Skyline Chess crée un jeu d’échec original dont les pièces représentent les bâtiments emblématiques de la ville de Londres. On peut ainsi y retrouver Big Ben, le London Eye ou encore le Gherkin qui représentent respectivement la tour, le cavalier et le fou. Un projet surprenant hébergé par Kickstarter à découvrir.
British fashion designer Paul Smith has extended his Albemarle Street store in London to include a room lined with dominoes and a patterned iron facade by 6a Architects (+ slideshow).
Paul Smith took over the building adjacent to his existing shop in London’s Mayfair district to create a new flagship store on the corner of Albemarle and Stafford streets, which opened last Friday.
Menswear, womenswear, accessories and furniture are all displayed across rooms of various sizes.
In some spaces garments are hung on simple metal rails and in others they are folded on wooden shelves.
Selected items are laid out on tables with sculptural wood tops and thick metallic stands.
Square wood tiles are used for the floor in the men’s zone, with ceramic tiles and timber planks in womenswear areas.
In the accessories room 26,000 dominoes line the walls, forming a pattern of scattered dots that looks like an encrypted code.
The dominoes are flipped over where used above shelves to provide a less chaotic background to display the accessories against.
Red picture frames and a blue staircase match the colourful upholstery of Paul Smith’s furniture.
London studio 6a Architects designed a bespoke cast iron store front based on Smith’s hand drawings.
Transparent cylindrical pods protrude through gaps in the iron panels and act as display cases for furniture pieces.
The basement has also be turned into a flexible gallery space and will host a series of exhibitions throughout the year.
Paul Smith has also designed the Maggie’s cancer care centre in his home town of Nottingham and reworked a coffee pot by late Danish designer Arne Jacobsen.
See more design by Paul Smith »
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Here’s the text sent to us by Paul Smith:
No.9 Albemarle Street – Paul Smith new flagship
The imposing facade incorporates Paul’s hand drawings in bespoke cast iron panels designed in conjunction with 6a architects.
The interior is decorated with an eclectic mix of stunning design pieces and intricate details, such as the 26,000 dominos covering the accessories room walls.
Significantly extending the pre-existing Paul Smith shop on the corner of Albemarle and Stafford Street, the new space expands into the neighbouring building and will sell clothing and accessories for men and women as well as a selection of furniture.
The basement has been converted into a flexible gallery space that will host the work of various artists throughout the year, starting with Walter Hugo’s portraits during Frieze art fair.
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by Paul Smith with 6a Architects appeared first on Dezeen.
News: Rafael Viñoly’s Walkie Talkie skyscraper in London is reflecting a beam of light intense enough to melt cars, according to a series of recent reports.
Claims surfaced over the weekend that the glare from the curvaceous glass facade of the 37-storey tower – currently under construction at 20 Fenchurch Street – have caused vehicle paintwork to melt and bodywork to distort.
Engineer Eddie Cannon, who parked his Vauxhall Vevaro beneath the building, told local newspaper City AM: “The van looks a total mess – every bit of plastic on the left hand side and everything on the dashboard has melted, including a bottle of Lucozade that looks like it has been baked.”
Tiling company director Martin Lindsay suffered a similar fate, claiming that the panels surrounding his Jaguar XJ had been warped. Attacking property developer Land Securities, he said: “They’re going to have to think of something. I’m gutted. How can they let this continue?”
Land Securities has acknowledged the claims and is promising to look into the matter. “As a precautionary measure, the City of London has agreed to suspend three parking bays in the area which may be affected while we investigate the situation further,” said a spokesperson.
The skyscraper, nicknamed the Walkie Talkie due to its distinctive profile, is set to be the first London building completed by Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly, who is based in New York. This recent controversy has prompted critics to rebrand the building “Walkie Scorchie”.
The skyscraper is scheduled to complete in 2014 and will feature an elevated garden and observation deck that will be open to the public.
See more architecture by Rafael Viñoly »
See more skyscraper news »
Images of the Walkie Talkie are courtesy of Shutterstock.
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“melts cars” appeared first on Dezeen.
Missy Elliott + G-Dragon: Niliria There’s more to Seoul than “Gangnam Style.” While Justin Timberlake pleased Brooklyn at the VMAs, his Korean counterpart G-Dragon (who rose to fame through his pop band Big Bang and whose solo career has been equally influential) was…
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News: a student housing block in London with a retained brick warehouse facade has been named Britain’s worst building of the year.
Building Design magazine has awarded the annual Carbuncle Cup award to a student accommodation block at 465 Caledonian Road in Islington, branding it the ugliest building to be designed in the UK over the past 12 months.
Designed by British firm Stephen George and Partners for University College London, the new building replaced a historic red brick warehouse which was demolished during the build. The original facade was retained and positioned in front of the new building.
“The original frontage has been retained in a cynical gesture towards preservation. But its failings go deeper,” said the judges. “This is a building that the jury struggled to see as remotely fit for human occupation.”
The jury commented that the majority of bedrooms within the new housing block lack adequate daylight, offer little privacy for the occupants and that those facing the retained facade have no view outside.
“The inmates living behind the massive masonry ruin will acutely feel the heritage of the retained wall, but it is not clear they will be able to see out. Perhaps the architects were influenced by the historic Pentonville Prison down the road,” suggested one nominator.
Other shortlisted projects included a 24-metre viewing tower that looks like a helter skelter, a student housing development in Oxford and a sports centre in Wales – known to locals as The Dumpster.
Last year, the title was given to Grimshaw for a steel and glass cocoon containing the historic Cutty Sark tea clipper.
Here’s the full announcement:
Scandalous student housing scoops the award for Britain’s worst new building
A multimillion-pound block of student accommodation on London’s Caledonian Road has been named the UK’s worst new building.
465 Caledonian Road, designed by Stephen George and Partners for University College London, was once a historic red brick warehouse that has now been largely demolished despite being protected.
The original frontage has been retained in a cynical gesture towards preservation. But its failings go deeper: this is a building that the jury struggled to see as remotely fit for human occupation.
The majority of rooms lack adequate daylight, offer little privacy and a significant number facing the retained facade have no direct view out at all.
“There is no small irony in the fact that the building stands on the same street as HMP Pentonville,” said BD executive editor and Carbuncle Cup juror Ellis Woodman.
“As the first intake of students move into their dark and far from private rooms next month, they might be forgiven for wondering why the prisoners have been provided with the better view.”
The building was originally refused planning consent by Islington Council but was approved on appeal by the planning inspectorate on the grounds that students don’t require the same quality of accommodation as the rest of society.
The runner-up for the Carbuncle Cup, which is awarded annually by the leading architecture industry title Building Design (BD), was also student accommodation.
Student housing is one of the few building types that has continued to be built in large quantity throughout the downturn and all too frequently to a level of quality that is little short of an insult to the buildings’ inhabitants.
“A look at the rapidly growing student accommodation sector provides an insight into trends in property development globally, and is alarming for lovers of the city and of architecture,” said Hank Dittmar, Carbuncle Cup juror and special advisor to HRH the Prince of Wales on Global Urbanisation.
“It seems to be felt that occupancy of less than a year and busy student lifestyles mean that standards can be reduced.”
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wins Carbuncle Cup 2013 appeared first on Dezeen.
Ethical production doesn’t always result in the most fashion-forward apparel. But that’s absolutely not the case with London-based designer Eleanor Dorrien-Smith, whose past experiences include working for John Galliano, Mary Katrantzou, Eley Kishimoto and Anthropologie. Proving high style can be synonymous with sustainability,…
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From now until 2 September, Orlebar Brown will be going blue in support of the Blue Marine Foundation and they have stocked up on limited edition board shorts…
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News: a 21 metre high living wall containing 10,000 plants and 16 tons of soil will help reduce flooding in London, according to its designer.
The huge green wall, designed by Gary Grant of Green Roof Consultancy and covering an entire facade of a hotel, covers 350 square metres – making it the largest wall of vertical plants in London.
The permanent feature is located on the exterior wall of the Rubens at the Palace hotel in Victoria. It is made from a range of different plants that are all recommended by The Royal Horticultural Society as the best pollinators to attract wildlife such as bees, butterflies and birds to the urban environment.
The wall, which was unveiled this week, has been designed in an attempt to reduce local environmental issues such as surface flooding and air pollution. The 10,000 plants are irrigated by harvested rainwater that is caught in dedicated storage tanks on the roof, which Grant claims will reduce surface water flooding.
“The living wall is irrigated using rainwater harvested from the roofs and stored in tanks before being fed through the wall, from which it evaporates,” said Grant. “In this sense the project is a sustainable drainage system.”
London mayor Boris Johnson is promoting sustainable drainage systems – or SUDS – to combat flooding in the capital, Grant said. “Victoria suffers from surface water flooding because of the preponderance of sealed surfaces such as roads and roofs. Occasionally when there is heavy rain the surface water drains are overwhelmed and flooding ensues.”
The project was undertaken as a result of an audit to identify new locations for green space, carried out by local organisation Victoria Business Improvement District (Victoria BID). The wall will be maintained by green wall compnay Treebox.
Here’s a time lapse video of the installation of the wall:
Other green walls we’ve featured include: a family house that conceals a three-storey wall of plants behind its slate-clad facade and a leisure centre in Amsterdam that was designed as a fortress covered in plants.
See more green walls »
See more stories about plants »
Photographs are courtesy of Rain Communications.
Here’s more information:
Victoria BID and the Rubens at the Palace Hotel unveil London’s largest living wall designed to reduce urban flooding in Victoria
Standing at 350 square metres with over 10,000 ferns, herbaceous plants and 16 tons of soil, Victoria welcomes the unveiling of London’s largest living wall designed to reduce urban flooding.
The Rubens at the Palace Hotel living wall, on the doorstep of Buckingham Palace, reaches over 21 metres high. It will be packed with over 20 seasonal plant species including buttercups, crocuses, strawberries, spring bulbs and winter geraniums.
The flowers have been chosen to ensure the wall is ‘in-bloom’ all year round, attracting wildlife such as birds, butterflies and bees, and the permanent feature will provide a vibrant focal point for the local area. The living wall will be one of London’s most visually impactful and colourful vertical gardens, brightening the popular tourist walk from Victoria station to the Royal residence.
The ground-breaking green project came to light following a Green Infrastructure Audit, a mapping process that sought to identify new locations for green space in Victoria that was carried out by the Victoria Business Improvement District (Victoria BID), the body representing over 250 businesses in the Victoria area including the Rubens at the Palace Hotel. As a result of the audit, the hotel commissioned concept designs for the wall in recognition of the environmental benefits the wall will have for Victoria.
The wall’s unique design enables it to capture rainwater from the roof of the building in dedicated storage tanks. A key environmental challenge in Victoria is the risk of flooding during periods of heavy rain, due to the low absorbency of urban surfaces. According to the Environment Agency, there are now around 534,000 properties in London on the Thames floodplain, and one in four in London are at risk of flooding.
Water collected by the tanks is channelled slowly through the wall, nourishing plant life and helping to reduce the risk of surface water flooding in the area by storing up to 10,000 litres at any time.
The project has received support from the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, through his Greening the BIDs programme (co-ordinated by the regeneration agency Cross River Partnership).
In addition, the wall will improve the air quality in the area, deaden noise and help to keep the hotel cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. The vegetation can trap microscopic pollutants known as particulate matter (PM10s), high levels of which have been shown to cause respiratory illnesses.
The wall was designed by Gary Grant of the Green Roof Consultancy Ltd and installed and maintained by TreeBox Ltd.
Ruth Duston, CEO of Victoria BID, says; “While green infrastructure inevitably improves the aesthetics of the area it also has a substantial positive impact on the long-term environmental sustainability of an area. The Rubens at the Palace Hotel has demonstrated a huge commitment to the delivery of a sustainable agenda, their appetite to engage and lead on such an iconic project really showcases the greening agenda overseen by Victoria BID to deliver a model of best practice for London.”
Jonathan Raggett, Managing Director of Red Carnation Hotels, of which the Rubens at the Palace is a part of, said; “We’re excited to be unveiling the Living Wall on the side of the Rubens at the Palace. It was a project we bought in to from the very beginning and thanks to the belief and investment of our owners, it’s not only been brought to fruition but significantly enhanced from the original concept stage. We take the issue of sustainable tourism very seriously across the entire Red Carnation Hotel collection, and this wall will minimise the hotel’s impact on the environment and also improve the air quality and aesthetic in this part of London.”
Armando Raish, managing director of Treebox, said: “Due to the variety of plants used in its construction, we expect the living wall at the Rubens at the Palace to significantly increase the number and variety of bugs and bees in this part of Victoria, helping to promote biodiversity and return nature to this urban environment. The wall will also help improve the respiratory health of the people who live and visit Victoria by absorbing pollutants, an important feature of the wall given the mounting evidence that shows just how harmful particulate matter can be to human health.”
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will “combat flooding” appeared first on Dezeen.
Norwegian designer Kim Thome has installed a series of two-way mirrors that reflect vinyl stripes covering the walls of a London gallery (+ slideshow).
Kim Thome fixed multicoloured and black and white strips of vinyl to the walls of William Benington Gallery and placed three two-way mirrors on simple black frames in the centre of the room.
The semi-transparent surfaces produce optical illusions as the reflections are overlaid onto the background when viewed from different angles.
Thome says the pattern was divided into coloured and monochrome areas following the shape of the interior and “giving a new graphic element to the mirrors as the viewer explores the space.”
An additional suspended circular artwork features a diagonal pattern on one surface, which is reflected by two-way mirror material applied to the perpendicular plane.
Works on Reflection II is an extension of Kim Thome’s graduation project, which was presented at the Royal College of Art earlier this year and comprised a range of colourful furniture with built-in two-way mirrors.
Other illusory mirrors include an installation that looks as if people are climbing the facade of a London townhouse and a mirror that only works when it is placed in front of a dark shape on a wall. See all design with mirrors »
Here’s some more information from Kim Thome:
William Benington Gallery presents Kim Thome’s first show with the gallery; Works on Reflection II.
Works On Reflection II is a spatial installation which is a result of a longer investigation exploring the ’reflective’. Using the gallery space as the canvas, the installation will use the ‘reflective’ as medium, or more specifically, a two way mirror. Colour, geometry and patterns are central in staging a fictional space for these to merge, creating an ephemeral ever-changing environment.
Three mirrors stand central in the gallery space interacting and reflecting the colour vinyl pattern on the walls. Semi-transparent and reflective material such as two-way mirror allows the fore and background to be manipulated by carefully controlling the surrounding elements.
Colour in the pattern divides the space into three separate areas following the gallery’s interior architecture, giving a new graphic element to the mirrors as the viewer explores the space.
In this work viewers are challenged by what the reflections reveal, another reality, far from what is visually expected, engaging the viewer to reconsider the objects reflected.
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at William Benington Gallery appeared first on Dezeen.
News: a residential development designed by Richard Rogers to adjoin two streets in London’s Mayfair via a paved arcade has been granted approval.
The £300 million scheme designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners will include 42 apartments, a restaurant and retail space. There will also be 1248 square metres of dedicated gallery space, split into five retail units for the selling of art and antiques – for which Cork Street and the surrounding area are well-known.
The conversion will transform a former office building into a nine-storey mixed-use property and will link Old Burlington Street and Cork Street via a double-height arcade, making it the first of its kind in Mayfair since the 1930s.
Alasdair Nicholls, chief executive of property developer Native Land said: “These proposals will greatly enhance Cork Street and the experience of visiting one of London’s most established art gallery districts, by both augmenting the gallery offering of the building and creating an arcade with a permanent dedicated space for young and emerging artists.”
The scheme has faced opposition from gallery owners, locals and retail experts who felt that the development and expected higher rental costs would negatively affect the area which is well known for its small galleries.
A campaign website called Save Cork Street was set up and a number of public events were held in an attempt to protect the heritage of the street. A petition against the plans was signed by 12,000 people, including retail guru Mary Portas.
Recently we published a number of films with eminent British architect Richard Rogers. In our most recent movie, Richard Rogers reflects on his 50-year career and told Dezeen that architects today must be careful to protect the public domain.
In another movie exclusive Rogers spoke to us about London’s new Leadenhall building, dubbed “the Cheesegrater”, which is currently under construction.
See all our coverage of Richard Rogers »
See more stories about Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners »
Images are from Rogers Stirk Habour + Partners.
Here’s more information from Native Land:
Westminster City Council approves Native Land’s plans for 30 Old Burlington Street
Consent granted for apartment and gallery space in Mayfair
Native Land has secured planning approval from Westminster City Council for the redevelopment of 30 Old Burlington Street, Mayfair. Westminster’s Planning & City Development Committee last night agreed to the plans for new residential and enhanced gallery provision at the W1 address.
Native Land applied to redevelop the Old Burlington Street office building, creating 42 apartments, a restaurant, retail space, and 1,248 sq m of gallery space in five units dedicated to the sale of art and antiques, as part of the restriction in the Section 106 agreement.
The proposed development, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, will replace the existing 1980s office block and will link Old Burlington Street and Cork Street via a newly built double height arcade, which is the first in Mayfair since the 1930s.
The new development will consist of nine floors, with 42 one, two and three bedroom apartments spread over floors 1 – 8. The ground floor will accommodate the new arcade, which is expected to increase gallery visitors and footfall within the area.
Alasdair Nicholls, Chief Executive of Native Land, said:
“We welcome Westminster City Council decision to approve our plans for 30 Old Burlington Street. These proposals will greatly enhance Cork Street and the experience of visiting one of London’s most established art gallery districts, by both augmenting the gallery offering of the building and creating an arcade with a permanent dedicated space for young and emerging artists. The combination of art galleries, purpose built residential and a contemporary arcade is unique, with appeal both to domestic and international buyers alike looking to live in Mayfair.”
Native Land, the Mayfair-based development company, is managing the development, after acquiring the site freehold in August 2012 in a joint venture with Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), the Singaporean hotel, property and retail group, and Amcorp Properties Berhad (Amcorp), the Malaysian property, engineering and infrastructure group.
In December 2012 Native Land secured funding for the development via a £90 million debt facility from OCBC Bank of Singapore.
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+ Partners gallery arcade in Mayfair appeared first on Dezeen.
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