David Saik gives Emeco a cactus-filled Californian brand home

US furniture brand Emeco has worked with architect David Saik to convert an old sewing factory in Los Angeles into a multipurpose hub and "conversation place" with a cactus growing from the ground indoors.

Located on the outskirts of a residential neighbourhood in Venice Beach, California, the Emeco House has an exhibition and event space as well as accommodation for visiting guests.

Saik worked with Emeco owner Gregg Buchbinder and his daughter, Emeco head of sustainability Jaye Buchbinder, to transform the 1940s building into an open and inviting place that could welcome designers, architects and the local community.

The Emeco House is a renovated 1940s building in Venice Beach, California

The father and daughter, who love nature and surf together weekly, also wanted Emeco House to reflect the brand's messaging around design and sustainability.

"This really gave us a chance to codify and scale our value system – focus on honest, humble materials," said Jaye Buchbinder. "Nothing is flashy, but everything is thought through."

"We hope the quiet comfort will help foster a closer connection between people who come here," she continued. "It's not a commercial space, it's a conversation place."

The renovation project was meant to capture Emeco's ethos around design and sustainability

The starting point for the Emeco House was a desire to retain, upgrade and restore the existing building, a former sewing factory, in defiance of local norms favouring demolition.

In doing so, the architect and clients hoped to create not only a more environmentally sustainable project but one that would be connected to its neighbourhood.

Saik preserved the original structure of the building, exposing parts that had previously been covered, while progressively adding interventions in layers that he hoped would integrate seamlessly with the existing elements.

The house includes a cactus planted beneath a light-well

He describes it as a kind of "architectural natural diversity", where the old and new support each other in the creation of an indivisible whole.

The Emeco House features large open spaces for events, exhibitions and workshops downstairs, and a more domestic area upstairs, with room for guests to cook, eat, sleep and socialise.

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"One can move between easily between these spaces and always find a place to gather and have a conversation, such as the built-in benches at the open window to the street, or the bench at the entry, or on the benches on the backyard wall," Saik told Dezeen.

The Emeco House is zero-energy and powered by its own solar panels. Light-wells and skylights optimise the supply of natural light while also helping with cooling through passive ventilation, as they are either fully retractable or fitted with operable vents.

The building features open spaces for events, exhibitions and workshops on the ground floor

Plantings feature in all spaces, including a roof garden of succulents and, on the ground floor, a cactus that extends through the ceiling and into the light-well, where it can enjoy the natural air and daylight.

"The cactus brings the exterior and the interior together and provides a great deal of joy to the atmosphere of the architecture," said Saik.

Upstairs is a more domestic area for accommodating guests

The interior fittings and finishes were mostly done with the help of local contractors, carpenters and fabricators, including the cabinetry, interior and exterior plaster walls, and custom steel windows, doors and rolling gates.

Emeco was stablished in 1944, the same year it created its well-known 1006 Navy Chair, intended for US Navy submarines and made from salvaged aluminium. It is still in production today.

The house is intended to be more of a "conversation place" than a commercial space

The brand's recent products include the On and On chair, an endlessly recyclable plastic chair by Barber and Osgerby.

The company is also in the process of building a zero-energy factory in California, which will use solar energy to power its mechanical systems, appliances and heating.

The photography is byMartin Tessler.

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#all #architecture #residential #losangeles #california #usa #emeco #adaptivereuse #californianhouses #venicebeach

Soho House Nashville opens in Music City hosiery factory

A former hosiery factory in Nashville has been converted into a Soho House hotel and members' club, designed with nods to its industrial setting and the city's musical heritage.

The launch of Soho House Nashville earlier this week marks the company's second location in the American South, following the opening of the Austin house in 2021.

Soho House Nashville has opened in the May Hosiery Building

The May Hosiery Building, constructed in the early 1900s in the Tennessee city's artsy Wedgewood-Houston neighbourhood, now contains a series of club spaces and accommodation.

The Soho House design team used the building's industrial past and Nashville's reputation as the Music City to inform the renovation and decor.

"The house design is influenced by a strong pre-war, European aesthetic, connecting to the building's history with Bauhaus-inspired, striking geometric patterns, bold industrial finishes, and bespoke fixtures," said the team.

Metal shelving divides spaces in the Club Room

Playing on the colour of original verdigris copper doors, various teal shades were used across the different spaces to visually tie them together.

Meanwhile, the striped tiling around the swimming pool evokes the pattern of a guitar string board.

"Music City influences do not escape Soho House Nashville with its warm, rich textures of the rock and roll era and decorative patterns that nod to the jazz and blues genres," the design team said.

Striped tiling around the pool is designed to mimic a guitar string board

The building contains three indoor and outdoor performance spaces, a pool, a health club and a screening room.

Food is offered at Club Cecconi's, the first in-house restaurant of the Cecconi's chain of Italian eateries owned by the Soho House group.

Soho House Nashville's hotel has 47 bedrooms that vary in size

At the heart of the building, the Club Room is divided by industrial metal shelving into intimate spaces including a library with a fireplace and a games area.

The Sock Room also celebrates the factory's prior use for producing socks that astronauts wore to the moon, and now hosts live music and events.

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Referencing the machinery once housed in the space, bespoke bar lamps with an industrial aesthetic contrast softer materials like velvet and textured sheer linen.

Soho House Nashville has 47 bedrooms that range in size, including a large loft suite that spans over three floors.

Bedrooms all have large chandeliers and a variety of textiles

The rooms are furnished with bespoke, locally made designs and vintage accessories, as well as large chandeliers and metal screens that conceal the bathrooms.

"Each bedroom has been designed to feel traditional and cosy with woven tapestries, made with bespoke fabric designed in Nashville specifically for the house, to hide all TVs," said the team.

The rooms feature a mix of bespoke local furniture and vintage accessories

A total of 170 pieces were acquired from 41 local artists to be displayed throughout the hotel and club areas.

They join the wider art collection exhibited in the Soho House locations across the globe, which the company has gradually added to its portfolio since its founding in London in 1995.

Metal screen doors enclose the bathrooms

Along with Austin, the group's outposts in North America include Soho Warehouse in Downtown Los Angeles and Dumbo House in Brooklyn.

It's not surprising that the brand chose to open in Nashville – one of several southern US cities that has seen a recent influx of young creative people, and therefore an expanded repertoire of cultural and entertainment venues.

Also new to the city's dining and drinking scene is The Twelve Thirty Club , which is owned by restauranteur Sam Fox and musician Justin Timberlake.

The photography is byAndrew Joseph Woomer.

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#restaurantsandbars #all #interiors #hotels #instagram #usa #restaurants #bars #adaptivereuse #tennessee #sohohouse #membersclubs #nashville

Neil Dusheiko transforms London fashion showroom into light-filled home

Architect Neil Dusheiko has converted a showroom in west London into a bright, contemporary residence designed to meet the changing needs of its elderly owners.

Nicknamed Danish Mews House for its minimalist Scandinavian furnishings, the home is tucked away in a quiet mews lane in the Lancaster Gate area.

The mews house was once a showroom for the owner's fashion company

Although in recent years the current owners repurposed the building as a showroom and warehouse for their clothing company, it was originally built as a Georgian coach house for storing horse-drawn carriages.

Dusheiko's primary concerns when converting the property into a home were bringing in more light, as well as making sure that the interior could support its inhabitants as they grow older.

The main kitchen and sitting room are on the first floor

For this purpose, the house was fitted with a guest bedroom, kitchenette and toilet on the ground floor, which could ultimately be used by the inhabitants themselves in case their mobility becomes restricted.

A lift was installed to provide easy access to the upper floors of the house, which can also be reached via a central staircase.

Glazing in the stairwell brings light into the living spaces

In the stairwell, a newly installed skylight and a wall of gridded glazing on the first-floor landing allow sunlight to seep into the interior.

Behind the glass partition lies a sitting room and a kitchen with oatmeal-coloured cabinetry as well as a small dining area.

Light leaks in from a skylight at the top of the stairwell. Photo by Rachael Smith

Both here and throughout the rest of the home, several of the furnishings were sourced from well-known Danish design brands including Carl Hansen, Louis Poulsen and Montana.

The second floor is illuminated by six new dormer windows and accommodates another two bedrooms plus their respective en-suite bathrooms.

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The principal bedroom is largely clad in wood, save for a section on the rear wall that is finished in chintzy floral wallpaper.

Glazed doors with black metal frames run along one side of the room and can be slid open to access a sun terrace lined in Douglas fir battens.

Floral wallpaper features in the principal bedroom. Photo by Rachael Smith

The space is decorated with a couple of folding director's chairs and a built-in white-brick planter.

Danish Mews House is one of several residential projects that Neil Dusheiko has completed in London.

The room also has its own sun terrace. Photo by Rachael Smith

Previously, the architect created a home for his father-in-law in Stoke Newington, in which a striking wall of shelving is used to display ceramics and glassware.

Dusheiko also overhauled a home in Hammersmith, introducing a curved brick extension and a cinema room.

The photography is byStåle Eriksen unless stated otherwise.

---

Project credits:

Architect: Neil Dusheiko Architects

Structural engineer: Price and Myers

Contractor: ABC Limited

Quantity surveyor: White and Lloyd

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Chinese steel factory transformed into exhibition centre with polycarbonate walls

Architecture office Kokaistudios has slotted a polycarbonate structure into the shell of a former factory in Shanghai, China, to create the Baoshan Exhibition Center.

The exhibition space occupies one of few factory buildings that have been preserved on a large industrial site in the Baoshan District, which was once used to produce steel.

Kokaistudios has adaptively reused a former factory in Shanghai

Shanghai-based Kokaistudios' goal for the 725-square-metre factory was to create a flexible interior while preserving all of the structure's original details.

The project is shortlisted for the cultural building of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021.

The studio inserted a polycarbonate structure

The factory building chosen for the project is positioned at the gateway of the 450,000-square-metre site.

It was commissioned by its owner Baosteel to promote the redevelopment of the remaining factories on the site, as well as other disused industrial buildings in Shanghai.

The polycarbonate volume sits independently from the original building

"Baoshan Exhibition Center preserves the industrial legacy in Shanghai, while setting the stage for its future functions," said Kokaistudios.

"Through embedding new architecture volume, as well as in-built flexibility, Kokaistudios' structure sets a precedent for this landmark project."

The intervention was designed to preserve the existing building

According to Kokaistudios, Baosteel's vision for the site is to create an "eco-industrial park".

Alongside the exhibition centre, it is expected to include a new waste-to-energy power plant, a museum, offices, a park and a series of wetland areas.

It contains an exhibition centre inside

The polycarbonate structure inserted into the factory is designed as a fully separate element, meaning it sits independently from the building's original envelope.

The structure forms a watertight and flexible interior while preserving the factory's original details, which include bulky pipes and machinery inside and out.

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According to the studio, polycarbonate was chosen to create "a powerful contrast between the heaviness of the existing steel building and the lightness of the new building".

Polycarbonate is also lightweight, reusable and could be prefabricated, reducing costs and construction times.

Concrete tiles are paired with the polycarbonate walls

Inside, the main exhibition space is filled with freestanding furniture to maximise its adaptability.

Elsewhere, there is a small coffee lounge, meeting room and smaller spaces for use as other exhibition spaces.

A meeting room is among other spaces created inside

Alongside the polycarbonate, the studio has introduced a material palette that includes concrete and stainless steel, chosen for their "cooler tones".

"Throughout, cooler tones contrast with the structure's former associations of blasting furnaces," the studio explained.

Materials with "cooler tones" were selected

The main exhibition hall is the only space to feature natural materials, including wooden veneer that nods to the trees surrounding the site.

Kokaistudios' renovation of the factory is completed with a landscape design that includes simple stone pavers arranged in a striped formation.

Original details of the factory have been preserved

Other shortlisted projects in the cultural building of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 include the Yabuli Conference Center by MAD Architects and the Babyn Yar Synagogue by Manuel Herz Architects, which won the public vote for the same category.

Elsewhere in China, Rede Architects and Moguang Studio also recently adaptively reused a factory in Beijing to create a youth centre filled with ramps and slides.

The photography is byTerrence Zhang.

---

Project credits:

Architect: Kokaistudios

Chief architects: Andrea Destefanis, Filippo Gabbiani

Design director: Li Wei

Architecture design manager: Andrea Antonucci

Design team: Lu Tian, Qu Hao

Client: SIIC Bao Steel Environmental Resources Technology Co., Ltd.

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#cultural #all #architecture #chinesearchitecture #china #shanghai #renovations #factories #adaptivereuse #kokaistudios

Studio Bua transforms derelict Icelandic farm building into artist's studio

Architecture office Studio Bua has converted an abandoned farm building in Iceland into an artist's studio and residence, featuring a new gabled volume slotted inside the existing walls.

Studio Bua, which has offices in London and Oslo, was asked to develop a proposal for revitalising a cluster of former farm buildings overlooking the Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve in western Iceland.

Studio Bua has converted an abandoned farm building in Iceland

"Our first proposal was to link the existing spaces to create a more cohesive landscape with a 'community' of buildings for the family and their friends to occupy," said Studio Bua. "Together they create the place and make its history evident."

The first phase of the project involved converting the derelict concrete barn into an artist's studio and holiday home for the owners.

The house overlooks the Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve

The existing barn's robust concrete structure was retained and adapted to accommodate a kitchen and dining area alongside a double-height studio space.

Additional single-storey walls adjoining the main structure had been constructed without foundations and were therefore deemed too fragile to reuse. Instead, they are left as they were found, forming a perimeter around an open courtyard.

A new gabled volume is slotted inside the old farm's walls

The ground floor is designed to provide a sequence of utilitarian spaces with good natural light and views of the surrounding landscape through new and existing openings.

"On the ground floor in the original concrete structure we made openings only where it was necessary, mostly because the walls are not reinforced and opening further would compromise the structure," the architects explained.

The building functions as a holiday home for the owners

"We added two new openings because we needed to let more light into the kitchen and to add an entrance to the studio, to get in large artworks."

The ground-floor spaces feature a palette of simple and practical materials including an exposed concrete floor and surfaces covered with stained birch plywood.

The new construction has a timber-framed structure

The architects collaborated with the client, who had previously used stained plywood in her practice, to develop pigments that would evoke colours found in the surrounding countryside.

A timber-framed structure added above the existing ground floor contains the building's more domestic spaces, including a small sitting room, two double bedrooms and a bathroom.

There is also an artist's studio

The extension's gabled form mirrors the profile of the original concrete structure, while its homogenous, corrugated-metal cladding distinguishes it as a new addition.

A staircase positioned in one corner of the building ascends to the sitting room, which is lined with a row of windows looking out across the beach and the fjord beyond.

This mezzanine space overlooks the dining area below, which is flanked by a large opening in the original gable that once allowed hay to be hoisted into the barn.

The muted palette used upstairs is informed by local vernacular interiors, and includes walls and flooring covered with white-stained pine boards.

Stained birch plywood lines the walls

Various reclaimed materials are used throughout the project, including plywood handrails on the first floor made using offcuts from the ground-floor cladding.

Outdoor furniture was produced using concrete salvaged from the new openings created in the existing walls, while all the internal doors, as well as the bathroom sink, were sourced from a recycling centre in Reykjavik.

The dining area is flanked by a large opening

Studio Bua was founded in 2017 by Mark Smyth, Sigrún Sumarliðadóttir and Giambattista Zaccariotto.

The studio's name derives from the Icelandic word for "inhabit" and its architectural approach focuses on elevating everyday spaces through a combination of craftsmanship, technology and a hands-on approach to design and construction. The team also renovated a guesthouse in the same part of Iceland as the holiday home.

The photography is byMarino Thorlacius.

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#residential #all #architecture #iceland #houses #studios #culturalbuildings #adaptivereuse #studiobua

Wisconsin train station becomes The Harvey House restaurant by Home Studios

Brooklyn-based Home Studios has turned a former rail baggage handlers' building in Madison into dining spaces that evoke "the golden age of train travel".

Hidden behind an old train depot in the Wisconsin capital, The Harvey House is a 5,000-square-foot restaurant that nods to the Midwestern state's supper club culture of the 1930s and 40s.

The Harvey House occupies a two-storey baggage claim building at the old Madison train station

American cuisine is served over two levels of the old baggage claim house, each with its own bar, which Home Studios renovated with the building's history in mind.

Additional dining spaces are located in a glass-enclosed area on one of the shuttered station's platforms, and in a 1960s train car that sits on the tracks.

Home Studio retained many of the original features

Many of the building's original features were retained, including ceiling beams, windows, and the station's sliding wood doors.

The brickwork and dark green window trims guided the colour and material palette for the project, which includes dark woods and tactile upholstery, as well as custom millwork and commissioned artworks.

"Home Studios' primary design goal for The Harvey House was to create a warm and inviting restaurant that marries the familiar comfort of a Wisconsin supper club with a uniquely transportive experience evocative of the golden age of train travel," said the studio.

The restaurant includes a dining area on the former station platform

In the downstairs dining room, patrons can watch the chefs at work through a large opening to the kitchen. Wooden banquettes are cushioned with upholstered backs and seats in various tones of green.

Custom light fixtures reference those found in Paris metro stations, giving off a soft glow that adds to the moody ambience.

An open doorway leads through to the platform patio area, where black benches and rattan chairs accompany marble-topped tables.

Planting, string lights and vintage rugs give this space a more casual feel.

The decommissioned train carriage can be seen through the glass wall that runs parallel to the tracks.

Works by a local artist decorate panels behind the upstairs bar and its equivalent on the floor below

Upstairs, light-brown leather seating and teal bar stools continue the colour palette found below.

The almost symmetrical layout includes wood and glass partitions that delineate different dining areas.

Wood and glass partitions divide the upstairs dining areas

Behind both of the restaurant's bars are works by local artist Jessica Niello-White, created specifically for The Harvey House.

Placed above the liquor selves and in the flanking arches, her images are based on scenes of the Wisconsin countryside as they might be seen from a train window.

The converted train car can also be seen behind the host stand at the entrance

Home Studios was founded by former book editor Oliver Haslegrave in 2009, with a focus on residential and hospitality interiors.

Previously completed projects include a cocktail bar in West Hollywood and an apartment in Manhattan, while the studio's range of collectible furniture and lighting debuted at Sight Unseen Offsite in 2017.

Photography is byNicole Franzen.

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#restaurantsandbars #all #interiors #usa #restaurants #renovations #wisconsin #adaptivereuse #homestudios

Historic Palacio Pereira in Santiago turned into Chile's Ministry of Culture

Architects Cecilia Puga, Paula Velasco and Alberto Moletto have restored Santiago's Palacio Pereira, an abandoned 19th-century neoclassical mansion, turning it into offices where Chile's new constitution will be written.

The building, which was designed in the mid 1800s by French architect Lucien Hénault is now the headquarters for the country's Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage.

The mansion was built in the neoclassical style by French architect Lucien Hénault

Cecilia Puga and Paula Velasco, who collaborate in a partnership, worked with Moletto Arquitectos founder Alberto Moletto on the project.

The trio of Santiago-based architects, led by Puga, won the competition to renovate the building in 2012.

The building is now offices for Chile's government

Instead of restoring the building to an exact copy of its original state, the architects added contemporary additions to places where the historic building had crumbled away .

"The project's material strategy sought to draw attention to the complexity of inhabiting such a structure," said the architects.

"Prioritizing neither the new intervention nor the character of the elegant wreckage of the Palacio Pereira."

A bronze helical staircase connects floors where the original mezzanine level collapsed

A complex grid of concrete pillars restores the shape of the original courtyard where the building had been partially demolished.

The courtyard originally separated the family rooms from the services areas when the building was a grand house. Now levels of offices with floor-to-ceiling glazing look out through the concrete pillars onto the courtyard.

Contemporary additions have restored the form of the original courtyard

"Given the collapse of original mezzanines in many areas of the building, such as the ones destinated to be a public cafeteria and book store, we let the fabric of the building exposed and in full height without rebuilding ceilings or covering surfaces," added the architects.

In these areas, the 15-metre-high ceilings have been accentuated by a pair of helical staircases clad in bronze.

Throughout its lifetime the building suffered damage in earthquakes and after the 1973 coup d'état.

When it was designated a national monument in 1981 it was already in a state of disrepair that worsened over decades of abandonment

Pillars replace walls that had crumbled or been demolished

Palacio Pereira was bought by the government in 2011 and it launched a competition to restore and convert the mansion into offices for the culture ministry.

The offices will be one of the venues for Chile's Constitutional Convention, where a new constitution will be written for the country following protests and riots that began in October 2019.

Chile's new convention will be written in the Palacio Pereira

Local photographer Cristobal Palma documented the city's boarded-up streets during this period of unrest in a photo essay for Dezeen.

More historic buildings given a new lease of life in the city include a 1930s mansion that's now a fintech startup's offices and an abandoned public education building that's been turned into a family health centre.

Photography is by Cristobal Palma.

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Project credits:

Team leader: Cecilia Puga

Architects : Cecilia Puga, Paula Velasco, Alberto Moletto

Restauration consultants : Alan Chandler, Fernando Pérez, Luis Cercós

Structural engineer: Pedro Bartolomé, Cristian Sandoval

Collaborating architects : Sebastián Paredes, Osvaldo Larrain, Emile Straub, Danilo Lazcano

Video and images : Gabriela Villalobos, Rebecca Emmons

Physical models : Alejandro Luer, Francisca Navarro

Signage project: Gonzalo Puga, Claudio Cornejo

Interior design: Alexandra Edwards, Carolina Delpiano

Light project : Neftali Garrido, Alejandra Jobet, Silk-screened Ceilings, Pascal Chautard

Photographic register: Felipe Fontecilla

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#all #architecture #cultural #restorations #cristobalpalma #chile #santiago #adaptivereuse #governmentbuildings #offices