Hasta La Ideas

Engineers for web giant Google can lounge on sofas or draw on the walls at their new London headquarters by designers Penson.

As well as computer workstations, the offices include game rooms, music studios, lounge areas and an auditorium.

The lounge areas, named “flight pods”, are filled with two-tiered sofas, while the walls are lined with white-boards.

Corridors are also used as informal meeting spots and are furnished with faceted stools.

Monochrome table and chairs furnish a dedicated coffee area and overlook a lawn of artificial grass.

The offices also house studios for mobile web developers Android, containing electrically adjustable tables and magnetic walls.

We previously featured another office for Google in London, with a giant logo in the lobby – see it here.

Here’s the full press release:

PENSON “Strike 1” for Google Engineering HQ London

One of the world’s most up & coming architecture & interior design brands PENSON, has released their first project for Google engineers, in Buckingham Palace Road, London. This first release forms part of PENSON’s overall programme for Google, covering super cool office spaces for Googlers this year at Central Saint Giles & Belgrave House London.

This first release is a starship enterprise-come-space module-come space-city affair, which is shrewdly functional whilst laying down some really clever & fresh thinking workplace strategies. In summary it’s yet another brilliant to the point release by PENSON.

Henrique Penha of Google commented: “Working with the team at PENSON was a pleasure, they truly understood the functional and aesthetic attributes we were after when redesigning Google’s new engineering offices in London. Together, we pushed the ambition of the project into every phase, giving the Engineering teams in London a place to incubate and execute on numerous Google projects and products.”

The floor provides a mixture of spaces, gaming rooms, music studios, a park, coffee lab, flight pods, lounges, micro-kitchens, an amazing auditorium labelled Tech Talk & an abundance of very clever collaboration & working spaces.

Most walls across the space are magnetic white board laminates, which allow scribbles across the entire floor. In small or large nooks & crannies, Googlers collaborate in alone, in pairs or in spaces that can present casually to 100 people. It’s very clever, loose & natural in that the space works around Googlers & not the other way around. The laminates give a spacious glossy jointless feel. It’s simply fab.

Flight pods are a PENSON invention exclusively for Google. These pods solve a number of programme, landlord & technical matters in the interests of supersonic fit-out speeds. They also look amazing, solve acoustic issues & provide semi private slouching-come-formal seating opportunities that simply look & feel amazing. These are true kick off your shoes & meet spaces. The days of meeting rooms are perhaps numbered!

Knowing PENSON well, it’s of course no surprise to us that the Coffee Lab is in fact made from compressed sheets of spent fresh coffee shavings. Clever! The space overlooks the internal park, with music & gaming rooms creating a space with amazing acoustics for collaborative speeches or as per opening night an electronic violinist.

The space also covers the Android studio, which is responsible for development of all Android matters. The space has electrically adjustable studio tables for working whilst standing or collaborating at low-level. The space has magnetic walls throughout for pin-up presentations of software or new patents currently under development.

Corridors no longer exist through other clever ideas, which mean that footprint usage of the floor plate is maximised. Through shrewd space, planning using techniques that only PENSON seem to dream up, the floor has been totally max packed, however, the spaces feel incredibly loose & spacious. Large isles of walkways with inter-connecting orange lines create a joined-up approach, which breaks up floors. Floors alone are different here, again through PENSON’s young creative commercials.

Desking looks different & fully integrated into the space, thanks to that orange banding. 100% of the desks are fully height adjustable. Screens that divide, whilst allowing group wide social connection, are framed with self-illuminating perspex, which add zest.

Other aspects to the scheme which are also very well considered are acoustics, day-lighting, zoning & socialising. All of these things happen naturally in that the space works, its comfortable & relaxing.

Lee Penson founder of PENSON Groups says: “This project for Google underlines our position within the media & office sectors, not only exposing our supersonic design flair, but also our delivery capabilities. Handing over 300,000sq.ft for Google in less than a year from start to finish to this level of detail is no mean feat & as the remainder of the Google programme is released, the underline will simply get thicker! This is a good looking, functional, commercially & forward thinking project!

It’s a special place that presses all of the right buttons at all levels. Statistics, workplace strategies, styling, atmosphere & forward thinking for Google’s Googlers. Magic!

The public library for an arts centre in South Korea is condensed into a cube at the centre of a room.

American architecture studio N H D M designed the translucent block, dubbed the Library Machine, to store the multimedia archive for the Nam June Paik Art Centre in the city of Yong-In.

Reading areas, computer stations and video screens are integrated inside the cube, while books and paper archives are stored on the shelves between them.

Extra tables and chairs can be placed around the library to provide additional workstations when necessary.

Other interesting libraries we’ve featured recently include one covered in firewood and another made of shelves – see more here.

Photography is c/o Nahyun Hwang and David Eugin Moon of N H D M.

Here’s some more text from the designers:

The Nam June Paik Library is a new public art library in Nam June Paik Art Center in Yong-In, Korea, open to general public on April 15th, 2011. The library was designed by a U.S. based design and research collaborative N H D M / Nahyun Hwang + David Eugin Moon. The library collects, preserves, and provides access to historical and contemporary material related to Nam June Paik and his art. It offers to scholars a space for professional research, and to the local community an open forum for cultural engagement. The library houses and circulates the Center’s Nam June Paik Archives Collection, Nam June Paik Video Archives, and a rare Fluxus Footages Collection, as well as the user generated materials. The design and construction of the library was made possible by City of YongIn and Gyeoggi Province Government’s Small Library Fund.

Inspired by Nam June Paik’s artistic processes, the goal of the project was to design a multi-functional spatial device, which redefines the relationship between library users and information. While the conventional library is characterized by the one directional transmission of information, where the static, centralized, and predefined content is passively received by the readers, the Nam June Paik Library aims to promote non-linear and random access to information, to stimulate production of information beyond consumption and advocates spontaneous expression and juxtaposition of ideas.

The Library Machine located in the center of the library deploys the following 6 architectural and programmatic devices.

1. Scattering
The juxtaposition of the dispersed information produces complexity that contrasts the simple geometric initial form.

2. Non-Textual Content / Off-Site
Objects related to Paik’s work are scattered, plugged, and mapped throughout the surface of the machine. Reprogrammable dynamic media can communicate Paik’s previous works, as well as information on artistic and other happenings from the off-site locations of interest.

3. Physical Engagement
Additional storage areas and unique shelving in the long drawers are incorporated to help the future expansion of the collection, while inducing curiosity, interactivity, and playful engagement.

4. Production Lab
Inside the machine is reading, installation, video laboratories, and a space also for debates and group workshops.

5. “Representation Cells”
Content is also generated by users who can contribute to the information exchange. Small spaces or vitrines are made available for public display.

6. Library “Machinettes,” The Propagation Aides
Parts of the machine can detach as independent modules and can freely travel to other rooms or even outdoors to perform communicative functions, such as video projections or sound performances.

The design attempts to make the intangible physical and to turn a personal experience to a collective and interactive one. Through the Library, the contents become dynamic, and the consumer of information becomes the producer. The collective generation and appreciation of information makes the library experience multi-directional and reciprocal.

Concave walls at the centre of this Hong Kong boutique hide a stockroom and fitting rooms.

This free-standing core was designed so as not to block the two long glazed walls, which admit an unusual amount of natural light for a shopping centre unit.

Japanese designer Koichi Futatsumata of Case-Real designed the interior for clothing brand Joyce.

Photographs are by Daisuke Shimokawa of Nacasa & Partners.

Here are some more details from the architects:

A shop design for Joyce, an established Hong Kong boutique with a 40-year history. The site, a corner plot located within The Lee Gardens, a luxury shopping mall in the central area Causeway Bay, is V-ish in shape, with walls of windows on two sides and an area measuring roughly 100 square meters. Even in Japan, it would be rare to get such natural light in adjoining boutique, and we sought to create a bright, open space in this location. To do so, it was imperative that the windows not be obscured by the placement of the boutique’s commercial facilities, such as fitting rooms, stock and staff rooms, and the like. We devised a method of assembling those facilities and forming a core in the center of the space.

At the same time, Hong Kong gives one the impression of being is a place where all sorts of things from all over the world are brought together, forming a complex mix of urbanity. It is a space naturally crafted as aggregate of the natural environment, man-made elements such as buildings and roads, and the thinking of many different types of people. We felt an attraction to that which is as diverse as Hong Kong’s unintentionally formed urban space. Thus, the unintentional contour of the space was kept with a simple reduction in building volume. Just as Hong Kong is as a city, the inevitable volume produced by the location given here was a core, a ‘microcosm’.

From this, three major advantages are born: 1) an unbroken flow of movement is secured; 2) it becomes a brighter space with no lighting interference, and 3) the multiplicity of expression within the lines of the walls bring out movement in the space. The form of this ‘microcosm’ holds a sculptural interest as well.

It could be said that, in a way, this unique space was borne of the unintentionality of Hong Kong as a city, rather than something that we produced.

Project Name : JOYCE – THE LEE GARDENS

Design: Koichi Futatsumata/CASE-REAL
Lighting Plan: USHIOSPAX FUKUOKA
Cooperation of construction: SOGO DESIGN HONG KONG
Construction: blueprint design engineering Ltd

Location: Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Type of Project: Interior Design
Period: May 2011 – Oct 2011
Floor area: 353.9㎡
Art Works: Ryo Matsuoka
Client: JOYCE BOUTIQUE HOLDINGS LIMITED

Newly positioned windows reveal the overhauled interior of a Rotterdam townhouse that was formerly an abandoned apartment block.

Designed by Studio Rolf.fr in partnership with Zecc Architecten, Black Pearl now houses a workshop on its ground floor, a hot tub in its rooftop greenhouse and living quarters in the two floors between.

These living areas are filled with furniture by Studio Rolf.fr, including cabinets that appear to be sliced in half and chairs wrapped in bandages.

Traces of stripped away floor joists are visible on both exposed and painted brickwork walls, while new partitions and floors are grey-painted timber.

The facade of the 100-year-old building is painted black, but the side elevation and roof are covered with artificial grass.

The architects recently received an award from furniture brand Lensvelt, who named the project as the best interior of the year in the Netherlands or Belgium.

If you’re interested in Dutch houses, you can see more here.

Photography is by Frank Hanswijk.

Here’s some more text from the architects:

Black Pearl Rotterdam South

Social context

This house takes part of a program of the congregation Rotterdam who wanted to revitalize disadvantaged neighbourhoods by selling metier houses to private persons.

These homes have in common that they are neglected the last few years and have to be refreshed. The buildings usually consist of several small apartments, one per layer.

The purpose of the municipality by selling the buildings is to attract inhabitants with more carrying-capacity. Condition of sale is that the property will be restored within a specified period and will transformed into one house. This causes less, but larger houses. This is the opposite trend to what happens in many inner cities where larger houses are divided into several small apartments.

The renovation of the Rotterdam ‘metier house’ is turned into an architectural spectacle, where was experimented with time and space. The 100 years old facade of a dwelling in a closed housing unit, is totally painted black. Both masonry, frames and “windows” are covered with a shiny black oil. This creates a kind of ‘shadow’ of the original facade. In some places the new transparent windows pierce through the historical facade. The new windows announce a time with a very different way of living. This creates a relationship between the original facade and the new interpretation which become readable. All floors and small rooms behind the old windows run into one spatially contiguous entity.

Just like in the façade, also in the interior the traces of the past remained visible. On the building walls an old banister and holes of removed floor joists reveal the original layout of the dwelling. The new house in the 100 year old cover has a completely different planning. The traditional layout of floors and walls, which compose the rooms are missing. Instead a series of small wooden slats compose a huge sculptural element.

By this is a continuous space is left between the four walls of the historic building. This creates living spaces, which are connected by voids, large stairwells and long sightlines. All redundant banisters, railings and doors are left out, causing a high degree of spatial abstraction. Floors, walls, stairs and ceilings blend together and seem to recall an “Escher-like” impossibility. Yet this metier house (that has been empty for nearly 30 years) is far from uninhabitable. In the lower part of the house a large workroom is placed connected to the ‘roof tiles-bamboo garden’. Above is a series of semi-open living functions: living, eating, cooking, study, sleeping and a bathroom / closet.

The old roof tiles are removed in the upper part (re-used in the garden) and a new greenhouse is placed with a hot tub with a stunning view.

New interpretation: three worlds

The existing building is used as a box to build a completely new house in it. All walls and floors of the house were demolished which created a space of 5 meters wide, 10 meters long and 11 meters high. In and up this box three different “worlds” are stacked: the studio, the house and the roof garden. On the ground floor, the 5 meters high studio is built. This studio space is kept as open as possible. This is achieved by organizing the necessary facilities along the walls as much as possible, in one continuous element. The living area is placed above the studio with a height of 6 meters. In this space, a sculpture is build which divides space into several areas without creating closed rooms. The object is designed and situated in a way that in several places views arise which emphasize the entire length, width and height of the place. The design is concentrated on the residual spaces between the object and the existing walls.

Materialization sculpture

The sculpture is entirely composed of screwed bars together which forms both construction and finish. This construction method creates a great freedom of form. A large part of the object hangs with these bars on the roof floor so that support becomes superfluous.

Click above for larger image

Colour use
In the house, five colours are used: black, white and three greyscales. An existing side wall is totally painted white. The traces of construction, including the old railings and pipes are all painted white. The other building wall is left untreated. The different faces of the object are painted in three greyscales. These shades are aligned to the space they enclose. By this method, the space between the object and the existing box are strengthened.

Rotterdam South accommodates with this new metier house a black pearl…

Date preliminary design: January 2008
Start construction activity: December 2008
Acceptance: September 2010
Floor area: 170 m2

Architect
Design facade: Studio Rolf.fr i.p.w. Zecc architecten
Design interior: Studio Rolf.fr
Project architects: Rolf (Studio Rolf.fr), Yffi van den Berg & Marnix van der Meer

Over 200 cubes display products by coffee brand Illy at this temporary shop in Milan.

Above: photograph by Federico Rizzo

Designed by architect Caterina Tiazzoldi of Turin and New York, the Illy shop is furnished with nothing but the white cubes, which are exactly sized to fit coffee tins and espresso machines inside.

A counter, tasting table and rubbish bins are also made from the cubes, as are lights affixed to the ceiling.

Above: photograph by Federico Rizzo

We recently rounded up all of our stories about pop-up shops, see more of them here.

Above: photograph by Federico Rizzo

Photography is by Luca Campigotto, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s a bit more text about the concept from Caterina Tiazzoldi:

Illy Shop

Is a temporary shop for Illy Caffe’, located in Milano in Galleria San Carlo nearby the Duomo.

The concept for a reconfigurable store, characterized by different modulations of a single element, a “cube” which is 45x45cm-squared base.

Using a grasshopper definition it has been parametric device, it has been possible to manipulate the cube physical properties by editing depth, thickness, opacity, length and explosions. The combinatory logic – inspired by genetic algorithms process – permits to perform over 3000 configurationsof the same object.

The shop is created by 200 cubes and specifically designed to adapt to different sizes of Illy Café products.

Small variation of the same modules permitted to derive the tasting tables, desk counter, storage, lighting system, video frames, communication space, and recycling bins.

By adapting the different modules according to the performances required, (accessibility of the products from the outside, number of item to display, level of transparency desired, product size) it becomes feasible to represent different characteristics of the Illy products, while the solution also allows fitting it into different locations.

The system engender from the walls and the ceiling, creating a disoriented expansion. The differentiated space dimensions appears to become one, transforming it into a game where user’s sight shifts from an object to another discovering the inside.

Design: Caterina Tiazzoldi
Team: Lorenza Croce, Federico Rizzo, Roberta Musso, Alessio Primavera, Monica Pianosi, Mauro Fassino, Zsofia Ujhelyi, Illy Caffe’ Art Direction