Hasta La Ideas

Mottled grey walls meet black-brick partitions to form the monochromatic interiors of Yakusha Design’s self-designed office and showroom in Kiev, Ukraine.

Named Ya Vsesvit, the office accommodates Yakusha Design‘s own studio, a showroom and an 80-seat lecture room for events.

The studio is lead by Ukranian architect and designer Victoriya Yakusha, who wanted to create a space where different “design-minded” individuals within the company could work under one roof, encouraging the potential for collaboration.

“The space is created for architects, fashion designers, visualizers, stylists, photographers and copywriters – anyone who hunts for inspiration,” explained Yakusha.

“[Ya Vsesvit] also means ‘I’m the universe’ in Ukrainian, so the interior is built on the idea of combining.”

Yakusha herself comes from a multi-disciplinary background. As well as running her own design studio, she heads up Faina – a furniture brand that makes pieces out of traditional materials from her native country like clay, wood, willow and flax.

The brand will also be based out of Ya Vsesvit.

When it came to developing the interiors, Yakusha Design opted for a largely monochromatic colour scheme.

Several partitions made from jet-black bricks appear throughout the space, contrasting against the surrounding structural walls which have been roughly rendered with grey clay.

Black-framed panels of glazing close off the main meeting room and a couple of small offices. One of them is centred by a chunky desk crafted from a single block of sandstone.

Decorative ornaments and furnishings in Ya Vsesvit are largely designed by Faina, allowing the space to double-up as a showroom for Yakusha.

Items include the brand’s tapering Trembita vase, which takes its name from a traditional Ukranian wind instrument, and its organically-shaped Ztista chairs which are punctuated with holes.

Faina’s huge woven Strikha lamp has also been suspended over a work table, which takes cues from the straw roofs of Ukranian huts.

Shiny foil-effect seating poufs and large wall mirrors have also been dotted around. Metal shelving has then been integrated into the walls to keep work areas clutter-free.

“The biggest aim in this project was to stay honest, to create a design that’s able to live in the future and not only one or two years, as all trends do,” added the studio.

Ya Vsesvit is longlisted in this year’s Dezeen Awards in the Small Workspace Interior category. It will compete head-to-head against projects like The Wing Dumbo, which is decked out with colourful furnishings, and Space10’s head office, which has a flexible floor plan divided by mobile partitions.

Photography is by Mikey Estrada.

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