Hasta La Ideas

Garments are suspended in front of draped fabric above a steel parquet floor in the new womenswear floor that design studio JamesPlumb has created for east London fashion boutique Hostem (+ slideshow).

James Russell and Hannah Plumb of London-based JamesPlumb were influenced by the grainy textural appearance of old photographic plates, which they interpreted in the Hostem store’s palette of textured industrial materials.

“There is a strong emphasis on an honesty and truth to materials, which are predominantly used in their natural state, with subtle embellishments,” explained the designers.

A steel parquet floor used throughout the space comprises over 4500 individual tiles that were laid by hand in a herringbone pattern.

“The natural beauty of the steel, with its colour variations and imperfections, is accentuated by the herringbone pattern that highlights the uniqueness of each tile,” the designers added.

Free-standing steel display units create robust yet transparent vitrines and are inlaid with natural felt to add a textural dimension.

Steel is also used for a runner on the staircase that ascends to the second floor space and mezzanine level above.

Fabric panels suspended from the five-metre-high ceiling act as a backdrop for individual garments, which are displayed on custom-made clothes hangers.

Concrete shelves are supported by round steel pegs, while heavy concrete planks lean against the walls providing a counterbalance for the clothes rails that project from their surfaces.

The concrete was cast in timber moulds so it takes on the unique knots and grain of the wood.

Floor lamps shrouded with crumbled lead sheets focus the light and evoke the appearance of the aluminium cinquefoil that is used to mask photographers’ lights.

Russell and Plumb first started working with Hostem in 2010, creating the brand’s first space. They have also created a basement showroom filled with antique furniture at the store.

Photography is by Rachel Smith.

The designers sent us the following press release:

Hostem Womenswear

The collaboration that has seen JamesPlumb produce award winning designs for Hostem menswear, and bespoke service ‘The Chalk Room’ has continued and expanded. A brand new upper floor welcomes the arrival of a dedicated womenswear level – and a new environment to host it.

Connected, whilst fundamentally distinct from the store below, the new interior has an evolution that matches the store’s development. It has been led by a sense of privacy and remoteness from street level that required a feeling of calm and elevation to match. The space is informed and inspired by the warm monochromatic graininess and ‘noise’ found in old photographic plates. There is a strong emphasis on an honesty and truth to materials, which are predominantly used in their natural state, with subtle embellishments. Every element has been custom designed, and the majority made in house, by hand, in JamesPlumb’s studio.

The artistic duo have again demonstrated their ability to innovate materials with a lightness of touch that is timeless, whilst being full of surprising details. A unique steel parquet floor has been designed and developed, with over 4500 individual tiles laid by hand. The natural beauty of the steel, with its colour variations and imperfections are accentuated by the herringbone pattern that highlights the uniqueness of each tile. The white plastered walls have simply been sealed and polished with wax, and both surfaces offer a balance of unfinished rawness with a jewel like reflective surface.

Tranquility and simplicity pervades, but with depth and richness derived from texture and detail. A warmth has skillfully been created despite the connotations of materials commonly associated with an industrial look. Steel displays are inlaid with natural felt. Concrete shelves and planks support refined clothes rails. They have been cast in individual wooden moulds carefully chosen for their imperfections – the unique knots and deep wood grain of each are the antithesis of a manufactured finish. There is a playful contrast between these simple forms that reference basic building techniques and the precision steel works of the floor. The ungainly heaviness of concrete is avoided by both cheating gravity and embracing it. The shelves float on steel pegs in the wall, whilst the planks press themselves against the walls – effortlessly counterbalancing their rails full of product.

The stairs have a simple yet beautiful steel runner to guide you to the second floor and the mezzanine of the double height space. Fabric panels drape dramatically five metres from ceiling to floor, each framing an individual piece as if being captured for posterity in front of an infinity wall. There is an unusual and indulgent amount of space afforded to one garment. It is as if the items have fast tracked to a museum – a feeling of archival preciousness – and yet they are accessible and very much to be touched, explored, and worn. The lighting too, references the photographer’s studio. Custom designed lights inspired by cine-foil are in fact beautifully patinated lead sheets – crumpled, shaped and formed to direct the light.

This veneration to the clothing and attention to detail extends to the clothes hangers themselves that are entirely bespoke, each having been hand-formed from four pieces of steel. They are a line drawing made physical – the essence of a clothes hanger. The result – as with the store itself – is a beautiful tension between simple elegance, and raw materiality.

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womenswear floor by JamesPlumb appeared first on Dezeen.

Chris Dyson Architects has added a soot-washed brick extension with a curved wall to a Georgian terraced house and former nunnery in east London (+ slideshow).

London-based Chris Dyson Architects was asked to replace an old two-storey extension, creating a new family living space that would be more in-keeping with the traditional nineteenth-century style of the property located at Wapping Pierhead.

“The curved end of the extension was inspired by the banks of the Thames elevation that rises on either side of the property and has curved bay windows overlooking the river,” Chris Dyson told Dezeen.

“It was an interesting local vernacular that we wanted to include and the curved extension bookends the environment well,” he said.

The architects worked with London bricklaying company Beckwith Tuckpointing to ensure the brickwork remained authentic. Locally sourced Coleridge yellow bricks were stained using an eighteenth-century soot-wash technique and an old penny was rolled between the brick joints, leaving an indent in the mortar.

“The use of brick helped to achieve a balance between the contemporary and the original period style of the house,” said Dyson.

Slate copings protect the gauged brick arches and bronze casements that have been added to the windows, helping to distinguish between the old and new.

An original listed dock wall offers privacy for a sheltered garden, while the curved wall at the back of the extension completes the terrace.

The garden offers another route into the basement and ground floor level of the extension, where a minimal dining room, library and kitchen offer living space for the family.

Built by British architect Daniel Asher Alexander in 1810, the Grade II listed building formerly housed a dock authority officer, before being repurposed as a nunnery in the 1940s.

Many of the period features have been restored, including the original staircase, architraves, floorboards and fireplace surrounds.

“The original property was very run down and hadn’t had much spent on it. This meant much of the house was preserved and we were able to bring back many of the period features,” Dyson explained.

Upstairs, the master bedroom and bathroom continue with the Georgian style, with pastel green panels concealing extra storage space and a large antique-style bathtub.

A rainwater-harvesting system and improved insulation have also been added to make the property more environmentally friendly.

Chris Dyson Architects recently won the AJ Small Projects Award for its extension of Wapping Pierhead. The award celebrates architectural projects built with a budget of less than £250,000.

Photography is by Peter Landers and Georgina Mann.

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completes a Georgian terrace in London appeared first on Dezeen.

The three pitched roofs of this bungalow extension in Manchester were designed by Blee Halligan Architects to capture sunlight at different times of the day and frame views of trees in the garden (+ slideshow).

London studio Blee Halligan Architects arranged the extension’s three double-height windows to face east, west and south so that interior spaces receive light at times that are appropriate to their functions.

The kitchen faces east to welcome the morning light and create a bright space for eating breakfast, while the west-facing living room receives sunlight in the evening.

Each of the windows looks out onto the garden and the steeply pitched roofs direct views towards the canopies of the trees bounding the site.

“The brief was to turn a very common low-ceilinged bungalow into a bright, voluminous house,” architect Greg Blee told Dezeen.

“This was the reason we developed the tall pitched-roof composition, which frames views rather than providing expansive views.”

The external walls of the building are clad in dark-stained larch panelling that helps it blend in with the surrounding garden.

“We liked the idea that the extension would be recessive against the house and garden, which is a verdant green with mature trees and planting that accentuates its colour,” explained Blee. “The building does not fight with this garden setting.”

Sliding doors connect a central dining room with a patio that can be used for al fresco dining. The kitchen also leads to a terrace, which is set to be extended to link the house with a proposed garden room.

White-painted timber boards line the interior of the extension to give the space a soft domestic feel that contrasts with the dark external surfaces.

A short set of stairs connects the dining room to the existing house, which contains a reception area, study and the bedrooms and bathrooms.

A new timber porch outside the front entrance incorporates benches sheltered beneath a translucent plastic roof. The slatted aesthetic of this structure is complemented by a chunky wooden fence in front.

Photography is by Mike Black.

Here’s a short description from Blee Halligan Architects:

A dilapidated bungalow is the site for a new rear addition

Three interconnected, pitched volumes, face in three directions – east, west and south, capturing sunlight at different times of the day, appropriate to function – the kitchen faces east for a light-bathed breakfast and the living room faces west to catch the last of the sunlight. They each pitch up to a large double-height window, capturing views of the garden and trees.

The building is clad in black stained larch, so it appears recessive in the context of the garden and possesses an abstract geometric quality at night.

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catches sunlight from three directions appeared first on Dezeen.

British firm John McAslan + Partners has converted a stone barn into a library and added a contrasting stained timber extension, as part of its redevelopment of a university campus in Cumbria, England (+ slideshow).

During the first stage of a masterplan for updating the University of Cumbria‘s Ambleside Campus, John McAslan + Partners refurbished the traditional Cumbrian barn, which was constructed in 1929 and had until recently been used as a student union.

Informed by the campus’s setting in a National Park, the architects endeavoured to minimise alterations to the existing barn’s stone exterior and added an extension with a pitched roof and large windows overlooking a new courtyard.

“The reconfiguration, a contemporary interpretation of Cumbrian vernacular, respects the original stone fabric of the building while enhancing the character and quality of the space,” said the architects.

Timber beams supporting the roof of the barn were exposed to increase the interior volume and contribute to a spacious upper storey that is filled with light from the redesigned windows.

The single-storey addition with its steeply sloping roof is clad in black-stained timber that provides a contrast to the stone barn and surrounding buildings.

“John McAslan + Partners’ design for the new library and student hub respects the original stone fabric of the building, while enhancing the character and quality of the space,” said the university’s head of facilities management, Stephen Bloye.

Full-height windows brighten the interior of the cafeteria and allow views across the landscaped courtyard towards the rest of the campus.

New stone floors used throughout the ground floor of the library and the cafeteria unite the interiors of the two spaces.

Pale wood covering the walls and ceiling of the cafeteria recurs in fitted furniture including rounded booths on the library’s ground floor and the cladding of the circulation areas.

As part of the ongoing masterplan the architects will continue to repair and refurbish other buildings around the university campus and improve landscaping and connections around the site.

Photography is by Hufton + Crow.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

Library and student hub, Ambleside Campus, University of Cumbria

A newly opened library and student hub marks the completion of the first phase of the practice’s masterplan for the Ambleside Campus at the University of Cumbria.

Stephen Bloye, Head of Facilities Management, University of Cumbria, comments: “John McAslan + Partners’ design for the new library and student hub respects the original stone fabric of the building, while enhancing the character and quality of the space.”

The existing timber roof structure has been exposed, greatly increasing the building’s overall volume. In addition, new stone floors have been installed and windows redesigned to maximise natural light, creating an attractive working environment and improve energy use.

A new mono-pitch addition, containing a cafe, is clad in stained black timber, contrasting with the grey stone of the existing building.

Generous glazing provides views out onto the adjacent courtyard space, one of the new landscape spaces created as part of the campus redevelopment, and beyond over the mature landscape of the campus.

The reanimated university campus will comprise Business Enterprise and Development, Outdoor Studies, Environmental Sciences and the National School of Forestry, creating a 21st-century university campus within the National Park.

Phase One of the masterplan has also delivered improved access and services infrastructure across the campus, including disability access for 75% of all teaching accommodation, induction loop systems, illuminated pedestrian routes, disabled parking provision and level access into and within all buildings where possible.

The University’s revitalised buildings will accommodate community events and lectures out of hours, enhancing the opportunities for adult learning in the community.

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into a library for University of Cumbria appeared first on Dezeen.

A rooftop extension fronted by a grid of metal mesh and glass contrasts with the original brick facade of this building in east London renovated by Duggan Morris Architects (+ slideshow).

Duggan Morris Architects was tasked with adding three storeys of office space to the four-storey Georgian property in London’s Shoreditch. As the building sits within a conservation area, the architects were required to preserve the existing residential facade above the ground floor shopfront.

“The challenge was to retain the domestic scale windows within a commercial office use, as well as to consider the proportional impact and aesthetic quality of the multi-storey addition,” said studio founders Joe Morris and Mary Duggan.

Behind the brick facade, the building has been completely remodelled to generate an interior suited to modern commercial uses. The basement and ground floor are dedicated to retail, but the rest of the floors all provide flexible office spaces that decrease in area towards the top.

The Curtain Road facade features a grid that divides the surface of the extension to correspond with the three bays of the original frontage. Local rights of light required some open sections at the rear to become roof terraces.

A recessed section at the top two storeys reveals a portion of the adjacent building’s flank, helping to anchor the extension into its surroundings and creating a small terrace.

The new facade was designed as a simple arrangement of horizontal and vertical units, rendered in visually lightweight modern materials to create a contrast with the existing brickwork.

“To retain the gravitas and independence of the urban block, the additional storeys are designed with an ambition to achieve a lightweight object quality, restrained from any references to the adjacent heavy masonry structure,” the architects explained.

A combination of bonded glazed units and panels covered in a wavy metal mesh were installed to create a flush surface with minimal jointing and surface detailing.

The metal panels are perforated with a pattern of holes that allows air to flow through and doesn’t obstruct views from inside.

Felt curtains that can be drawn across the large windows create a similar visual rhythm to the undulating surfaces of the mesh panels.

Concrete lintels and cills are painted in a matte finish, as are the window frames. The anodised metal panels have a champagne finish to ensure consistency between the masonry and the new architectural features.

Towards the end of the construction process, a neon lighting installation by artist Tim Etchells was installed in one of the windows, displaying the message “Shouting your demands from the rooftop should be considered a last resort”.

Photography is by Jack Hobhouse.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Shoreditch office extension

This is a speculative office development generating 20,000sqft (GEA) of retail and work space located at 141-145 Curtain Road, Shoreditch, East London. The project is located within a conservation area defined by Georgian brick buildings and requiring retention of the existing urban block.

The building prior to development was four storeys (G, B+2) in height and is fully remodelled behind a retained brick façade. Above this, three new floors of contemporary office space are added, extending the building to 7 storeys in total, almost doubling the usable area. Planning permission was obtained in September 2011. Construction commenced in November 2012 and completed in October 2013.

The scheme

To generate the required area of 20,000sqft, a further three storeys were necessary within the permissible building footprint which is defined by the alignment of the front facade at street level and the rights of light (RoL) envelope at the rear. There are 7 floors in total (B, G 1-5) diminishing is size as you ascend. Logic and efficiency dictate the plan arrangement. A compact circulation core contains toilets, showers, lift and stair, and is orientated on the tallest side of the building. The offices are maximised with external terraces also carved out of the RoL envelope.

The ground and basement are intended for retail use. As such two entrances at ground level occupy either end of the facade – 141 leading to the upper office levels and 145 directly into the retail unit. Ultimately the building is flexible and can accommodate a single or multi tenant let. To retain the gravitas and independence of the urban block, the additional storeys are designed with an ambition to achieve a lightweight object quality restrained from any references to the adjacent heavy masonry structure. Scale references to the adjacent buildings window punctuation are stripped back by reducing the extension to optimum modules horizontally and vertically. The materials are reduced to mesh and glass with minimal panels and visible jointing. The lack of reveals to windows are intended to further communicate the delicate object form by disguising the depth or make-up of the construction.

This object quality is further reinforced by the deep recess to the upper 2 storeys. By revealing a portion of the existing brick flank to the adjacent building block (139 Curtain Road) the weight of the existing fabric is further communicated. This obviously reduces nett lettable area but is counterbalanced by a maximised envelope to the rear. Also the precise fit of the building between party walls without visible overdressing of flashings is intended to allow the extension to read as an independent form intended to appear simply resting ‘upon’ the facade below and ‘between’ the adjacent warehouses. A 50mm gap is detailed between the existing masonry and the extension and projecting copings are omitted in lieu of self-draining window sections.

A grid is imposed on the front facade to respond subtlety to the 3 bay house facade below. The plot is trapezoidal in plan and as such a diagonal grid sets up positions of facades and balustrades to the rear. The grid is further enforced at the rear, with smaller staggered terraces, articulating the building where the mass responds to a RoL envelope. Thus a proportional logic of panel size – mesh and glass – is utilised across the facades with the positions of balustrades also defined by the RoL envelope.

Materials & colour

The visible facade is made up of mesh and large bonded units. The principle behind the entire facade construction is to use a simple curtain walling system where possible, with bespoke inserts to achieve the non standard details. The bonded glazed units are tied back to the main super structure. The mesh is bracketed off the curtain walling to meet the same plain as the bonded units and to achieve the flush outer layer. This principle continues around the entire facade front and rear. In order to maintain a reading of the building as a whole the colour palette is carefully calibrated to respond to the masonry tones from grey concrete mortar to mid brown bricks. The reflectance of the materials increases as you ascend to sky and the textural quality of each material selected is emphasised by various means.

A champagne coloured anodised metal panel is used for the mesh on the upper storeys. This is perforated with small holes achieving 40% free air flow and is also calculated to appear almost invisible from the inside to retain views across London. A waved profile adds another layer of light quality maximising incident sun throughout the day. The anodised surface is iridescent in sunlight.

The transition from the mesh to the glazed bonded panel is carefully managed by introducing a matching fritt within the double glazed bonded unit. This softens the overall appearance of the glass which would normally be a contrasting frame and fritt colour. Felt curtains have been introduced to the larger windows fronting onto the street to extend the waved mesh detail across the entire facade. The brick has been lightly cleaned and repointed where spalling with the intention to retain the relic with minimal surface alteration. All concrete lintels and cills and window frames are painted a matt colour to match the brickwork attempting to simplify the reading of the retained element.

At ground level the shop front is framed in concrete supporting the building mass above. The glass panels within being as large as is permissible with the constraints of the tight street and working zone. Again a fritt has been selected to match the concrete colour to soften the junctions. The colour treatment stops at the facade. As a rule the entire office units are white including light fittings and all exposed services.

Theatre

The building has been a challenge in many respects mainly imposed by the condition to retain the existing facade. To an extent the process to retain it required extensive counter intuitive construction works. The delicate quality of what is deemed to be ‘permanent’ and of historical value has been exposed through the very process of having to retain it. An installation by Richard Wilson at Liverpool Biennial 2007 entitled ‘Turning the place over’ played on this very condition. A permanent gritty piece of city fabric is explored as an adaptable component. An abstract portion of the facade was mechanically rotated exposing the inside.

Similarly, this revelation of the building fabric became an interesting part of the construction journey that was to be capitalised upon particularly given the visibility of the works from the street and the opportunity to promote the building as a theatrical contribution to Shoreditch, perhaps calling out to a particular tenant typology or exposing a opportunity to use the building in an unconventional way. The construction works required an oversized steel temporary structure to protect the facade from falling which needed to be pinned back to the superstructure. The entire shopfront below was removed leaving the brick facade suspended to allow alterations to take place behind it. Due to the close proximity to the street and the restrictions imposed by the Olympics 2012, temporary scaffolds and coverings were kept to a minimum thus the entire build process was evident throughout the construction phase. Due to the size of the bonded panels a complete weekend closure of Curtain Road to permit safe cranage positioning and installation was necessary.

An installation by Tim Etchells was exhibited to expand upon the theatrics. The piece was installed for 6 weeks from September to October 2013. The neon piece entitled ‘shouting your demands from the rooftops should be considered a last resort’ was selected for its obvious irony in the context of imminent marketing of the building, but also to demonstrate the opportunity to use the high level glazed pods for exhibition. The neon had the obvious benefit of retaining visibility during the dark early evenings.

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block in Shoreditch with metal mesh appeared first on Dezeen.