Happy Ending” is Kelela’s newest release and it celebrates Black rave culture. Unlike the ambient-leaning track “Washed Away“—which came out last month; her first new music since 2017—”Happy Ending” is a club-ready banger, yet it still incorporates the Washington, DC-born artist’s sublime silkiness.
Sampa The Great feat. Angélique Kidjo: Let Me Be Great
Zambian artist Sampa The Great released her second album, As Above, So Below, last month and from it comes “Let Me Be Great” featuring the legendary Angélique Kidjo. Today, which happens to be Zambian Independence Day, the duo share the track’s music video directed by Pussy Krew. The animated, hyperreal CGI work shape-shifts between scenes, playing with motion, color and texture. The kaleidoscopic Afrofuturist aesthetic perfectly matches the two artists’ charming and triumphant performances.
Destroyer feat. Sandro Perri: Somnambulist Blues
A minimal, experimental composition from Toronto-based musician and producer Sandro Perri with spoken-word from pioneering indie-rock act Destroyer (aka Dan Bejar), “Somnambulist Blues” is a mesmeric, multi-dimensional and transportive track of precise, powerful components. “I come back to Sandro’s music as something to sing to at the crossroads moments of my life in music,” Bejar shares in a statement. “There is something about the landscape Sandro lays out—it’s a world in which things become imminently singable. A lotta room to roam, and all of it good.” The single debuts as part of record label Mexican Summer’s Looking Glass digital series.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra: I Killed Captain Cook
The demise of James Cook is legendary—especially in Polynesia and Australasia, where the English explorer was responsible for a tremendous amount of colonization. In 1779, Cook and his men attempted to kidnap Kalaniʻōpuʻu—the chief of the island of Hawaii—under the guise of showing him their ship. Thousands of Hawaiian people gathered on the beach at Kealakekua Bay, a fight broke out, and Cook was stabbed in the neck by an islander (some stories say it was Kalaniʻōpuʻu himself). Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s frontman Ruban Nielson—whose mother is a Kanaka Maoli from Oahu, and whose father is Māori—wrote the minimal, acoustic “I Killed Captain Cook” from the perspective of that Hawaiian. With vulnerable, tender vocals, the track is set to be the lead single from UMO’s upcoming double album. The video incorporates footage of Nielson’s mother, Deedee Aipolani Nielson.
Babygirl: Always
Babygirl—the Toronto-based outfit made up of Kiki Frances and Cameron Breithaupt—shares a haunting track about heartbreak, called “Always.” Soaked in candid lyrics of longing, soft vocals and quick guitar bursts, the new single is infectious yet melancholic, a quality the duo describes as “bubblegum emo.”
Mr Twin Sister: Resort
NYC band Mr Twin Sister has released their new EP, Upright And Even, and from it comes energetic track, “Resort.” While they often delve into a melange of avant-pop, electronic, dream-pop, chillwave and more, this new record is decidedly geared for the dance floor. “Upright sounds like nighttime after the shops have closed,” they share in a statement. “‘Resort’ is the centerpiece. It’s about the ecstasy of music triumphing over the bullshit of going out to hear it. Club music about club music. We didn’t want to release it back when nobody could be together in person, so we waited.”
Terry Emm: November Evenings
Hertfordshire-based Terry Emm channels vintage pop in “November Evenings,” a jangling folk-rock release with an Americana inflection. It’s Emm’s second single this year—and finds the singer-songwriter fusing thoughtful, emotion-driven lyricism with escalating lead guitar. “‘November Evenings’ is about that feeling when autumn changes into winter and we’re left reflecting on the year. It’s about jealously and a feeling of wanting more from life, when certain things are always just out of reach,” Emm shares in a statement, adding that the Lukas Drinkwater-produced song is “probably the second or third upbeat track I’ve ever released.”
Listen Up is published every Sunday and rounds up the new music we found throughout the week. Hear the year so far on our Spotify channel. Hero image by Alban Low, courtesy of Terry Emm
If you’ve got bored of the usual SUVs, then French startup Kilow has got the perfect off-roading set of wheels if you are a couple. Meet the two-seater La Bagnole electric UTV that can also be categorized as a mini pickup truck for the appropriate tasks. The makers label it as a vehicle “stripped of the superfluous, ideal for daily journeys and designed to be fun and practical.”
La Bagnole has a typical Willys Jeep vibe from the front – just look at that grille and the open-wheel design. Thus, the vehicle is primarily used for adventures and dirt-laden tracks for the outdoorsy who love to head outside the city limits every now and then. Don’t expect it to go at breakneck speeds on the freeway (it’s more like a crawling machine) since the entry-level variant maxes out at 29 mph and the much more powerful version churns out a 50 mph top speed.
The EV is quite lightweight having a dry weight of 770 lb and both variants have a respectable range. 43 miles and 87 miles respectively. One big advantage here is the ability to charge via a standard outlet in just a few hours. Rather than being a full-blown SUV or MUV, La Bagnole is more of an alternative to a two-wheeler with the freedom to tread inhospitable terrain. More so when it has got a steel chassis and galvanized steel double-wishbone suspension. Those skinny tires don’t look to assuring for a hardcore off-roading experience, still good enough for the odd detour down the trails. For times when you need to haul medium-sized cargo, the vehicle won’t let you down.
If you are already thinking it’s more like a toy car for adults, bingo… The EV ships in a toy car-inspired box which can be recycled as a storage crate. There is even an option to charge the battery off-grid with integrated solar panels. The vehicle debuted at the Paris Motor Show last week and grabbed attention for its unconventional looks.
The base L6e version will not require a driver’s license while the beefier version will require the honors. La Bagnole will come at a starting price tag of $9,975 and the deliveries are expected by early 2023.
Black-painted timber forms shelter large terraces overlooking the landscape at the Pistohiekka Resort, which Helsinki-based Studio Puisto has created on the edge of Lake Saimaa in Finland.
Nestled in a rocky cove surrounded by trees, the resort comprises two square buildings that house a restaurant and saunas.
Studio Puisto has punctured both buildings with an oculus-like void in their centres, designed to “invite the scenery in”.
Studio Puisto has created the Pistohiekka Resort in Finland
“The starting point for the Pistohiekka sauna-restaurant was the magnificent location, situated between rocky areas in a tranquil cove,” said the architecture studio.
“With the different features of the area carefully considered in the placement of the buildings, the result is a concept where two buildings seem to invite the surrounding scenery in,” it continued.
Pistohiekka Resort forms part of a wider plan to boost tourism and revive the area in southeastern Finland, which had previously been a popular sauna and leisure spot in the 1980s.
It features two buildings clad in black-painted timber
Both buildings present blank facades to the northeast where several residential cabins dot the forest but open up to face the lake on the west side.
Here, they lead out to stepped, rock-lined terraces that are made from wood and provide access to two landing stages for boats.
The buildings are arranged around terraces
The interiors of both volumes are organised around their terraces. At the restaurant, the terrace is largely uncovered, while the one at the sauna building is more sheltered and private.
In the restaurant, the central circular void is lined with glazing to provide diners with views across the lake. Outside, the roof extends to partially cover the deck and is finished with a radial pattern of timber slats on its underside.
For the sauna building, the circular void is much deeper, acting as a cylindrical lightwell for the sheltered terrace.
“The curved inner courtyard of the restaurant creates viewpoints both in and out of the building, and the covered sauna exteriors with a unique, round opening in the roof create a thematic link between the buildings,” said Studio Puisto.
The restaurant’s terrace is partially sheltered
Pistohiekka Resort’s interiors are finished with a pale wood lining, alongside simple fittings and minimalist wood and steel furniture.
These are designed to contrast the black exterior of the complex while focusing attention on the lake through large windows in the restaurant and seating-height openings in the saunas.
All of the saunas have seating-height windows
Studio Puisto was founded in 2010 by Mikko Jakonen, Emma Johansson, Sampsa Palva, Heikki Riitahuhta and Willem van Bolderen.
In this lookbook, we collect 10 living rooms in Victorian and Georgian-era homes that carefully balance contemporary style with original features.
The Georgian period of British history ran from 1714 to about 1837, followed by the Victorian period from 1837 until 1901. Many UK cities are still filled with prominent architecture from these times.
Typically characterised by brick facades, sash windows, generous ceilings, timber floorboards, commanding fireplaces and intricate plasterwork, the sturdy architecture of those periods remains highly popular today.
Below, Dezeen has picked out 10 examples of living rooms in Georgian and Victorian-style homes that have been given a modern edit.
Architects Luke and Joanne McClelland transformed a bedroom into a living room that takes advantage of an enormous Georgian bay window in their overhaul of their own apartment in the Scottish capital.
They furnished the space using a mixture of mid-century furniture, such as the side table and green-velvet armchairs, with more contemporary touches like the graphic monochrome rug and slate-grey sectional sofa.
The sitting room in this Victorian house in east London, renovated and extended by DGN Studio, has been kept light and airy with a minimalist interior design.
Denison timber flooring and pale walls complement the marble fireplace, while a feature wall lamp injects a modern twist.
The House Recast, which saw Studio Ben Allen refurbish a Victorian terraced home in north London, was named best home improvement project in the 2021 Don’t Move, Improve! awards.
A comforting palette of grey, maroon and green was chosen to offset the original fireplace and exposed floorboards, while a serving hatch into the kitchen adds a touch of intrigue.
The original brickwork of this Victorian terraced house was left exposed by London-based architect Simon Astridge to create a feature wall and chimney breast in the living room.
It is juxtaposed with a more contemporary terrazzo coffee table and a large paper lampshade that draws attention to the room’s high ceilings.
Victorian architecture was also influential across the Atlantic Ocean, as demonstrated by this 19th-century building in Brooklyn containing a bright apartment designed by local practice Arnold Studio.
The home’s original elements are accentuated with a large mirror angled on top of the wooden mantelpiece, while the pale wood floors are more contemporary and squishy furniture offsets some of the harder edges.
Turner Architects renovated and extended this Georgian terraced house in south London, with the project also a winner at the 2021 Don’t Move, Improve! contest.
The living room was given a cosy feel by laying a classic cowhide rug over the original dark wooden floors, while pops of colour from bookshelves, furniture and wall hangings are intended to reflect changing seasonal colours.
This ground-floor flat in a Victorian terrace was extended and updated by Studio Hallett Ike with the intention of creating an elegant minimalist design for a young family without a huge budget.
The original floorboards and plaster cornicing were retained, with pale grey plaster used for the walls and black metal furnishings added to give the space “weight and depth”.
Tinted plaster and refreshed cornicing was also used for the walls of the living room in Tsubo House in Hackney, which was overhauled by architecture practice Fraher & Findlay.
The space is dressed numerous patterns and textures, with a giant shaggy rug, a velvet sofa, and a bubblegum-pink edition of Faye Toogood’s Roly-Poly chair.
As a contrast to the crisp white aesthetic in the rest of the home, architecture studio Moxon Architects used a deep blue for the living room in this Victorian London townhouse.
The same colour was used for the restored shutters, fireplace, cornices and ceiling rose, while a chandelier gives the space a formal feel.
Also in Brooklyn, House 22 was renovated by New York studio VonDalwig Architecture with modernist furnishings set among the preserved original details in the sitting room.
Black leather seating and a sculptural coffee table surround the intricate fireplace, while a contemporary black chandelier hangs from the ceiling and bookshelves dominate one wall.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
