Hasta La Ideas

Slovenian firm OFIS Arhitekti have created an apartment in Ljubljana where rooms are separated by staggered floors rather than walls, with storage areas located underneath.

The architects removed almost all of the original partitions to create an open-plan layout where only structural walls remain.

Original doors have been retained wherever possible, although one now functions as the back of a bathroom shelving cabinet.

See more projects by OFIS Arhitekti here, including a scaly apartment block with triangular balconies.

Photography is by Tomaz Gregoric and Jan Celeda.

Below is a longer description from OFIS Arhitekti:

Level apartment … inside Art Nouveau palace
2012_Ljubljana, Slovenia

The project is the renovation of an apartment contained within an art nouveau building originally designed and built in 1902 (architect C.M. Koch).

The building is a 5 floor residential block in the centre of Ljubljana overlooking a square surrounded by residential and mixed use buildings.

The original layout consisted of multiple rooms which creating an enclosed feeling within the apartment, the brief required a more open plan layout however with the different uses within the space clearly defined.

Many of the existing partitions were removed to create a more continuous space, leaving only the main structural walls to break the space up creating a constant circulation around the apartment and giving the feeling of a single entity broken by only a few elements.

Instead of using walls to define the uses, levels within the floor were created so that the open plan could be kept however a change in use inside the space was signified by a change in elevation.

Furthermore, storage and furniture were combined with the floors and walls to further add to the delineation of space, giving a more evident use to each space.

By designing the furniture to be contained within the walls and floor, using similar materials enforces the idea of creating separate purposeful spaces whilst generating a feeling that they are all connected and can be viewed as a single entity.

Storage throughout the apartment is achieved using a repeated element, creating hidden storage whenever the floor level is elevated, meaning the steps leading up to the sleeping level or shower level for example are not used solely as circulation but as storage also.

Hiding the majority of the storage means that a continuity of space and materials is kept which adds to the feeling of an un-interrupted space.

Location: Ljubljana historical City Centre

Type: Residential apartment

Client: private

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Renovation Area: 115 m2

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Project team:
OFIS arhitekti: Rok Oman, Spela Videcnik, Andrej Gregoric, Janez Martincic, Janja Del Linz, William Gibson, Estefania Lopez Tornay, Nika Zufic

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Our interview with the designers of New York’s new boutique hotel

You know a neighborhood has made it in New York when it receives its own abbreviated nickname. The latest addition to the map is NoMad—short for North of Madison Square Park—which is also fittingly the name of Andrew Zobler‘s newest lifestyle hotel. Zobler, who is also responsible for the Ace Hotel across the street, was initially drawn to the distinct architecture along that section of Broadway. While the Ace set the neighborhood in a thrilling new direction, Zobler set his sights on the preserved facade of the NoMad to create something entirely new. “The challenge from an overall perspective was that we didn’t want to do anything that was duplicative of The Ace—we wanted to compliment it,” he says. “That was the impetus for going with something that felt more luxury, more European and more romantic.” Using the Beaux-Arts style facade of the newly opened NoMad Hotel as inspiration for the interior, Zobler tapped French architect Jacques Garcia to complete his vision.

“What we really wanted was to explore Jacques at his roots, so we found a photograph of an apartment that he lived in when he was in his 20s in Paris, and you can see in the image the very early stages of the Garcia style—but much more bohemian and eclectic,” explains Zobler. “It was that image that we wanted to achieve—his very early work.” Garcia, who is behind Paris’ sleek Hotel Costes, sourced many of the NoMad furnishings directly from France, including a 200-year-old-fireplace.

Also brought over from France is Parisian boutique Kitsuné, now located within the NoMad thanks to Zobler’s young business partner Tanner Campbell. Says Zobler, “He identified the Kitsuné folks as having this sort of style that fit the hotel. We wanted to find people who were really talented but were also idiosyncratic.”

From the inside out, the hotel boasts a distinctive feeling that mixes European hospitality with downtown NYC details. We checked in with Garcia to learn a little more about his design process for the NoMad, from the opulently dark hotel bar to the bright, spacious bedrooms.

What drew you to tackle the NoMad Hotel project?

The fact that a lot of Americans (especially New Yorkers) are fascinated by the Hotel Costes in Paris encouraged me in a way to accept the challenge. With this Parisian success, from my experience, most New Yorkers who visited Paris visited the Hotel Costes property at least once—either for dinner or to say overnight. I wanted to find the same craze in New York for the NoMad Hotel—which, in my opinion, has both a French and American spirit.

What about the original space did you find inspiring?

The building is extraordinary. The fact that it was a historical building was a blessing for me. I was also very impressed by the views of the city from the rooms. Also, the volume of the ground floor enabled us to build the central veranda, which recalls the Hotel Costes courtyard.

What was your main goal when defining the interior aesthetic of the NoMad Hotel? What do you want every guest to experience with their stay?

My goal for public spaces in a general way is often the same. I had to go through the 1980s during which the public spaces were all white or grey and the lights were so white and cruel that the women looked like they were 20 years older. This didn’t please men, and therefore, men wouldn’t be interested in seducing women under such conditions. With the NoMad Hotel, I tried to do the exact opposite. This philosophy will be the case for all my future creations because these public spaces are made for encounters—and not to be satisfied from a specific aesthetic.

You’ve defined luxury as knowledge. So, what defines the luxury component of The NoMad?

The luxury component of the NoMad is the simplicity in the sophistication with a feeling of eternity.

Slideshow: slatted wooden screens separate the three staggered tiers of this restaurant that Spanish architects Pauzarq have completed in Bilbao.

Furniture throughout the restaurant is black, as are the insides of shelving recesses in the walls.

Threads of yarn wrapped around the lampshades that hang from the ceiling thin out in places to let stripes of light through.

White ceramic tiles are separated into small squares, large squares and rectangles on the five-metre-high wall that faces the street-level dining area.

The next two floors step upwards to meet the level of a courtyard at the back of the restaurant.

In the last year Pauzarq have also completed the interior of a concrete-framed apartment, which you can see here.

Here’s some more information from Pauzarq:

The project had to relocate the former Gallastegi Restaurant in the reconstructed residential building situated in the neighborhood of Deusto.

The new space consisted initially of two different parts. The first one, the main area, was 5 meters high and with three big openings at street level.

Two meters above this area and on the back side, you could find the second one, with three openings to the courtyard of the building.

The project intended to soften this height difference with an in-between wooden level which created a new dining place, one meter above street level.

The restaurant is clearly divided into two functional spaces/parts.

This dividing line, going from the front to the back façade, separates the public spaces from the private ones.

On one hand, the service side, which has a direct entry from the street to the storage, followed by the kitchen, the changing room and the office. On the other hand, the 100sqm main public area, with three different dining levels.

From the street entrance, you access the first level, where the bar, toilets and a first dining area with a capacity of 25 people are located. From here you can find two staggered terraces that contain the next two dining zones.

The first one is accessed by the staircase adjacent to the toilets-changing room box. The second dining area is raised one meter above the access level and has similar size and capacity to the first one.

Finally, the stairs lead to the last dining zone, at courtyard level. Its position and minor dimensions give it a more private nature.

Architects: pauzarq
(Felipe Pérez Aurtenetxe, Elena Usabiaga Usandizaga, Gerardo Zarrabeitia Ullíbarri)
Work: Restaurant in Bilbao
Location: Ramón y Cajal 4, Bilbao (Spain)
Built area: 210 m²
Year: 2012
Contractor: Probiak

Milan 2012: British designer Lee Broom is showcasing furniture and lighting at an exhibition styled like a British public house at Ventura Lambrate in Milan this week.

Oak panelling and etched glass windows salvaged from an old English pub line the walls, while an reclaimed oak bar is positioned opposite.

Lighting suspended from above includes crystal light bulbs cut like whiskey decanters, which Broom is launching at the show. Read more about them in our earlier story.

The Ventura Lambrate design district is open from 17 to 22 April. Download the free map and guide here and see all our stories about Ventura Lambrate 2012 here.

Here’s some more text from Broom:

Launch Of Lee Broom, Public House
Salone Del Mobile 2012
17 – 22 April 2012

This month, the critically acclaimed British designer, Lee Broom, will launch his first, solo exhibition in Milan during the Salone del Mobile. Entitled Public House, the show will mark the fifth anniversary of the Lee Broom brand, showcasing a selection of Broom’s hero pieces in one curated space, for the first time.

Inspired by the age-old institution of the British pub, with a multi-dimensional, surreal twist, Public House will bring a truly British experience to the Ventura Lambrate design district. Reflecting a common theme in Broom’s work, materials used within the exhibition will be of authentic British origin, reclaimed from old pubs. Deconstructed oak panelling, etched glass and an ornate wooden bar will act as eclectic, statement backdrops to Broom’s British designed and manufactured collections.

This cultural amalgam of old meets new is reflected in Broom’s collections on show. New pieces, including a striking light and exciting new editions to existing products, will complement Broom’s core collections, showcasing the scope and variety of his work.

Public House will also complement the launch of Broom’s collaboration with renowned international Scotch whisky, Ballantine’s 12 Year Old. Broom has designed an exclusive serving ritual, influenced by vintage crystal whisky decanters, with a very modern twist, to be launched at the exhibition.

“I am very excited to be exhibiting for the first time in Milan. I wanted to showcase my work in a quintessential British environment, creating an experience for visitors which they could usually only experience in the UK.” – Lee Broom

Swiss architect Aurélie Blanchard has lined every wall and surface in the bar of this Basel restaurant with copper, while a dark green dining room looms just behind.

The green walls of this room were inspired by the colours of painted doors throughout the city and are subtly highlighted by a series of wall-mounted light bulbs.

Spherical copper pendant lamps are suspended above a row of long oak tables, where diners sit in large groups.

In the bar, slightly flatter lamps illuminate a table and bar at standing height, both of which have chamfered edges.

Other dark restaurants worth a look include one with a chandelier made from jam jars and another with a fanning timber canopy.

Photography is by Mark Niedermann.

Here’s some more information from Aurélie Blanchard:

Situated in the heart of Kleinbasel, UNION restaurant is a new hotspot of this multicultural neighbourhood where immigrants, expats, students and creative industries coexist. Jérome Beurret and Stefan Grieder, owners of the well-known Rhyschaenzli in Basel, along with their new partner Pascal Salathe, appointed the architect Aurélie Blanchard to design their new restaurant.

The architecture aims to capture the spirit of a traditional American kitchen with fine Eastern influences. At UNION rustic meals such as burgers and ribs are revisited with contemporary touches. The design intends to create a warm dining environment with a vibrant metropolitan bar for both evening and daytime.

The dark green dining room with its oversized oak tables engages with the street whilst the dark envelope creates an intimate environment despite the room’s size. Basel’s traditional painted wooden doors inspired the room’s colour. Copper globes suspended above the tables cast warm islands of light between the diners who sit in clusters around these large communal dining tables. Domestic bliss of home-cooked meals and candle-lit dining atmosphere finally tie the room together.

The bar in contrast is a precious copper niche that opens onto the dark green dining room at the back. Shelves and standing tables emerge from the copper walls; masking the room surfaces with a seamless copper coat. The oversized standing table and new bar are an extension of the wooden floor, finished with a thick copper plate. Rounded corners, solid copper elements and cast glass lamps evoke metropolitan industrial times.

Throughout the space, a dark wooden floor unifies the restaurant and bar. Touches of copper jump into the green room through the folded bar, globe lamps and vintage copper vases.
Next to the bar, the existing courtyard is a lush and fresh space where the green of the plants echoes the Basel green of the restaurant.

Address: UNION restaurant – 95 Klybeckstrasse 4057 Basel
Clients: Jérome Beurret, Stefan Grieder, Pascal Salathe
Architect: Aurélie Blanchard
Graphic design: Ludovic Balland
Completion: March 2012
Area: 200 sqm
Cost: 150’000 SFr