Promotion: US studio Substance Architecture has created a conference centre on a verdant site in Iowa, which is clad in elongated black bricks by material manufacturer Glen-Gery.

Named Tree Huis, the 650-square-metre building in Marion County is adorned with Ebonite Velour bricks laid in a horizontal arrangement and chosen for a timeless appearance.

The Ebonite Velour bricks specified by Substance Architecture for the project are norman size and were manufactured by Glen-Gery nearby in one of its Iowa factories.

The norman-sized bricks are roughly 10 centimetres longer than Glen-Gery’s traditional bricks and were chosen to create “a very pronounced long, linear appearance”.

“The material, colour and texture selection, Ebonite Velour brick, significantly impacted this project and its overall feel,” said Glen-Gery.

“The sheen of the brick creates a metallic reflection – in some lights, it appears dark grey and others blue,” the brand continued. “This creates something beautiful with its surroundings and emphasises the timeless feel that will be there forever.”

Ebonite Velour bricks have also been used inside the Tree Huis, where there is space intended for both family gatherings and business conferences.

The building has the capacity to host up to 100 guests for dining or lounging while immersing themselves in the surrounding landscape from the adjoining deck.

Throughout the project, the bricks have been laid with raked bed joints and head joints that are nearly flush. According to Glen-Gery, this is a detail by Substance Architecture intended to exaggerate “the horizontal lines of the entire building”.

Alongside these norman bricks, Glen-Gery’s Ebonite colour is available in additional sizes and also comes in a smooth finish.

Another project that recently utilised Glen-Gery bricks is the Grand Mulberry in New York designed by US architect Morris Adjmi. Glen-Gery bricks were chosen to promote both the building’s new role as the home of the Italian American Museum and the site’s heritage.

Also, the brand’s Black Roman Maximus bricks were chosen as cladding for a New Jersey residence designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Studio PHH, named La Clairiere.

The house is located in Princeton, New Jersey, and is made up of two brick-clad volumes that are connected by a glass central void containing communal areas.

To find out more about Glen-Gery, visit its website.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Glen-Gery as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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Enhancing performance through good design

Andrew Morrill is a former model with big legs who works out a lot. He was exposed to many brands over the years both through his work as well as his personal interest in being comfortable while working out, and it became obvious to him that 5″ shorts were the most functional to wear but always the most difficult to find, with 7″, 9″ or longer filling the displays at stores. Over conversations with his friend Mike Tedesco, who is also an athlete and has a background in finance and operations, the two realized that they couldn’t be the only two guys who sought out better fitting gym wear that was functional, performed well and met an underserved need. Athletegy—a combination of the words “athletic” and “strategy” launched in 2021 after a year of product development, and the brand is just hitting its stride.

Their story is similar to that of many creators featured on COOL HUNTING over the years—if you don’t see what you’re looking for in the marketplace and you have the passion, make it yourself. With Andrew’s creative vision and Mike’s operational skills they realized that in addition to the passion they had the insight, skills and talent to develop and launch product to a competitive market. That they are both good looking guys with social media-friendly fit bodies is an additional asset.

Athletegy’s design philosophy intertwines aesthetics and function and is best summarized in their signature Quad Short which offers ease of movement while also showing off a bit of leg. “I have big quads and I need a short that has a wider leg opening, otherwise it looks like sausage casings and it’s not a good look,” says Andrew with a laugh. Mike adds that “you frequently see people hiking up their shorts when they are working out and showing off their legs, so why not create a short where you don’t have to do that, where it works with you while you’re working out and has the right sized leg opening.”

They learned a lot after their launch, and have brought a lot of market insight and customer requests into the short’s second generation. A mesh brief liner and chlorine and saltwater-proof anti-microbial 4-way stretch fabric ensure maximum versatility while exercising, and zippered side pockets—the right pocket also includes a handy phone sleeve so your phone doesn’t swing around—make them easy to wear before and after a workout. The rear rise of the short and seams are reinforced, and a wide waistband offers comfort.

We’ve been testing the Quad Short and several of the brand’s tank tops and have been impressed with their comfort and performance. We’ve even noticed something that Andrew pointed out—that where the short sits on your thighs offers the best balance of functionality as well as making your legs—regardless of how meaty they are—look their best. The laser-cut rear ventilation panel not only keeps air moving, it also gives a slight lift to your butt.

Athletegy shorts start at $68 and tanks at $54 and are available in a range of colors and prints.

The iconic San Siro in Milan, which was set to be replaced by a Populous-designed stadium, has been saved from demolition because of its “cultural heritage”.

The stadium, which is shared by Italian football clubs Inter Milan and AC Milan, was rescued from demolition by the Regional Commission for the Cultural Heritage of Lombardy due to the cultural significance its distinctive appearance.

Originally designed by architect Ulisse Stacchini in the 1920s, the stadium has been expanded and renovated several times, with engineers Armando Ronca and Ferruccio Calzolari adding the distinctive second tier and ramped staircases in 1955.

“The Regional Commission for the Cultural Heritage of Lombardy expressed a positive opinion on the existence of cultural heritage of the second tier at the San Siro stadium, in view of future verification under article 12 of Legislative Decree 42/2004,” the organisation said in a statement shared with sports media platform Tribuna.

“Thus, the committee endorses the proposal of the superintendence,” it added.

“It should also be noted that the Archival and Bibliographic Superintendence for Lombardy, during the same session, recalled the value of the west grandstand of the stadium as an ‘exposed archive’ for the plaques/epigraphs documenting the national and international successes of Inter and Milan.”

Milan teams consider separate stadiums

San Siro, which was extensively remodelled by Milan studio Ragazzi and Partners ahead of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, was set to be replaced by a stadium designed by architecture studio Populous named the Cathedral.

Instead, AC Milan and Inter Milan are now reportedly looking for two separate sites for their future stadiums.

Dezeen understands that if the two clubs go their separate ways, Populous would likely work with Inter Milan on the design of its future stadium due to its historical links with the club. The club reportedly plans for its new stadium to be located in the Rozzano area, south of Milan.

AC Milan is said to be planning to build a stadium in San Donato Milanese, where the club has acquired a majority stake in the Sportlifecity company, which holds development rights for the land in the area, according to newspaper The Stadium Business.

The new AC Milan stadium would have a capacity of 60,000-70,000 seats.

San Siro stadium important “for the protection of memory”

The San Siro news comes after Italian undersecretary for culture, Vittorio Sgarbi, promised in January that the stadium would not be torn down.

“I am convinced that the stadium should not be demolished, not so much for its architectural value as for the importance as a symbol and for the protection of memory,” Sgarbi told Italian newspaper Il Giorno at the time.

“For this reason, as far as I am concerned, I will take all the necessary steps to prevent it from being torn down.”

The Populous stadium that was set to replace San Siro was informed by two of Milan’s best-known buildings, the Duomo di Milano cathedral and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele shopping arcade. The area around the stadium would have become pedestrian-only, with existing parking moved underground.

The architecture studio was recently chosen to design the redevelopment of a stand at UK football club Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, which would increase capacity while adding a museum and a hotel.

It also recently unveiled the world’s largest spherical building, an LED-covered venue in Las Vegas.

There have been other suggested uses for San Siro in the past. In 2020, architect Angelo Renna envisioned turning it into a tree-covered coronavirus memorial.

The main image is by Prelvini via Wikimedia Commons.

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A minimal material palette helps define this glazed extension, which London studio DHaus has added to the back of a house in Hertfordshire, UK.

Designed to help connect the home to its garden, the extension was designed to turn a house that suffered from dark and small spaces into a light-filled home with glass walls that frame views of nature.

The addition comprises a largely glazed extension as well as a separate studio, which sits at the end of the garden and contains a home gym.

“The fundamental concept was to frame the tree and garden with a new flush kitchen floor that was the same height as the garden level,” DHaus co-director David Ben Dunberg told Dezeen. “We were interested in creating heavy sculptural forms in a limited material palette with three main elements of concrete, timber and glass.”

Connected to the rest of the home by a set of wooden stairs that run alongside a curving white panelled wall, the extension houses a kitchen and dining area that replaces the home’s previous kitchen, which was dark and lacked space.

To enhance its connection to the garden, DHaus dropped the extension by one metre to place the new space at the same level as the back garden.

“The existing kitchen was dark and not large enough for a dining space. we wanted to create a light-filled space with a direct link to the outdoors,” said Dunberg.

“The existing rear of the house was cut off from the garden as the main house was set one metre higher than the garden,” he continued. “We dropped the finished floor level to the garden as the existing house was set much higher than the garden creating a disconnect between the two.”

Aiming to create a more spacious zone in the house and invite natural light into its interior, the studio contained the extension within glass walls, keeping timber and concrete portions to a minimum and using frameless glass where possible to offer uninterrupted views of the garden outside.

“We wanted to frame views of the sky with a window box more akin to sculpture, to frame the beautiful east-facing garden and the large Birch Tree,” said Dunberg.

Aside from the large portions of glazing, accents of timber and concrete feature throughout the additional space, including a low concrete datum that runs around the border of the extension and doubles as a bench in the dining area.

A concrete wall was built at one side of the facade, which runs up to the gate marking the edge of the site. To give the home a raw feel, a concrete floor extends from the extension’s interior into the space outside, creating an outdoor terrace that borders the garden.

Inside, Douglas Fir timber was used for as many of the elements as possible, including the joinery, kitchen doors and exposed beams, which stretch along the length of the ceiling, interrupted by a skylight that offers additional natural lighting.

A series of Douglas-Fir furnishings topped with concrete worktops were arranged throughout the space, offering areas for dining and cooking as well as casual seating areas.

As well as the extension, DHaus added a separate studio building to the end of the garden, which houses a gym. Designed to reflect the design of the extension, the garden studio takes cues from the neighbouring structure’s material palette while featuring raw finishes that give the building a more unfinished character.

“The gym was designed to mirror the language of the larger house extension with a raw exposed palette of blockwork and exposed timber ceilings and reveals,” said Dunberg.

“With the twist being to be as raw and exposed as possible, the internal finish is just raw concrete blockwork, and we feel it works well for a gym space.”

Other extensions that use large portions of glazing to brighten existing homes include an all-marble extension that features bright white surfaces and glass doors and a glass extension that refreshes a century-old cabin in the Czech Republic.

The photography is by Nick Dearden.

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Architects need to rethink their part in Britain’s dysfunctional relationship with laundry, writes Phineas Harper.

A tangle of tubes, ducts, and electrical appliances hanging in moist air around a sodden cotton T-shirt is the undisputed highlight of Island, a new exhibition at the Design Museum. Created by design researcher-in-residence Mariana Janowicz and feminist architecture collective Edit, the exhibit is a monstrous metaphor lampooning Britain’s dysfunctional relationship with laundry.

A heater and fan cause water to evaporate from the soggy T-shirt, whereupon a dehumidifier condenses the vapour to liquid again and dribbles it back onto the garment. Titled D.A.M.P. (Drying and Moisture Performance), the piece mocks the highly mechanised and often conflicting processes that Brits are resorting to in order to dry their clothes as drying laundry outside on washing lines becomes increasingly policed.

Edit has been interrogating the architecture of domestic labour including laundry since their 2018 inception. In 2021 they hung pants, shirts and socks on a washing line in front of the RIBA as a provocation challenging conservative attitudes to laundry drying in public. Now Janowicz has taken the design collective’s research further – probing the architectural history of laundry in the UK and how it has become shaped by growing anti-working class sentiment.

Britain is increasingly hostile to anyone drying their laundry outside

Across the world, clothes have traditionally been laundered in public. In Europe lavoirs, communal wash houses where garments could be brought for cleaning, were once a common feature of the urban landscape. George-Eugène Haussmann‘s 1850 redesign of Paris, for example, included lavoirs in every neighbourhood.

Though mechanisation has automated much of the drudgery of hand washing clothes in rich countries, shared laundry facilities are still widespread. “In Switzerland, Sweden and other European countries it is commonplace to have communal laundry rooms in housing blocks,” says Janowicz, “while in Venice, you see many shared washing lines spanning canals and campos”. Britain, on the other hand, is increasingly hostile to anyone drying their laundry outside.

“No washing on balconies. This is not a council estate” declared an anonymous all caps note that went viral in 2019 after the recipient posted it on Mumsnet. The unpleasant message, taped by a neighbour to the front door of a mother who’d been drying her family’s clothes on the balcony of their flat, is emblematic of a growing judgmental attitude to laundry that has become a feature of modern Britain.

During the pandemic, social landlord L&Q wrote to residents of Chobham Manor in Newham designed by Make Architects demanding they stop drying laundry on their balconies. The company, which was recently found by the housing ombudsman to suffer from “severe maladministration” and an “overtly dismissive” attitude to its tenants, said that wet clothes posed “a fire risk” and were “an eye sore”.

Until relatively recently, UK attitudes were very different with clothes drying outside a common sight

Contradicting the housing association’s own damp-prevention guidance, which advises “drying washing outdoors”, the condescending and typo-riddled letter revealed its authors were more concerned with protecting “image of the development” than the practical needs of its residents. Janowicz has uncovered scores of further examples of local authorities and housing management companies both banning laundry on balconies and reprimanding tenants for exacerbating mould issues by drying their moist clothes inside.

Yet until relatively recently, UK attitudes were very different with clothes drying outside a common sight in cities, and many of the best British housing estates designed with expressive laundry facilities. For example, the 1938 Sidney Street Estate in Somers Town was built with courtyards featuring washing line posts topped with colourful sculptures by ceramicist Gilbert Bayes.

Elsewhere, Berthold Lubetkin and Tecton’s Spa Green Estate, completed for the former Metropolitan Borough of Islington in 1943, included a rooftop laundry terrace with an aerodynamic canopy designed to enhance the evaporative effect of breezes. Ernö Goldfinger created drying rooms in the core of Balfron Tower. Even the tiny 1964 Vanbrugh Park Estate where I live designed by Geoffrey Powell of Chamberlin Powell and Bon included a small laundrette and distinctive drying area cupped by curving brick walls.

But in 1976 London’s municipal government, the Greater London Council (GLC) closed approximately 1,000 laundry and drying rooms overnight. Harry Kay, vice chair of the GLC Housing Management Committee, promised the closures were a temporary safety measure following a freak accident that had seriously injured a young girl, but with local government finances under pressure, the facilities never reopened. Vanbrugh Park’s laundrette became a store room; Balfon’s drying room is now a unused yoga studio; Spa Green’s roof terrace has been closed for five decades; and Sidney Street’s ceramic finials were stolen.

Britain’s architects should refuse to allow this moralising snobbery to continue define their approach to designing for domestic care

With the sudden removal of communal facilities, positive attitudes to drying laundry in public quickly deteriorated. Rising 1980s consumerism under Margaret Thatcher’s government saw owning personal appliances like washing machines and tumble dryers become status symbols while using a laundrette, like riding a bus, was seen by many as a mark of poverty and shame.

For Edit, however, it is absurd that once traditionally male forms of labour like office work, manufacturing and governance are celebrated with substantial facilities in city centres while domestic labour like laundry is relegated to the home and hidden from public view. “Care work like laundry makes up the majority of work that we do in the world,” points out Janowicz. “We should be taking the architecture of care very seriously. I want to see a policy for restoring community laundry infrastructure. Communal facilities can save space and resources, freeing up the home for other things.”

Hanging laundry outside is not only easy, cheap and helps prevent damp problems, it’s patently more environmentally-friendly than energy-inefficient mechanical drying. Knowing this, some contemporary architects are devising new laundry facilities for the communities their work serves. La Borda by Lacol in Barcelona and Nightingale 1 by Breathe in Brunswick, Australia for example are a co-housing schemes which feature generous multi-purpose areas which provide space for laundry alongside other communal uses.

Failing to build decent outdoor laundry areas in new housing estates or, worse, imposing mean-spirited rules banning drying clothes on balconies, are an unsustainable, prejudiced and myopic hangover from Thatcher-era prejudice. Britain’s architects should refuse to allow this moralising snobbery to continue define their approach to designing for domestic care, and instead learn from Lubetkin and Powell, harnessing solar and wind energy to design inventive and generous laundry faculties for all.

The photo of D.A.M.P. (Drying and Moisture Performance) is by Felix Speller.

Phineas Harper is chief executive of Open City. They were previously chief curator of the 2019 Olso Architecture Triennale, deputy director of the Architecture Foundation and deputy editor of the Architectural Review. In 2017 they co-founded New Architecture Writers a programme for aspiring design critics from under-represented backgrounds.

Island is on show at the Design Museum until 24 September 2023. For more exhibitions, events and talk in architecture and design, visit Dezeen Events Guide.

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