Wooden boxes on wheels fold open to reveal beds inside this minimal apartment in Bolzano, Italy, by Harry Thaler Studio (+ slideshow).
Italian designer Harry Thaler designed the residence, named Atelierhouse, for contemporary art museum Museion as a temporary home for visiting artists and curators.
One box contains a single bed, which can be folded up against the wall to create more space.
A larger box contains a double bed that can be opened or closed for privacy if more than one person is staying in the studio apartment at a time.
Lights hang down inside it, so guests can close the hinged sections for reading, study or relaxation. There’s also a wardrobe installed at the rear.
Thaler said how he wanted to make the beds feel like “little houses in the actual house”. He explained: “”The facade of the studio house is made from very cold materials: aluminium and glass. The interior needed warmth.”
The rest of the furniture in the apartment is all made from MDF and includes armchairs, tables, benches and a study desk.
Most pieces have wheels, so the space can be rearranged if needed.
A pair of shelving units made from stacked boxes and a lamp with a slender stem complete the space.
Brightly coloured pods resembling submarines contain meeting rooms at the new Moscow office for internet company Yandex by Russian studio Za Bor Architects (+ slideshow).
The architects developed a scheme incorporating colourful communal areas and meeting rooms interspersed among more typical workspaces, which feature a muted palette of grey and white.
“The client, as usual, wanted to see a happy and comfortable interior that would hold a large number of specialists,” said the architects.
The red and yellow meeting cabins are located on the fourth floor, and incorporate transparent panels resembling giant portholes fixed to the exterior of their rounded walls.
Groups of sofas with high padded backs and sides are arranged close to the pod-like meeting rooms to create additional places for secluded working or conversations.
Original features such as brick walls and columns were integrated into the design, contrasting with new additions such as the colourful pods and furniture.
Two meeting rooms on the second floor are constructed as cave-like spaces with curving ceilings and walls covered in grey carpet.
The rounded shells of these rooms are staggered to make room for glazed gaps that allow light to enter, while curtains along the glazed front walls can be drawn when privacy is required.
On the lower levels, a stripe of green carpet meanders across the floor, and loops up onto the walls and ceilings that envelope glass-walled meeting rooms.
“The first three floors are connected with a generic element which is intended to form a giant ribbon that, while penetrating floors, forms streamlined volumes of meeting and conference rooms,” said the architects.
Curtains enclosing the meeting rooms on these floors match the orange and green colour scheme of the surrounding walls and furniture.
Photography is by Maria Turynkina and Dmitry Kulinevich.
Here’s a project description from Za Bor Architects:
Yandex Stroganov office in Moscow, Russia
The main place in Za Bor Architects’ portfolio is held by offices of IT-companies. It has a lot to do with a pretty informal and creative atmosphere that these firms are willing to build up for their employers, because working environment is one of the key factors that affect the company’s attraction. It is worth to note that Yandex – the largest IT-company in Russia, and one of the world’s leaders in this field, has been entrusting their offices to Za Bor Architects for six years already. Today there are 21 Yandex office in 12 cities of four countries of the world, that Za Bor Architects have developed.
Recently one more Moscow office of Yandex was opened in Stroganov building in Krasnaya Roza 1875 business quarter. This reconstructed building is full of columns and inter-storey premises, which influenced the interiors a lot. The client, as usually, wanted to see a happy and comfortable interior that would hold a large number of specialists.
The first three floors are connected with a generic element, that is intended to form a giant ribbon, that, while penetrating floors, forms streamlined volumes of meeting and conference rooms.
The first three floors have the following common elements of all Yandex offices, as open communication lines on the ceiling, unique ceiling lights in complex geometrical boxes, and compound flowerpots with flowers dragging on to the ceiling. Alcove sofas by Vitra are used as bright colour spots, and places for informal communication. Wall finishing is traditionally industrial carpet, marker covering, cork; and of course, a poured floor.
The fourth and fifth floors are constructed in a totally different style. You may only notice two signature elements of Za Bor Architects here – large meeting rooms – architects call them bathyscaphes, and employees named them Orange and Tomato due to their colours.
Such difference in decoration is determined with very complex construction elements and level differences in the building (the ceiling height varies from 2 to 6 meters), balconies, beams that were left from the previous tenants. Nevertheless, here we can see new colours, partition walls and flooring. Here, in these neutral grey-white interiors, rather than elsewhere, there are many workplaces completed with Herman Miller systems, and the largest open-spaces. Also there are cafeteria and game room with a sport corner.
This has constrained partition of the building into two separate office, in fact it helps clients and numerous visitors of Yandex Money department to deal with their issues, without distracting technical specialists, located on the top floors.
Client: Yandex Address: Stroganov business center, 18B Leo Tolstoy str, Moscow Project management: Yandex Architecture and design: Za Bor Architects Architects: Arseniy Borisenko and Peter Zaytsev Project coordinator: Nadezhda Rozhanskaya Furniture: Herman Miller, GlobeZero4, Vitra Lighting: Slide Acoustic material: Sonaspray Acoustic solutions: Acoustic group Flooring: Interface FLOR Time of project — 2012-2013 Floor area: 5800 sqm
Laboratory for Architecture in Barcelona uncovered barrel-vaulted brick ceilings during the renovation of this apartment in the architects’ home city (+ slideshow).
For the renovation of Casa Tomás, Laboratory for Architecture in Barcelona separated the interior into areas that will be used most at night and those that will be active during the day, connected by a small intermediate room.
Architect Pepe Gascón told Dezeen they discovered the “lovely roof” when they demolished the existing plaster ceiling.
“We supposed there was this kind of roof in the apartment because most of the apartments and flats built in this period of time were built with this kind of construction,” Gascón said.
“In the Catalan language it’s called ‘volta catalana’ which means ‘Catalan arch’ and it was an easy way to build a roof with ceramic tiles, where the arch distributes the forces it receives to both sides,” he explained.
On one side of the apartment’s H-shaped plan, four rooms have been transformed into a single open-plan space for the living, dining and kitchen areas.
A bathroom on the opposite side of the apartment features green tiled walls that never meet the vaulted ceiling, but a row of glazed panels is slotted between to bring extra light into the space from above.
Two bedrooms are situated on either side of the bathroom, completing the side of the residence dedicated to night time.
The ceiling in the living area has been left exposed to show the red tones of the clay ceramic, while vaulted ceilings elsewhere are all painted white. A mixture of wooden boards and patterned Mallorcan tiles cover the floors.
Narrow terraces are positioned at each end of the apartment. The one at the bedroom end is screened by a steel trellis covered with climbing plants, while the second faces down onto the street.
Louis Kahn divided spaces into two types: served and servant (where ‘servant’ refers not to domestic staff but to spaces serving other spaces). Marcel Breuer structured a considerable number of his single-family homes into a bi-nuclear scheme. The pre-existing H-shape of the Tomás home already favoured its spatial organisation into two living areas, as in Breuer’s plan: one part to be used for daytime activities – the social area – and the other for night-time functions – the private area. The connecting room was to be a servant space but also given its own character so that, rather than being relegated for use as a mere passageway, it could also function as a living area. The other two rooms would be served spaces.
Although these two served spaces are almost similar in terms of dimension and geometry, both are defined in completely opposite ways. The public part is clear space while the private section is divided. The former is open to the street and the latter closed off by the inner courtyard of the block. The main space extends outwards via a balcony, while the other area is filtered and separated from outside by a uniform glassed-in veranda where climbing plants partly screen the glass slats that close it off. The balcony acts as a kind of solarium before the living room, dining room and kitchen area. The veranda, however, is like a shade house in front of the dormitories thanks to the plant filter provided by the creepers.
Dimorphism is the term used in biology for the phenomenon in which two different anatomical aspects appear in the same species. This principle was used to “furnish” the served spaces of the house. In the public zone, it is by means of the free-standing bench in the kitchen. In the bedroom area, the bathroom is set out like one more piece of furniture since it rises from the floor and does not reach up to the joists or the vaulted ceiling. The bathroom can be understood in Kahn’s language as a servant space since it serves both bedrooms.
The same applies to the transversal strip comprised by the vestibule, the toilet and the storage space for household appliances – paved and finished with decorative tiles – which also serves the living-room, dining room and kitchen. Even the servant space connecting the two parts of the house is multiplied by adding a dual-level or, better said, a bi-vertical loft space.
The spatial result of this project is therefore a contrivance whereby opposites, symmetries and balances mediate served and servant spaces. This is a house structured in a bi-nuclear fashion which repeats dualities again and again or, in other words, it brings together in one very small home twofold, different and contrasting spatial characteristics: clear-divided, open-closed, extended-separated, broken up-filtered, above-below. In short, it is a project based on dualism rather than on monism, with Kahn and Bauer as its double references.
Architecture: LAB, Laboratory for Architecture in Barcelona – Pepe Gascón & Víctor Sala (architects) Client: Miguel Gayoso Contractor: Constructora Montnegre (Tordera, Barcelona), Spain Dirección de obra: LAB, Laboratory for Architecture in Barcelona – Pepe Gascón & Víctor Sala (architects) Coordinación de seguridad y salud: LAB, Laboratory for Architecture in Barcelona – Pepe Gascón & Víctor Sala (architects) Project area: 8000 m2 Cost: €73.000, 00
How do you luxe up a windowless room in the bowels of Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre? Architectural Digest poses this question to one designer each year as it creates a backstage lounge for the Oscars. The task of creating the AD Greenroom (the 12th!) for the 2014 Academy Awards (the 86th!) went to David Rockwell. Having perhaps exhausted his interest in Hollywood Regency and cinema magic through his work on the on-stage proceedings, Rockwell looked to New York City loft living as inspiration.
Faced with the equivalent of a basement studio, he focused on “urban simplicity, but married with film glamour.” The latter came in part from actress Susan Sarandon, who helped select works from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences archive that line the walls: on one side, a wall of screens powered by Rockwell LAB software display digital images from socially conscious, Oscar-winning, and Oscar-nominated films, while on the other side, 14 framed works features images from classic screwball comedies—one of Sarandon’s favorite genres.
Interior designer Ilse Crawford’s London practice Studioilse has created the interior for a multipurpose arts space and restaurant in central Hong Kong with a lush garden terrace overlooking the city (+ slideshow).
The owners of the Duddell’s venue asked Studioilse to design the interiors of the downstairs dining room, as well as a salon, library and roof terrace upstairs.
All of the rooms feature an extensive array of artworks and are regularly used to host exhibitions and cultural events including discussions and film screenings.
“The greatest challenge was to make a space that could change over time and to really understand what was going to happen there,” Studioilse’s creative director Sarah Hollywood told Dezeen.
“We created spaces that would meet different needs during the morning, noon or night so it became a place of layers based on behaviour,” she added.
Both floors perform different roles throughout the day, with the dining room hosting noisy dim sum lunches and more relaxed evening meals.
The upstairs rooms are used for working, meetings and tea drinking during the day and become more vibrant, bustling spots for evening entertainment.
Throughout the interior, Studioilse employed tactile natural materials such as wood, bronze, concrete and the silver travertine marble used to clad the reception area and stairwell.
“Sensorial natural materials were chosen to provide a great, unusual background to the art instead of the normal white box background that art tends to be shown on these days,” Hollywood explained.
Familiar Asian shapes and materials that appear in details such as the decorative panelled windows complement the traditional dim sum served in the restaurant and the regional art that is on show.
“The key was to create a credible local identity rather than a pastiche,” said Hollywood. “We did this by incorporating a combination of Hong Kong cultural references together with some continental details in the mix.”
Tall plants surrounding the roof terrace give it the impression of a secluded garden, with green tones used on the upholstery of settees and armchairs echoing the colour of the plants and recurring across some of the furniture in the adjoining salon.
The green theme continues in the restaurant downstairs, where plants line the windowsill behind a long bench seat covered in bright yellow cushions.
Concrete floors and marble walls contrast with decorative rugs and sensuous floor-to-ceiling drapes in the upstairs salon.
Bright red table bases and corner sofas help to give this space a more lively feel than the more refined restaurant downstairs.
Glazed panels create views between the floors of these two Edwardian townhouses in London that have been renovated by local architects Studio Octopi to accommodate resident artists (+ slideshow).
By connecting two neighbouring properties, Studio Octopi has doubled the residency capacity of non-profit arts organisation the Delfina Foundation from four to eight, making it London’s largest artist residency provider.
The architects responded to a competition brief aimed at retaining the residential character of the townhouses by focusing on the central role of the hearth. They preserved existing fireplaces on the ground floor, as well as recesses and hearth stones in the artists’ private areas on the top two storeys.
Other original details, including brickwork and concrete lintels that previously surrounded doorways, have been left in their raw state to retain a sense of the buildings’ history.
“Adopting the role of architects-cum-archaeologists, Studio Octopi have created an environment which is unassuming, layered and contextual, while peeling back the layers of ornamentation and finish to expose the period craftsmanship of the buildings,” said the Delfina Foundation.
Throughout the interior, glazed panels in the floors and walls create a visual connection between public and private spaces, and allow light to filter through to rooms in the centre of the building.
Separate entrances for the public and the artists lead to a reception, dining room and kitchen on the ground floor of the five-storey property.
The basement houses a gallery and workshop space, while offices and a library are located on the first floor and the artists’ residences are contained on the top two floors.
Many of the spaces are updated with white walls, pale wood joinery and practical fitted cabinetry that offer a contemporary counterpoint to the grand facade and authentic detailing.
Splashes of bright colour provided by the kitchen cabinets and bathroom floor enhance the modern look of these spaces.
A small terrace located at the basement level provides an outdoor exhibition space, while a terrace on the ground floor can be accessed from the dining room.
“The scheme aims to act as a palimpsest, to retain the integrity and character of the existing buildings while simultaneously creating a series of spaces for residents, staff and visitors to use and enjoy,” said architects Chris Romer-Lee and James Lowe.
Studio Octopi designed the concept at the competition stage with Egyptian office Shahira Fahmy Architects, and subsequently oversaw the £1.4 million development and construction process.
Here’s a press release about the project from Delfina Foundation:
Delfina Foundation opens its newly expanded building
The £1.4m redevelopment has doubled the residency capacity, increasing the number of residents at one time from four to eight, as well as creating 1,650 square feet of additional exhibition and event space. Currently located at 29 Catherine Place in an Edwardian townhouse in Victoria, the Foundation has expanded into the adjacent building, giving it a combined area total of 4,564 square feet.
Adhering to one of the core concepts of the Delfina Foundation’s history as a provider of ‘homes’ for artists, the architects have retained the domesticity of the two houses, exploring the significance of the hearth in a home. Across cultures and throughout history, the hearth has been an integral part of a household, becoming synonymous with notions of domesticity, and place making. Fireplaces are kept in their entirety on the lower floors, and the recesses and hearth stones are retained in the artists’ private spaces.
The designs also set out to maintain the juxtaposition of public and private spaces. The introduction of glazed panels in the floors and walls allow for their integration. Diagonal views across the buildings and through the floors expose the Foundation’s ecosystem at work, as well as opening up the two buildings and bringing in more light throughout the space. With flexible artist workspaces throughout, the five-storey property boasts an expansive gallery/workshop space on the lower ground floor; reception, dining area and kitchen on the ground level; offices and library on the first, whilst the residents’ quarters occupy the two top floors.
Adopting the role of architect cum archaeologists, Studio Octopi have created an environment which is unassuming, layered and contextual, while peeling back the layers of ornamentation and finish to expose the period craftsmanship of the buildings. New insertions are made with a light and considered touch, while detailing is discrete and at times whimsical.
Brickwork to the reveals of the new openings is left exposed and overhead concrete lintels retained in their natural state. By leaving materials in their raw state, a reminder of the building’s beginnings is introduced.
A sense of permanence is imbued in the two townhouses, linking the present with the past and consequently looking ahead into the building’s exciting future.
When we last caught up with Spanish industrial designer Cristian Reyes he had just introduced the Giros Table, a beautiful example of purpose-driven design. And now, we see another aesthetically fun and functional piece for the…
British studio Snook Architects used industrial materials, reclaimed furniture and colourful storage units to transform a 550-square-metre loft in Liverpool into an office for creative agency Uniform (+ slideshow).
Snook Architects was tasked with creating a space that combined big, flexible workspaces, meeting areas, private booths, model making spaces, prototyping and electronics workshops, a photography studio, and a huge kitchen and refectory where the team can eat together.
The space was previously used as a storage area for shops that occupy the lower floors of the building.
“As relatively basic storage space the floor was more akin to simple warehouse than office,” architect Neil Dawson told Dezeen. “A series of roof lanterns lit the deep floor plan but produced blinding light during sunnier days.”
In its new state, the space features a series of monochrome spaces that are dotted with splashes of colour to highlight the eclectic array of clients and services the company offers. To counteract the lighting issue, the team inserted louvres that can be closed when the sun is too bright.
The space uses utilitarian materials such as chipboard and plywood. “This was to show how the with specific context the most mundane of material can be transformed into something special,” said Dawson.
The majority of the furniture was taken from the client’s old offices, with the addition of recycled chairs in the canteen.
To satisfy the brief, the team created three zones; the main open-plan office, a service zone replete with model space, photography and meeting areas and a social area for the canteen and games room.
A colourful storage wall in the reception area acts as an exhibition area, where new customers can see what clients the team at Uniform are currently working with.
“The wall itself is an active device. Panels can be clipped on and off as displays require giving an emphasis towards the office or the reception,” said Dawson. “Panels can be left off entirely to give visitors an enticing view of the work being undertaken in the studio beyond.”
The team also installed was a split-flap display behind reception. Based on the old messaging boards in train stations, this is connected to the internet to give up-to-date information on weather, date, time and financial reports from the company.
“The idea is to remind potential clients of the value of alternative thought and presentation within the realm of digital media,” added the architect.
Israeli architect Ranaan Stern has adapted a 15-square metre room inside an artist’s Tel Avivapartment to create a studio with two desks, 36 drawers, modular storage compartments, pegboard display walls and even a folding bed (+ slideshow).
The unusual set up was designed to accommodate living and working spaces, as well as display areas for a collection of specific objects dating from the 1940s to the present day.
“The artist creates and collects different kinds of art pieces, most are 2D but also some small sculptures, books and old materials,” explained Ranaan Stern. “We needed different kinds of storage units, different sizes and different ways of keeping the new and old pieces.”
The apartment is located inside a concrete block from the 1950s and two of the room’s four walls are windows, so expanding the space was not an option.
The team spent four weeks measuring each object and organising them into four separate categories. These categories were then further divided into groups, dependent on how much a piece was needed for everyday use or for display.
“We also needed storage for materials and tools for the artist’s daily work. During measuring we gave each category a colour, which is exposed only when one opens a drawer or any other unit,” said Stern.
The result is a layout that would appear random to an outsider, but has a coherence that is instantly familiar to the artist.
“The smaller sections can be removed from the larger frame units and placed on the table during work.” Stern continued. “Removable sliding doors are actually pallets that pieces can be placed on for presentation or that can be used as modular easels.”
Most of the cells, cupboards and drawers have been constructed from lightweight birch and treated with a clear coating that emphasises the wood’s natural grain. Birch has also been used for the flooring.
“We also designed the storage by two rules: the easiest way to physically open and use, but always making sure everyday stuff and more needed pieces will be more accessible. Some pieces can be place on the pegboard which is also a painting stand for different sizes of boards,” added the architect.
The windows were fitted with blinds to help give the artist control over the atmosphere and natural light. The addition of a folding bed that can be neatly stored away allows the space to also be used as a guest room.
Photography is by Gidon Levin.
Here’s some more information about the project:
Artist’s Studio
In the artist’s central Tel Aviv apartment, architects Ranaan Stern and Shany Tal from Raanan Stern’s Studio designed a versatile 15 sqm studio workspace. The proportions of the room in the 60 year old concrete building allow the maximum amount of light to enter through the window. The window was carefully divided and blinds were hung with the aim of giving the artist control over the atmosphere and natural light.
The artist’s varied family and personal collection includes 2d pieces dating from the 1940’s to the present. For this purpose: every piece that will be stored was measured: they were organised and ordered according to groups, sizes and artistic connections. After the organisational and calculation stage, four separate proportions were discovered that receive expression as each section is opened. Every cell, cupboard or drawer was designed internally according to the required proportions, only when the drawer is opened the colourful mosaic of the storage section is revealed.
In addition, different sections were planned and built for displaying and storing work, tools and materials. The smaller sections can be removed from the larger frame units and placed on the table during work. Removable sliding doors are actually pallets that pieces can be placed on for presentation or that can be used as modular easels. All the hidden mechanisms of the units and drawers such as the sizes and divisions were fitted to the proportions of the artist. The order of the space allows minimum movement outside of the work area and table and maximum accessibility to works tools according to their importance in the studio.
The closets and units are made of white birch as well as the flooring which is covered in bright birch tiles. The wood was coated lightly in order to give a light and delicate feeling, but still retaining the slightly wizened look of natural wood in the work space. The Artist uses the space to host colleagues and behind the sliding doors there is also a folding bed for the dual functionality of the room.
A white spectacles showroom contrasts with black examination areas at this opticians near Montreal by Canadian studio La SHED Architecture (+ slideshow).
To create a distinction between the commercial and medical areas of L’Aire Visuelle eye clinic, La SHED Architecture installed a white element that runs through the 284-square-metre space in Laval, northwest of Montreal.
In the shop, wooden slats are randomly interspersed with strip lighting above glass display counters and linear tiles are laid in the same direction on the ground.
“The commercial space was designed as an atelier-boutique, characterised by low display tables in the open area, avoiding any visual obstruction,” said the architects.
These ceiling and floor materials continue beyond a wooden reception desk into the treatment and storage spaces behind.
In contrast, circulation spaces situated either side of the feature element have black carpets and surfaces.
These lead to dark examination rooms on one side and the staff room on the other. The waiting area is also situated on the black carpet, next to the entrance and beside the display units.
Retail consultation spaces sit inside a wooden cube, which also displays frames in the side facing the store.
Here’s some more information from the architects:
L’Aire Visuelle
Working from high contrast and simple natural materials, the firm la SHED architecture have designed a unique optometrist and optician clinic redefining the customer’s experience. The commercial space was designed as an atelier-boutique, characterised by low display tables in the open area, avoiding any visual obstruction. Looking for frames becomes the opportunity of a friendly exchange, underneath the bright ceiling, composed of wooden slats installed randomly.
With the goal of giving their enterprise a breath of fresh air, the associates of L’Aire Visuelle sought to create a new corporate image based on the state-of-the-art products and techniques that they offer, as well as the quality and expertise of the services they provide. The first objective was to redefine customer experience in the clinic. Their previous office became too narrow over time as a result of company expansion; the client therefore required an organized, spacious and open space where emphasis was placed on the sales area and their selection of eyeglass frames.
Creating a hierarchy of movements between patients and employees was an essential part of optimising displacements and creating a functional environment. The project mandate consisted of planning and developing an optometry clinic and its eyeglass store at the ground level of an existing two floor commercial building. With windows on three facades, the 3060-square-foot office accessible from a common hall had an irregular shape – a portion of which had a misaligned angle in relation to the main structural frame.
A space with double the height opening onto the second floor dental clinic offered an abundant amount of natural light. The client’s budget was limited to a maximum of $450,000 for the entirety of project work involved including mechanical work, furniture and professional fees.
The space was designed in such a way to position the sales area at the front of the building, in the section that contained the most windows and was closest to the entrance. People walking into the clinic could therefore instantly see all available products. Visible from the reception, the waiting area was placed beneath the office’s area of double height and is apart from the consultation rooms while being open to the sales area.
The two main axis of circulation are on either side of the reception area – one being meant for clients heading for consultation and examination rooms, and the other for clinic personnel heading to the employee common room, apart from the client zone. The design hierarchy was therefore established, with busier areas at the front near the entrance, and areas requiring quiet and privacy located at the rear of the office.
The concept, geared towards the creation of a workshop-boutique, opted for presentation tables in order to keep the display area clear of all obstacles limiting vision or obstructing lighting. As a result, the eyeglass frame shopping area turns into a far more friendly area, where artificial light is articulated within a randomly organised ceiling of lath wood. The ceiling, by its dynamic and rhythmic design, creates an illusion of movement within the adjacent space.
In the spirit of architectural continuity, a wall of vertical lattice creates a space for attaching eyeglass frame presentation modules while enveloping the sales area. The long and narrow ceramic tile flooring is a harmonious continuation of the lath wood ceiling, therefore completing the envelopment of the sales area.
The immaculate white band that is the showroom is a start contrast to the wooden monolithic cube immediately adjacent to it, covering the private consultation areas. Behind the sales floor, a black satin volume containing the exam rooms seems to have slipped under the ceiling lath, creating an attractive backdrop to the reception area. Detached from adjacent surfaces by recessed lighting, this volume, fragmented by full height openings, seems to float gingerly between the floor and ceiling.
The highly contrasted colours provide the area with a theatrical character featuring the eyeglass showroom with its bright white presentation modules, whereas the mechanical and unaesthetic elements of the open ceiling disappear in black. A sober, neutral and classical colour palette ensures a total coherence between different elements of the clinic.
A black carpet covers the floor in circulation and consultation areas, absorbing sound and light emitted by the sales area. Fluorescent tubes randomly built into the lattice ceiling frame animate the sales area by producing bright and stimulating lighting in stark contrast to the other more private spaces. Black cylindrical tubes hidden throughout the mechanics and structure provide rich and soft lighting in the circulation, waiting and consultation areas as opposed to the abundant lighting of the showroom.
The contrast of porosity, colours and textures within the project elegantly reflect the different character of each space, and contribute to a simple and clear understanding of the planning of the office. Refined finishing details such as doors with hidden frames, and recessed plinths contribute to the clean appearance of the various spaces, underscoring the strong architectural ideas implemented to make L’Aire Visuelle a contemporary and elegant optometry clinic.
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