Interiors Archives - Azure Magazine

6 Projects Pushing the Boundaries of Sustainable Design

Elizabeth Pagliacolo — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 12:51:00 +0000

Earth Forest Campus — Barcelona, Spain

PHOTO: Iwan Baan

Until recently, 3D-printed construction and traditional earth buildings existed at opposite ends of the technological spectrum. But an innovative Forest Campus in Barcelona’s Collserola Natural Park, developed by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) with international architecture firm Hassel, combines the best of both worlds, marrying cutting-edge techniques with vernacular design. The product of over one decade of research, the 100-square-metre structure is a full-scale prototype for sustainable and affordable construction. Though 3D-printed architecture is typically made of carbon-intensive concrete, the Forest Campus was printed...

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The Outhouse Gets a Major Makeover at a Washington Campsite

Sydney Shilling — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 12:46:00 +0000

Washrooms (or the lack thereof) are rarely the highlight of a camping trip. But a new destination for nature lovers in Long Beach, Washington, makes for an elegant exception. Japanese outdoor lifestyle company Snow Peak worked with local firm EFA Architect — led by Erik Fagerland with his son Scott as lead designer — to bring the elevated experience of its branded campsites in Japan to the North American market. The architects were tasked with designing a welcome pavilion and store, as well as the wash house and a spa.

In keeping with the aesthetic of Snow Peak’s Japanese campsites, the wash house is finished in shou sugi ban cladding from Nakamoto Forestry.

With a modest budget and big ambitions, the firm set out to...

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In Madrid, Casa Nube Is a Colourful Nest

Kendra Jackson — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 12:42:00 +0000

Once a rabbit warren of small rooms, narrow corridors and an isolated kitchen, this 1950s apartment near Madrid’s El Retiro Park is now spacious, light-filled and splashed with colour thanks to architect Javier Jiménez Iniesta of local design practice Studio Animal (which also has an office in Barcelona). Addressing the overly compartmentalized lay-out by doing away with it completely, Jiménez Iniesta clustered Casa Nube living, dining and reading areas into one all-white, three-metre-high communal space that is open to the kitchen. This move not only created a free-flowing floor plan that better supports the mother and son who live here, it also lets sunlight pour in from two sides and allows for natural temperature regulation through...

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Metalcore Reveals a Turquoise Hideaway

Kendra Jackson — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 12:41:00 +0000

For architects Carlos Rebolo and Alejandro Caraballo — who co-founded their Madrid-based firm CRAC in 2020 — the purpose of architecture is not simply to build but to investigate and examine how one interacts with and is influenced behaviourally by their surroundings. So when it came to renovating his own apartment (which he shares with his partner), Rebolo naturally experimented by transforming a conventional three-bedroom layout with a closed-off living room and kitchen into a bright, open one-bedroom space centred around a large metal-wrapped cube that contains the bathroom, as well as storage for a study on one end and the bedroom closet on the other.

Dubbed Metalcore, the square volume is clad in a turquoise wavy metal...

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A Sustainable Aquatic Centre Founded on Community Engagement

Sydney Shilling — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 12:39:00 +0000

Like much of North America, New Westminster, BC, has a long and problematic colonial history. This dates all the way back to the city’s founding in 1859, when settlers displaced Chief Tsimilano, an Indigenous Elder who lived in the area’s Glenbrook Ravine (known as Stautlo by local First Nations people). In the 1960s, a portion of this lush landscape was then backfilled, making way for a community centre and an aquatic facility. Six decades later, with both buildings beyond repair, the city tapped Vancouver-based firm hcma architecture + design for a rebuild. To the design team, the project represented a chance to right past wrongs. “The erasure of the ravine was almost a metaphor for the erasure of Indigenous peoples, and we saw that...

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An Adaptive Re-Use Restaurant That’s Really Cooking with Gas

Eric Mutrie — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 12:34:00 +0000

The Brief

Following the same road map that saw Michelin evolve from a tire manufacturer into a global culinary authority, a former Madrid auto shop recently reopened as Tramo: a buzzy restaurant that has, fittingly, already earned itself a place in the Michelin Guide. Tramo marks the second venture from Proyectos Conscientes, a hospitality group that prides itself on dining spots dedicated to responsible consumption. With that in mind, Madrid architecture firm SelgasCano (the brains behind the 2015 Serpentine Pavilion) and Andreu Carulla (a product and spatial designer specializing in old school craftsmanship) worked together to refine — but not completely reform — the industrial space with low-waste, high-performance design....

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Leiden University Welcomes a Tactful Extension

Stefan Novakovic — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 20:13:48 +0000

Designed by architect Joop van Stigt, Leiden University’s Cluster Zuid is a showpiece of 1970s Dutch structuralism. Organized as a series of seven interconnected “houses,” the academic complex was envisioned as an ambitious reflection of linguistic and anthropological concepts; each of the volumes promotes interaction with a greater whole, with social and pedagogical life unfolding within its network of free, liminal spaces.

Yet, for all the ambition and genuine architectural quality, Cluster Zuid’s daily functions were hampered by its uncomfortably narrow, dark corridors and repetitive spaces, which made intuitive wayfinding difficult for students, faculty and visitors. As the complex aged, meanwhile, the small windows and dark ceilings made for an increasingly uncomfortable (not to mention energy inefficient) ambiance. For innovative Groningen-based architects De Zwarte Hond, an adaptation of the facility — which houses libraries, lecture halls, study spaces and common areas — entailed a careful balance between transformative intervention and historical sensitivity.

Armed with a brief to expand the complex into a more welcoming and sustainable campus hub, De Zwarte Hond treated van Stigt’s design with care befitting a heritage structure, maintaining as much of the original design — and its philosophical aspirations — as possible while accommodating current needs. To create a more comfortable environment, a central brick volume — one of the original seven structures — has been replaced with a more public-facing new building, topped by an open and light-filled atrium that effectively knits together van Stigt’s volumes into a more intuitive and coherent whole.

The structures of the six remaining volumes were largely retained, though the top floor of each Cluster Zuid “house” was demolished to accomodate improved mechanical systems and a much more efficient building envelope. While the re-imagined top levels continue the simple metallic language of De Zwarte Hond’s new central volume, the architecture is sensitively contoured to reflect the scale and rhythm of van Stigt’s design, also retaining the expressive circular concrete columns and balconies that lend the expansive hub — now dubbed the Herta Mohr building — an unmistakable visual identity.

Throughout, De Zwarte Hond were also careful to retain and re-use waste materials created through demolition. Notably, the handsome Sequoia redwood panels that previously clad many of the Cluster Zuid ceilings were adapted into the handsome wall cladding that accents the atrium, fostering a cozy yet airy indoor setting that nods to the building’s rich history.

The 11,400-square-metre Herta Mohr complex is now home to a wide range of pedagogical spaces, including two expansive lecture halls, as well as the libraries for the Leiden University’s African Studies Centre and Middle Eastern Studies programs.

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Chicago’s Norman Kelley Puts the Glass Brick in “Bricks and Mortar”

Eric Mutrie — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 15:16:56 +0000

A popular stereotype is that architects only wear black. But spend some time with designers, and you’ll find that the profession’s dress code is actually more nuanced. Yes, minimalist goths abound, devoted to living in sartorial darkness day in and day out. But you’ll also meet experimental designers like SAANA’s Kazuyo Sejima who embrace runway styles in all manner of hues, not to mention disciples of Richard Rogers who understand how to rock lime green, bright orange or even both at the same time.

Somewhere in the middle of this fashion spectrum lies cowboy-adjacent architects who dress like they’re building your house rather than just designing it — favouring hardwearing, workwear-inflected classics like field shirts and officer chinos, usually in some shade of khaki. That’s where Buck Mason comes in. Sure enough, the clothing brand’s latest retail location (designed by Chicago firm Norman Kelley, working alongside architect Spencer McNeil) in Oak Brook, Illinois, appeals directly to a rugged, architecturally savvy clientele.

Launched in L.A. in 2013, Buck Mason began with a plan to create the perfect T-shirt. Founders Erik Allen Ford and Sasha Koehn come by their love of design and construction honestly: Koehn previously worked as a landscape architect, and his and Ford’s fathers were a stone sculptor and brick-layer, respectively — with the brand’s name a tribute to those two careers. (They chose the “Buck” half because it sounds tough, and speaks to the idea of bucking trends.)

Their quest for top quality eventually led the company to set up its own production facility in Pennsylvania, where it now operates a knitting mill and a sewing factory dedicated to made-in-the-USA T-shirts. In store, these homegrown offerings are rounded out by other clothes produced farther afield yet still steeped in classic American tradition. Picture something that an off-duty Steve McQueen or Christy Turlington might wear, and you’ll be in the right style ballpark.

For the company’s latest, 60-square-metre outpost at Oakbrook Center (a mall about 30 minutes outside Chicago), Norman Kelley worked to reflect the brand’s deep appreciation for design history. Inspired by Jean Prouvé’s 1940s design for a demountable house, the firm envisioned a shop-in-shop that stations a reclaimed oakwood shell structure in the middle of the floor. The setup brings a sense of intimacy to the otherwise generic mall storefront, creating the feeling of stepping into someone’s home — or more accurately, into their log cabin. Adding to the warmth of this inner sanctum, a selection of orb-style pendants in a variety of scales hangs above, spotlighting the merchandise below.

Built at an angle to the space’s existing perimeter walls, the wooden core also introduces cozy outer nooks that help to pace out the display of product. Window-like cutouts offer views between the store’s two layers, adding to the overall sense of depth.

For its next big design move, Norman Kelley studied up on regional architectural history. Glass brick, which has enjoyed a major resurgence over the past couple years, actually made its debut back at Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition. Inspired by this origin story, Norman Kelley installed rows of 15.24-by-7.62-centimetre glass blocks at the upper edge of the interior wooden structure’s walls, creating a border akin to a clerestory window. “The use of glass block further connects the store to a legacy of Midwest innovation and material ingenuity,” the designers explain in their project description. At the back edge of the space, the glass brick extends down to the floor, creating a translucent grid that complements the clean lines of the clothing on display.

A selection of books stocked in the shop pay tribute to Jean Prouvé, as well as other design luminaries like Eileen Gray, Louis Kahn, and Noguchi. Vintage photos, stereo equipment, and an artwork of a cowboy riding a bucking bronco add to the decor mix.

In a retail landscape that has seen other brands struggling to maintain a strong bricks and mortar presence, Buck Mason is scaling up quickly, moving from 11 stores in 2020 to 33 as of this year. Clearly, consumers are connecting with the brand’s textural fabrics and sandy palette — not to mention its classically-minded approach to store design. And if you want just want some all-black basics? Buck Mason can help with that, too.

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A Spanish Cocktail Bar that Evokes Golden Treasure

Sophie Sobol — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 19:29:01 +0000

You might not find the legendary lost city of El Dorado on the 24th floor of the NHow Hotel in Amsterdam, but you will find Sonora Bar — a luxury Spanish cocktail bar steeped in the mythology of pre-Columbian design. Designed by Barcelona-based studio El Equipo Creativo, Sonora Bar brings Latin American flavours — including their singnature Azul Margarita — to a European audience.

Designed to complement its sister space, the Selva Restaurant, located on the same floor of the NHow Hotel, El Equipo Creativo’s Sonora Bar was imagined with a distinctly Latin American flair. But where Selva Restaurant reveals a lush tropical forest, Sonora Bar is the hidden gem in the jungle.

A dazzling golden structure, the central bar immediately draws the eye. Inspired by pre-Columbian gold idols, the rounded, organic form — evoking a giant mushroom — gleams with a golden finish from floor to ceiling. Grooved surfaces around the room reflect a dappled texture, much like cascading water, that is echoed in the tiled, glass facade behind the bar and the watery pattern of the carpet. Organic-shaped furniture in pops of red and vibrant patterns are meant to evoke poisonous fruit and other jungle dangers that exist by a watering hole. Add in the lush greenery and hanging plants, and Sonora Bar is something out of a fairy tale.

Despite the challenge of balancing this dramatic interior with the bar’s stunning view (courtesy of a glass facade by OMA studio) — not to mention cultivating an authentic Latin American feel in a Dutch hotel — El Equipo Creativo is up to the task with the fantastical Sonora Bar.

“It’s more than just having a drink. It’s about feeling like you’re part of an exciting story,” says the Sonora bar team. “If you want a fun escape and a taste of old tales, come visit. Every sip is an adventure.”

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Two Weeks To Go! AZURE’s Human/Nature Conference

Azure — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 14:35:53 +0000

It’s right around the corner! On October 24 and 25, a curated lineup of architects, urbanists, policy-makers and designers is set to converge in downtown Toronto. Taking place at the Waterfront Campus of George Brown College, the two-day AZURE Human/Nature conference will bring together an impressive array of Canadian and international talents, harnessing interdisciplinary knowledge from around the world to address the issue of climate change through design.

Get Tickets!

Featuring a diverse series of CEU-accredited Keynotes, Panels and Workshops, the Human/Nature conference talks will be complemented by social gatherings and networking opportunities, an immersive field trip organized in partnership with the Toronto Society of Architects, as well as exciting co-programming with the Architecture and Design Film Festival.

Keynotes

Julia Watson

Susan Carruth

Four world-leading designers will deliver keynote presentations. Our opening speaker is an acclaimed New York-based landscape designer and and author. Julia Watson is a leading proponent of what she describes as “LO–TEK,’ a design philosophy (and a best-selling book of the same name) that embraces site-specific, highly local strategies — adopted by Indigenous peoples around the globe — as a wellspring of contemporary design thinking.

To cap Day 1, Susan Carruth, a partner at 3XN/GXN, will deliver a talk examining the Copenhagen-based firm’s world-leading portfolio of low-carbon and recycled buildings. A leading specialist in behavioural design, Carruth will also explore GXN’s innovative research practice, which integrates material and environmental sustainability with a distinctly human-centred ethos.

Kongjian Yu

Tommaso Bitossi

On Day 2, the visionary founder of Beijing landscape firm Turenscape, Kongjian Yu will share insight from his globally renowned “Sponge Cities” concept of regenerative landscape design. Guided by a rigorous triple bottom line — which integrates environmental, economic and social benefit into every built project — he boasts a portfolio that includes the award-winning Fish Tail Park in Nanchang City and Tongnan Dafosi Wetland Park. He is also the winner of the 2023 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize.

Finally, Tommaso Bitossi of Transsolar — the climate engineering company that has collaborated with firms including Renzo Piano Building Workshop, KPMB and MASS Design Group, to name a few — will explore how a synthesis of design and engineering can reshape our shared environments and our daily lives.

Panels

Our multi-perspective plenary panels bring together Canadian and international expertise for a global design audience. Acclaimed Vancouver-based Indigenous architect Alfred Waugh, together with Tsleil-Waututh Nation Councillor Dennis Thomas, will discuss a landmark project to redevelop the 90-acre ʔəy̓alməxʷ/Iy̓álmexw /Jericho Lands site in Vancouver’s West Point Grey neighbourhood as part of the ʔəy̓alməxʷ/Iy̓álmexw /Jericho Lands: Indigenous Urban Futures panel. In Forecast for Hotter Cities, meanwhile, our international panelists — including Rasmus Astrup of Danish landscape firm SLA, and Dorsa Jalalian of DIALOG — will share design-driven (and socio-political) strategies for mitigating rising urban temperatures.

La Quebradora Water Park in Mexico City, a landmark project by panel speaker Loreta Castro Reguera of Taller Capital. PHOTO: Aldo Díaz

How do we develop furniture and textiles for a cleaner planet? Featuring Caroline Cockerham of Cicil Rugs, Justin Beitzel of Common Object and Stephanie Lipp of MycoFutures, Circular Design for a Circular Economy will present ways of closing the loop through design, manufacturing, shipping, storage and end-of-life strategies.

Finally, The Green Public Realm, featuring Pat Hanson of Toronto’s gh3*, Loreta Castro Reguera of Mexico City’s Taller Capital, SpruceLab’s Sheila Boudreau, and Paul Kulig of Perkins&Will, will spotlight projects that make the most of our shared outdoor spaces.

Workshops

Complementing our plenary keynotes and panels, 12 immersive and collaborative workshops will deep dive into specific projects and practices. Architects including affordable housing champion SmartDensity, net-zero civic design specialists specialists MJMA, and adaptive reuse innovators Giaimo will share their expertise across a range of typologies and context. Perkins&Will and KPMB will explore emerging tools for assessing carbon, and LGA Architectural Partners and MabelleArts will discuss the integration of community wellbeing and food security into design practice.

MJMA’s Churchill Meadows Community Centre is among the impressive case studies presented as part of the Human/Nature workshops. PHOTO: Scott Norwsorthy

Led by Gensler, a look at healthy, low-carbon interiors will explore strategies for combining wellbeing and sustainability in fit-outs, while the innovative duo of Arper and PaperShell will share their experiences using bio-based materials in furniture design. Tackling the public scale, the Lemay team will offer a look at Montreal’s public realm and transit infrastructure, which holds vital lessons for the rest of North America. What’s more, authors and thought leaders including American mass timber specialist Lindsey Wilkstrom and healthcare design visionary Tye Farrow will share the thinking that informed their acclaimed recent books.

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More information about the AZURE Human/Nature is available here. Tickets are on sale now!

Human/Nature keynotes are sponsored by Keilhauer, Stone Tile and Italgraniti. Plenary panel sponsors are Ciot, Formica and Architek. Workshop sponsors are Ligne Roset, Scavolini, TAS, Ege Carpets, Mitrex, Andreu World and Arper. The TSA-led field trips are supported by Nienkämper. The social gathering sponsor is Urban Capital.

The conference is presented in partnership with George Brown College / Brookfield Sustainability Institute, MaRS, Lemay, Flash, GFI Investment Council Ltd., Instituto Italiano di Cultura Toronto, and Small Change Fund. It is supported by the City of Toronto.

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