Hasta La Ideas

New Zealand designers Gascoigne Associates have complete this outfitters in Auckland for airline staff at Air New Zealand.

Called Clothes Hangar, the facility allows staff to choose their uniform and get advice on grooming, makeup and presentation.

Blue tubular steel rails wind their way through the space an into the fitting rooms, while a blue dotted line snakes across the floor.

Graffiti-like graphics are taken from the uniform designs and polaroids of staff in their uniforms form a backdrop to the counter.

See also: Cocoro restaurant by Gascoigne Associates

Photographs are by Katrina Rees unless otherwise stated.

Here are some more details from Gascoigne Associates:

Air New Zealand’s ‘Clothes Hangar’

Air New Zealand’s ‘Clothes Hangar” brief was to create a space that embodied Trelise Cooper’s new uniform design direction and the Air New Zealand brand. The solution the designers came up with is a nod to a swept up eclectic kiwi Bach, providing staff a ‘shopping’ experience like none other.

Gascoigne Associates designers Clark Pritchard and Theresa Ricacho consulted with Saatchi Design Worldwide to ensure the tie in with ‘the common thread’ sub-brand idea and on the design of the wall decals, wallpaper and ‘pictures’.

The ‘Clothes Hangar’ is located amongst factories and industrial warehouses, not the usual place where you would expect to discover a full service head to toe styling and grooming experience. However, a unique experience is exactly what Air New Zealand staff encounter once they pass through the blocked out front entrance and enter into a bright, clean and white space. On arrival staff are greeted by the ‘Clothes Hangar’ stylists. They can watch the welcome video on the LCD screen and view mannequins dressed in the new uniform, giving them an opportunity to see how the different uniform pieces can work together as a total wardrobe solution, as well as touch and feel the final fabrications.

Above image is by Rebecca Swan

The ‘Clothes Hangar’ walls are entirely finished in random patterned ‘V’ grooved panelling. Floors are a washed oak laminate and together they provide the perfect backdrop to the ‘blue’ tube racking, which ‘taxis’ its way around the ‘shop’ and into the fitting rooms and which reflects the ‘common thread’ concept throughout the space.

Kartell furniture and accessories are positioned on shelves around the walls alongside ‘framed’ ‘graffiti’ prints extracted directly from the back of the men’s waistcoat design. The ‘check-out’ area is highlighted with a bright pink counter with ‘graffiti’ designs printed on textured wallpaper. Outside the ‘check-out’ space is a large ornate framed window covered in Polaroid images of staff in their new uniforms.

The ‘Styling Room’ with on-site beauty consultants offers staff the opportunity to select new shoes and beauty consultants can demonstrate preferred make-up applications and hair do’s to fully accent the new uniform. On leaving staff are asked to write a comment about their experience on brightly coloured post-it notes, which are stuck to the entry lobby walls.

The response from Air New Zealand staff, management and uniform designer Trelise Cooper, has been tremendous, all have been ‘blown away’ by the whole experience.

Project name: Air New Zealand ‘Clothes Hangar’
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Opening date: May 2011
Client: Air New Zealand

Design Team:
Clark Pritchard – Design Director Gascoigne Associates
Theresa Ricacho – Designer Gascoigne Associates

Design Firm:
Gascoigne Associates Ltd who consulted with Saatchi Design Worldwide to ensure tie in with ‘the common thread’ sub-brand idea and on the design of the wall decals, wallpaper and ‘pictures’.

Project Design Team:
Imogen Ovens – design manager/marketing – Air New Zealand
Kay Marshall – new uniform project manager – Air New Zealand
Clark Pritchard – Design Director Gascoigne Associates
Theresa Ricacho – Designer Gascoigne Associates

Fitout Contractor: Format Ltd, Auckland New Zealand (www.format.org.nz)

Suppliers:
Audio/Visual: Kenderdine Electrical Ltd
Fixtures: Format Limited
Flooring: Kaindl Flooring
Furniture: Kartell from Backhouse Interiors
Lighting: MN8 Lighting
Brand application and signage: Sign of the Times

See also:

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Dezeen Screen: in this Dezeen movie designer Paul Priestman, one of the judges of the Inside awards, talks about current trends in hotel design. Watch the movie »

Dezeen readers can save 25% on the price of entering the Inside awards and attending the festival in Barcelona from 2-4 November – simply quote VIP code DEZEEN when entering online atwww.insidefestival.com. Entries close on 30 June.

A louvred timber canopy fans up from the centre of this restaurant near Sydney by Australian architects Koichi Takada.

At the Tree Restaurant diners are served sushi from a conveyer belt that circles the central tree-like form.

Lighting is concealed behind the louvres and filters through.

Photography is by Sharrin Rees.

More restaurant architecture and interiors on Dezeen »

The following text is from the architects:

Koichi Takada Architects
TREE

Our practice explores how contemporary interior design can best embody the qualities and virtues present in nature.

We propose a dining concept that recreates HANAMI, the traditional Japanese festival of the Cherry Blossom in bloom. Dining under the cherry blossom trees is a social gathering that celebrates the arrival of spring. This concept not only represents the serving of Japanese cuisines, but also hopes to capture a symbolic place for the locals to gather and dine under ‘one big tree’ and for the owner to nurture the business as if growing a tree.

We wish to emulate the comfort and tranquility the canopy of tree can create. Timber profiles create the branches of the tree, transforming the Sushi Train restaurant into a place of nature. Dappled light filters between the timber branches. The flairs of light change as you move through the restaurant, mimicking the irregularity of natural sunlight, while highlighting the path of the Sushi Train.

Conceptually the TREE has become symbolic of the nurture and care put into growing this successful business. The branches extend to the perimeter, encompassing diners and workers alike. The timber profiles have been cut using CNC technology, minimising waste and allowing accuracy and detail in the design. Gaboon Marine Plywood, brings the warmth of timber to the interior, which compliments the texture of the rendered walls. The contrast of these elements highlights the central TREE and the Sushi Train below.

Project: TREE Restaurant
Sushi Train Sutherland

Owner: Mr. Goro Usui
Location: Shop 2 & 3, 570 Presidents Avenue
Sutherland, NSW 2232
Australia

Area: 198m2
Completion Date: December 2010
Design Team: Koichi Takada Architects
Construction Team: Darrell Sadler / Finn Projects
Photographs: Sharrin Rees
Construction: Koichi Takada Architects

See also:

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A hotel chain tailors their new spot to the world’s “live music capital”

Even Austin’s airport food—local famed BBQ and Tex-Mex rather than soggy tuna sandwiches—touts the city’s pro-small business attitude. So when the chain known for hipping up the mid-range hotel experience came to town, they had to step up their game to make it in a place known as much for its nocturnal winged residents (there’s even a bat hotline) as for its indie music scene.

The new W Hotel Austin’s design features cater to the cultural phenomenon that put the city on the map with a collection of over 8,000 vinyl records and an extensive four-room bar. Eschewing an ordinary hotel lobby, guests enter in the Living Room, which doles out the hits over a vintage McIntosh sound system. Separate spaces (the Tequila Bar, Records Room, Secret Bar and Screen Porch) reflect the vibrant surrounding streets.

Beyond the mark it makes for urban nightlife, the W Austin has also become a new landmark in city’s skyline. Rising above the generally even horizon line, the primarily glass tower stands just above the heavy, low-lying City Hall building in contrast to nearby architecture.

“The last thing Austin needs is another beige building,” says Heather Plimmer, half of the local team behind the hotel’s design. Plimmer, along with architect Arthur Andersson, are responsible for the design of five components of the block—on the aptly named Willie Nelson Boulevard—a development which in addition to the hotel includes office and retail space, condos and some of the best acoustics the city has to offer at Austin City Limits.

The color doesn’t just define the W visually but elegantly takes the effects of harsh Texas weather into consideration, particularly evident in the way the designers dealt with the intensity of the sun. Anything bright or white can be blinding and the average brown building blends in with the surrounding landscape. “I think that came from a tradition of the Spanish adobe, and all that kind of stuff,” says Andersson. “It’s really bizarre to try and translate that into 500-ft tall structures.” Opting instead for a dark gray palette that takes on the color of the sky, the LEED-certified structure also reflects the clouds at night.

Andersson also used a Swiss Pearl material to serve as a ventilated façade over the exterior of the building. An air space runs through the entire outer exterior, creating shadows to help cool the building while large windows catch the breezes coming over from Lady Bird Lake.

Unlike some other conspicuous glass buildings downtown, the W appears both graceful and understated. “I think it has its own kind of presence,” says Andersson. “It’s like this sort of little, calm poem.” The Zen balance shows up in the hotel’s wabi-sabi style interiors too, with exposed concrete support beams.

Overall the feeling of staying at the hotel is not unlike a sense of being at home, as the designers took cues from typical residential decor. But the cozy feeling most clearly comes through in the breaking up of space in the hotel’s rooms, which creates an entry moment. Creating the illusion of a larger space, a burlap-covered tower separates the sleeping chamber from the rest of the hotel room. “What happens when you walk into a typical hotel room,” says Andersson, “you look at some crappy piece of furniture, and a side of a TV. We flipped it.” The burlap-covered tower is reminiscent of a Barnett Newman canvas; the minimalist painter’s work was a major source of inspiration for the designers.

Austin’s strong musical story plays a role too, making a literal nod with original signed Scott Newton photos in each room, as well as vanity mirrors encircled with guitar strap patterns. “We grabbed onto kind of the Bohemian lifestyle, of the laid back rock and roll feel,” says Plimmer. “We really wanted it to be an oasis. The colors in there are really calm, with the exception of the red pop of the chaise.”

This summer one more obvious addition to the lyrical architecture—a statue of the man himself, Willie Nelson, at the entrance to the neighboring Austin City Limits, will make its debut, keeping Austin weird in more ways than one. Make reservations online with prices varying depending on rooms and availability but rack rates starting around $300 per night.

Architects Sugawaradaisuke of Tokyo and Paris have completed two studio apartments on separate floors of a Tokyo apartment block, divided by twisting forms in the centre of each. 

Called Cell + wood/fabric, the two interiors have the same plan but have been executed in different materials: one in wooden panels and the other with fabric screens.

More apartments on Dezeen »

Photographs are by Takumi Ota unless otherwise stated.

Here are some more details from Sugawaradaisuke:

“CELL” is a SOHO “one-room apartment” renovation project. It is situated in a 30 year old “one-room apartment” building in the downtown area of Tokyo.

There are two small one room apartments, with the same plan, on different storeys. The main target is to maximize the functions and space perception in a confined area.

Operation

A center-core planning is selected as the first zoning for the small room according to existing conditions, openings in 3 directions and “lifeline pipes”.

There are three areas. “Equipment Core”, “Free Space” and “Intermediate Area”. Each area shares one space to dominate maximum functions and depth like a “CELL”.

The twisting boundary surfaces are carefully planned to control the connection between each area without doors.

Result

CELL is a small one-room SOHO apartment that maximizes the functions and space perception within a confined area, designed with a “cell group behavior”.

This place shows us various aspects and connections between areas according to moving viewpoints, sunlight and the different activities.

The experience in “CELL” may be the same as with a forest or field walk, giving us a sense of discovery and surprise.

Above photograph is by Daisuke Sugawara

Different material but One form

Cell is two different studio apartments, each on different stories in the one apartment building, with the same plan. One is designed with free curved surfaces of fabric, the other with timber triangular surfaces.

Above photograph is by Daisuke Sugawara

“CELL + wood” composed by triangular surfaces, looks like an abstract mountain range with sculptural forms and the grain of wood.

“CELL+ fabric” composed by curved surfaces, looks like a cloud generating various shadows on the surface and through the translucent material when viewed from the other side.

Title: CELL + wood/fabric
Location: 2nd and 3rd floor, Sakai-Mansion, Katsushika, Tokyo, JAPAN
Function: SOHO one-room apartment
Area 29.72sqm
Architect: Daisuke Sugawara / SUGAWARADAISUKE
Design period:Jun-November,2010
Construction period: November,2010-March,2011
Client: Seven Seasons Investment.
Construction: Marui Kousan Corporation

See also:

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