January 2021 Issue - Designer Magazine

THE DESIGN TRENDS ISSUE JANUARY 2021 245

designer CHANGING SPACES How our home and work environments are adapting to a new way of living

NEW HORIZONS Creative directions for the year ahead

INDUSTRY LEADER Bringing a vision of industrial style to life

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INSPIRING PROJECT CREATIVITY 15/12/2020 21:24

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE JANUARY 2021 / ISSUE 245

Welcome to the January issue of Designer, and indeed a Happy New Year! Usually, this would be the time and place in which I would talk about some of the exciting design trends that await us as we start another year. Of course, we have found plenty of space and thinking time to address that in this issue, but the difference this time around is the all-encompassing backdrop of uncertainty.

COVID-19 restrictions continue to affect the way in which all of us work – changing processes for manufacturers, online rather than site visits where possible for designers and architects, limited (or curtailed) opening hours for showrooms, and a switch to working from home on a huge scale across all industries.

Among the few positives to come out of the challenge that was last year, has been the rapid advancement of work and technological changes that were otherwise inevitable in the longer term anyway. For example, the adoption of remote working and communication via online meetings was starting to happen, but the pace of change was slow and steady. The pandemic pushed through new ways of thinking because there was no other choice – necessity is the mother of invention.

The one thing that has really characterised the creative sector during a year that was remarkable for all the wrong reasons, has been its positivity in the face of adversity. This ethos will be needed into 2021 for sure, but will be accompanied by a fair degree of confidence that the next 12 months will be an awful lot better than the last.

M ar t in Martin Allen-Smith Editor, Designer

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e: martin@thedsgroup.co.uk w: designerati.co.uk

@designeratiUK designeratiUK @designeratiUK

SOCIAL

There are new opportunities too, since it is almost always design that is tasked with tackling and ultimately solving many of life’s practical problems.

For many in our industry, this means dreaming up ideas for improving our very new ‘hybrid’ home/ office work life which, although brought about by the pandemic, is certain to be here for good. But beyond that, homes, shops, offices, and public spaces will all be re-imagined over the coming months and years as a legacy of 2020.

designerati

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE JANUARY 2021 / ISSUE 245

CONTENTS 20

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46 08 SOURCE Our monthly round-up of the people, products and events that matter from across the design sector 14 DESIGN TRENDS 2021 Some of the biggest creative considerations for the year ahead 20 INDUSTRY LEADER Industrial style can take many forms, but few projects embrace its aesthetic potential quite as well as this Cheshire kitchen 24 A GREENER FUTURE A bold new concept design explores the possibilities of incorporating biophilic architectural principles into large-scale urban developments

28 NEW DIMENSIONS Space planning and subtle styling were the key ingredients in ensuring that this new office meets the current and future needs of a growing business 32 HIGH IDEALS Architect Tony Trifiletti on a childhood fascination with skyscrapers that has led to an illustrious and wide-ranging international career 36 MAKING A DIFFERENCE Some of last year’s most important creations are showcased in the Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition at London’s Design Museum

40 NATURAL HARMONY Providing the right flooring for a high-end shared workplace required a hard-wearing yet stylish wood option 46 THE HIGH LIFE Tying luxury living with sustainability, a new residential development designed by Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel aims to take things to the next level 50 EXIT The tech solution to purifying the air that we breath

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WALDRON TABLE, DESIGN SEAN DARE. TOR STACKING CHAIR, DESIGN DAVID IRWIN.

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE JANUARY 2021 / ISSUE 245

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EDITORIAL EDITOR MARTIN ALLEN-SMITH martin@thedsgroup.co.uk CONTRIBUTOR HELEN PARTON PUBLISHING PUBLISHING DIRECTOR CLARA DEEKS clara@thedsgroup.co.uk MANAGING DIRECTOR ALLISTAIR HUNTER OPERATIONS DIRECTOR TRACY MEAD ADVERTISING PORTFOLIO MANAGER STUART SINCLAIR stuart@thedsgroup.co.uk SALES EXECUTIVE LAUREN MUNSON lauren@thedsgroup.co.uk

MARTIN ALLEN-SMITH

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DOM LITTLER

STUART SINCLAIR

MARKETING CREATIVE MARKETING MANAGER DOM LITTLER dom@thedsgroup.co.uk PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR LEE THOMAS GRAPHIC DESIGNER BEN EMMERSON PRINT SALES MANAGER DAVID GILBERT ACCOUNTS FINANCE DIRECTOR CHRIS CORKE accounts@thedsgroup.co.uk SUBSCRIPTIONS SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER DONNA FENNELL ADMINISTRATOR KIM BLACK

Designer Magazine is published monthly by The DS Group 7 Faraday Close, Oakwood Industrial Estate, Clacton-On-Sea, Essex CO15 4TR thedsgroup.co.uk Tel: 020 3538 0268

To subscribe email subscriptions@thedsgroup.co.uk or phone 020 3538 0268. Only those who meet the terms of our controlled circulation are eligible to receive a free copy of Designer Magazine. If you do not reach the criteria, subscription rates are UK £35, Europe £70, Worldwide £115

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Perfectly Poised

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE JANUARY 2021

designerati.co.uk Poise by Bisley is part of the company’s new Belong collection, created to help blend the boundaries between the traditional office and homeworking environments. Consisting of a variety of desking and table options, the furniture can be used as standalone pieces or placed together to form a cohesive office setting.

The desk, task table, sideboard and coffee table all feature angled shapes as well as wood and steel finishing.

William Knight, Designer of the Poise Collection, said: “Having worked at Bisley for nine years, this project was something different to the day-today I’m used to but I enjoyed it. Being able to collaborate with different departments across the business while utilising the capabilities we have in the factory was great to see.

Our factory is geared up to work in a certain way, so it was a challenge tweaking the designs to make sure our proposal could become a reality.

“Moving forward, I think there will be developments in the way workplaces are designed and researched to find out if the balance of home working brings out the best in people in their new working environments.”

Bisley / bisley.co.uk

ART OF GLASS Designed especially for wet places such as kitchens, bathrooms and the interiors of showers, glass wallpaper is made from ultra-thin special fibre glass yarn, obtained by fusion at a temperature of 1400°. The fibres produced in this way maintain the chemical and physical properties of glass but in fabric form and the finished result is flameproof, with an embossed surface like a slub fabric.

Pictured above is Nuts by Valeria Zaltron and (top) Moirage by Laura Pozzi for London Art and Go Modern

Go Modern / gomodern.co.uk

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE JANUARY 2021

Distinctive Elegance The Ming washbasin from Kaldewei is inspired by Asian design influences with a shape suited to both traditional and contemporary design environments. Made of steel enamel, it is available in four different colours – lava black matt, polished black, alpine white, and alpine white matt.

Kaldewei / kaldewei.co.uk

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE JANUARY 2021

GO WITH THE FLOW

Silenzio is a striking Corian basin designed to integrate seamlessly with the wall and intended to visually represent a cut of light. It is available with or without LED lighting, and is completed with a separate wall-mounted basin mixer and polished edged 5mm thick mirror which can be mounted horizontally or vertically.

Available in the UK from Bathroom Design Studio London, the basin is designed and manufactured by Antonio Lupi in Italy.

Bathroom Design Studio London / bathroomdesignstudio.co.uk

Plastic Fantastic

New from designer Jasper Morrison is the EVO-C chair. Created for Swiss brand Vitra, the design is a fresh look at the classic cantilever chair in the material of plastic. Thanks to today’s gas injection moulding technology, plastic structures can achieve the strength and rigidity of cantilevered tubular steel constructions, with a load-bearing structure formed by hollow tube-like components that flow into the planar surfaces of the seat and back.

Morrison’s aim for the design was to eliminate all superfluous details, with a shape determined by the factors for achieving stability and comfort. The use of a single material gives EVO-C a cohesive appearance and the look of a two-legged sculpture when not in use.

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Vitra / vitra.com

15/12/2020 21:32

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MORE THAN A SURFACE

The new innovative design is available in many

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE DESIGN TRENDS 2021

Wellness and the Human Connection

The Myers Touch / themyerstouch.co.uk

‘Connectivity’ is a strong theme – families want to increase the connectivity and communication with each other, and at the same time connect with their surrounding environment to create more harmonious spaces.

Clever internal zoning within the kitchen living space enables the right amount of separation mixed with the right amount of togetherness.

For example, choosing Wild Oak laminate cabinetry within a customer’s beach house (pictured) increased the connectivity with the raw coastal landscape of its exterior. The natural rawness of the Wild Oak wood was beautifully complimented with the mid grey tones of the concrete island pendants, darker stone flooring and contemporary interior scheme. The scheme zoning allowed the family to eat, dine

and relax together in one space throughout the day.

Helena Myers, Director at Winchester-based kitchen specialists The Myers Touch, said: “Our design ethos is grounded in creating kitchens with ‘Light, Space and Laughter’.

We ensure each of our designs enrich household relationships and quality of life through efficiency, functionality and beauty.”

On the Horizon The past year has focused attention more than ever before on the spaces we inhabit both at home and at work. We assess some of the underlying trends that are likely to impact on projects during 2021…

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE DESIGN TRENDS 2021

Photography: Kate Eyre Garden Design

Out in the Open

Houzz says that homeowners have increasingly been searching for ‘summerhouses’, ‘firepits’, ‘hot tubs’ and ‘outdoor kitchens’, which have all risen in popularity as search terms this year and suggests a steady rise in such purchases over the coming months.

And it’s not just for the summer months – professionals on Houzz report an increase in demand for designs that will extend the garden’s use later into the evening and year, particularly dining outdoors, with pizza ovens a popular request for 2021.

Houzz / houzz.co.uk

Colour Complements

Pantone has selected a pairing for its 2021 Colour of the Year. Ultimate Gray and Illuminating are the dual choice intended to be a combination to evoke both feelings of thoughtfulness and the optimism of a sunshine-filled day.

Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Colour Institute, said: “The selection of two independent colours highlight how different elements come together to express a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting.

Trends.indd 15

Health Centre

Photography: Mia Mortensen

Unsurprisingly, given the restrictions in place over the summer, there is increased interest in making the most of outdoor spaces. A survey by home design website Houzz showed that the garden was the area that is most earmarked for improvement, with 30% of those surveyed wanting to make upgrades.

Houzz reports an increase in homeowners searching for ‘home gym’ and ‘garden gym’ ideas, which have both risen dramatically in popularity this year. In 2021, expect to see more exercise equipment designed to fit seamlessly into interiors or furniture that doubles up. Houzz suggests we may even see pieces that have stain-resistant, waterproof, warming or anti-odour properties coming to the market.

The union of an enduring Ultimate Gray with the vibrant yellow Illuminating expresses a message of positivity supported by fortitude.”

Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Colour Institute, added: “The Pantone Colour of the Year reflects what is taking place in our global culture, expressing what people are looking for that colour can hope to answer. As society continues to recognise colour as a critical form of communication, and a way to symbolise thoughts and ideas, many designers and brands are embracing the language of colour to engage and connect.”

Pantone / pantone.com

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE DESIGN TRENDS 2021

Multi-functional Homes

“With the trend to ‘work from home’ set to continue and grow further in 2021, it is vital that our homes are multifunctional,” says Marketa Rypacek, Managing Director of lighting specialist Industville. “This means not only being practical for working life but still maintaining an atmosphere where people can relax and switch off at the end of the day. This will involve flexible layouts and improved technology for everything from heating and lighting to security. The homes of the future are going from smart to intelligent.”

Rypacek adds that socioeconomic factors will also continue to influence consumer choices and the buying process as a whole, with customers rejecting low priced and low-quality goods in favour of products that will last longer, do not hurt the environment and which they are proud to own.

“Perhaps one positive to come out of the pandemic is that we have all had the chance to re-assess how we live and what we buy,” she adds. “People are more concerned over how their products are made, choosing more sustainable, natural and eco-friendly goods from companies they trust. I believe we will see a huge trend for sustainability in 2021, with people keen to save energy and use natural materials wherever possible. Where lighting is concerned this means using energy saving bulbs with good quality lights that will stand the test of time.”

Best of Both Worlds

Versatility is the watchword in both home and office as the long-term use of both spaces evolves over the coming months.

USM’s Haller modular furniture is an example of products designed to be well-suited to double-up as aesthetically-pleasing furniture in the home as well as offering practical work functionality as needed. It can be configured as credenzas, book cases, bed-side tables or even used as room dividers. It can also later be reconfigured as requirements change.

Pictured is a modern twist on a classic bureau, suitable for creating a modern area for working from home with both practical storage and subtle design for when it is not in use.

USM / usm.com

Sleek Cone Pendant light by Industville (photo supplied by Jade Grayson)

Industville / industville.co.uk

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Contrasting Schemes

Where previously a sea of white tiles and sanitaryware would have been commonplace throughout the bathroom, a new trend of contrasting colours, patterns and finishes is continuing to grow in popularity.

This includes combining angular, industrial elements with natural, earthy textures, as individuals look to create a relaxing and tranquil space that is still reflective of current trends.

Martin Walker, CEO of Methven, said: “This is being achieved by creating walk in showers with natural effect tiles, such as wood, while combining with striking showers and taps. The addition of highlight colours, such as pastel pink sinks or baths, is also creating a real distinction between botanical influenced tiles and wallpaper.�

Methven / methven.com/uk

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Green Solutions

As 2020 has shifted priorities for many, there is potential to refocus on key objectives for 2021, raising hopes that this could include a concerted effort on achieving a green recovery. With the built environment collectively accountable for around 40% of Britain’s carbon emissions, there remains much to do as an industry if the UK’s new ambitious NDC target – to cut the country’s carbon emissions by 68% by 2030 – is to be reached.

Jon Khoo, Head of Sustainability (EAAA) at flooring specialist Interface, said: “In 2021, we should be inspiring and empowering designers to leverage their influence to respond to the climate emergency by focusing on carbon. By learning about carbon footprints and developing protocols to specify products with the lowest carbon footprint, we can build more responsibly in a postpandemic world and support the fight against climate change.”

“Designers will increasingly be looking into suppliers who can provide carbon neutral and carbon negative products. We want to support these efforts and help to minimise the carbon footprint of commercial spaces, and that is what inspired Interface’s newest innovation CQuestBio. The revolutionary new bio-based backing incorporates carbon negative materials in the backing compound – reducing the product’s carbon footprint by around a third. It is available as standard on 11 of our flooring collections, totalling 46 products, including the newly launched NY+LON Streets.”

To further inspire architects, designers, and those looking to build more responsibly, Interface has launched a new podcast – Designing with Climate in Mind – with the aim of helping the design community get closer to key climate issues and explore solutions from both within and beyond architecture and the built environment. The 10-part series features leading thinkers and doers from across the design and climate world, each sharing their unique perspectives on climate change. Guests so far have included, climate scientist, Dr Ella Gilbert, expert in biophilic design, Oliver Heath, Richard Walker, Managing Director of Iceland, and Michael Pawlyn, founder of Exploration Architecture and co-founder of Architects Declare.

Interface / interface.com

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE KITCHEN DESIGN

Industry Leader Industrial style can take many forms, but few projects embrace its aesthetic potential quite as well as this Cheshire kitchen

Bespoke cabinetry in oak and brass by Hetherington Newman

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE KITCHEN DESIGN

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE KITCHEN DESIGN

The extractor is a bespoke island hood designed specifically for intense cooking and is tailored to how the cook likes to use their equipment. This includes a very large vaulted fume catchment area inside the body of the hood to ensure that no fumes spill out into the room.

The hood – designed by Mike Fetherston of Hetherington Newman and made by Huddersfield-based Westin – is suspended from the ceiling on suspension rods to help deliver industrial chic style throughout the project, so the usual chimney was replaced by complimentary exposed galvanised ducting which ran for nine metres to a flat roof, where a powerful external motor was sited to power the system.

Westin / westin.co.uk

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE KITCHEN DESIGN

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hile at first glance, this may look like an ambitious conversion of a former factory building, this kitchen is in fact within a new build house in Cheshire. The design

by Mike Fetherston, Design Director at Hetherington Newman, has a raw industrial feel, helped with the use of unfinished steel, with welding marks exposed to give a very edgy, industrial look. The suspended shelves above the island have a mesh base, while the wall shelves above the coffee station are in sandblasted oak that has been silvered to give a weathered effect.

The main furniture is finished in veneered oak that was machined to create a tongue and groove effect, then sandblasted to a rough texture and finally stained to look like burnt timber. The island table, and the shadow-gaps above the cabinet drawers, are made from a solid core material clad in brass sheeting with an aged patina. The brass table top is the same depth as the shadowgap so that it appears to run right through the island.

The clients love the industrial feel of Mercury’s stainless steel dual fuel cooker. The extractor is a bespoke design that the designer drew and was manufactured by Westin cooker hoods. The exposed ducting adds to the industrial feel and is connected to a very powerful external motor.

The worktops are pre-cast concrete, which required seriously precise templating before they even got the units in place. The concrete is 10cm thick, so the designers also had to do a lot of calculations to get the standard-size appliances and sinks to fit. Nothing in the kitchen was standard or straightforward in this stunning and unique space.

Hetherington Newman / handesign.co.uk

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Top The project features polished concrete and aged brass worktops

by Hetherington Newman, along with Pozzolana 80cm x 80cm cement floor tiles in Grigio Vibrato from Casa Ceramica Centre Appliances within the kitchen include a Mercury 1200 dual fuel range cooker, bespoke extractor designed by Hetherington Newman and made by Westin, and integrated refrigerator, freezer, wine storage and dishwasher, all by Gaggenau Bottom The kitchen spec included the ELV01 Elan Vital deck mounted 3-hole basin set in gunmetal from The Watermark Collection, Quooker’s Fusion Square Pro3 VAQ tap with boiling water, in polished chrome, and two KBX stainless steel sinks from Franke

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE BIOPHILIC DESIGN

A Greener Future A bold new concept design explores the possibilities of incorporating biophilic architectural principles into large-scale urban developments

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE BIOPHILIC DESIGN

T

he need for healthy homes has hardly ever been more apparent than during the current global pandemic. The current efforts to reduce the negative impacts of buildings all too often fall short, suggesting that the built environment needs to be designed in a different way. To bring regenerative collective habitation to all scales of development, Amsterdam architecture practice GG-loop, working with Arup, is developing Mitosis, a modular building system created by a parametric design tool following biophilic and user-centric design principles.

GG-loop’s goal is to develop an architectural solution that ‘gives back’ to the planet and can serve as a benchmark for the real estate and urban development sector. Mitosis’ vision is to deepen the understanding of its relationship with nature, to raise awareness and sensitize both professionals and the general public regarding the importance of biophilic architecture as an answer to the current climate condition.

Giacomo Garziano, Founder of GG-loop, said: “Mitosis aims to support the daily uses and the tasks of the inhabitants, in order to promote direct and indirect contact with nature. We aim to generate a healthy, emotional, and productive habitat for rest, work, and living at 360° with nature.”

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE BIOPHILIC DESIGN

Mitosis is the follow-up to a pilot project completed by GG-loop in 2019 – Freebooter, in which a pair of prefabricated CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) apartments in Amsterdam were wrapped in a parametric timber louvered facade. The building was created using biophilic principles, connecting architecture with nature in order to improve the quality of life for the people who use the building.

GG-loop’s ambition to bring these qualities on an altogether larger scale has resulted in Mitosis.

The name refers to the biological process of a single cell dividing itself into two identical daughter cells. It represents the modularity and the long-term adaptation of the system and serves as a metaphor for a flexible co-living organism where each residential unit coexists alongside the others and its environment.

Scaling up biophilic design

The Biophilia Hypothesis by Edward O. Wilson reveals why humans have an intrinsic need to connect with nature and other living systems.

Mitosis adopts the 14 principles of biophilic design and focuses on the relationships between nature, human biology, and the design of the built environment. It attempts to build an ecosystem where dwellers experience a unique way of living and fulfill their innate desire to reconnect with nature. Through green shared areas, tiny forests, and gardens that cascade up and down the building, residents can benefit from the direct and indirect connection with nature. Health and well-being are fostered through careful material choices, flexible layouts, organic interiors, and large outdoor spaces. Garziano said: “Our vision goes further than the integration of just green systems, but rather creates a built environment that restores and nurtures its

surroundings, and that serves as a catalyst for positive change.”

The project seeks to create urban clusters using prefabricated timber and bio-based modules that are cost-efficient and flexible in their construction. By choosing materials that capture carbon and using resources more efficiently, Mitosis constructs a net-positive built environment that produces more energy than it consumes and uses resources in a circular way.

The distinctive rhomboid shape of the individual design modules is integral to the functionality of Mitosis. Stacking these modules creates large areas for shared outdoor living, with each unit having at least one terrace. Vertical connections are placed externally to connect the units and terraces, creating a continuous ribbon of outdoor ‘cloister-like’ spaces, intended to encourage a sense of openness, belonging, protection, and privacy for residents.

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE BIOPHILIC DESIGN

Harmonious living

The construction is also organic and flexible, providing large areas of urban and vertical farming, greenhouses, wildlife corridors, and integration of habitat creation, that encourage shared outdoor activities among residents.

Mitosis also integrates plant and animal life throughout the buildings, allowing its dwellers to coexist with the biodiversity of local flora and fauna. It is designed to co-evolve with its surroundings, by recreating ecosystems appropriate to the climate, site, and residents, with the intention that it can facilitate the conservation and improvement of the biodiversity that exists on the site.

Garziano said: “We are part of nature in a deep and fundamental way, but in our modern lives we’ve lost that connection. In addition to the technical benefits of acoustics improvement, CO2, and urban heat reduction, being in direct contact with nature has proven to improve physical and mental health and overall well-being.”

GG-loop / gg-loop.com

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE COMMERCIAL INTERIORS

New Dimensions Space planning and subtle styling were the key ingredients in ensuring that this new office meets the current and future needs of a growing business… 60 28

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE COMMERCIAL INTERIORS

A

Photography: Franklin + Franklin

ccountancy and business advisory firm Foxley Kingham marked its 50th year in business in 2019 with a move to new larger premises.

The firm’s new home needed to incorporate better facilities, offer room for expansion and provide increased car-parking spaces for staff. The perfect site, which also needed to be local, was located in the form of purpose-built, selfcontained offices on the outskirts of Luton. The standalone building, built in the early 2000s, offered a two-storey footprint with plenty of room for growth – enough in fact for the company to double in size in the longer run from its current 60-strong headcount.

The company had expanded with several new arms to its business so it needed to bring all of these together in a seamless way within the new building. It appointed workspace specialists Align to oversee the design. “The new premises necessitated both Cat A and Cat B works in order for it to function as the client required,” said Align Director and Co-founder Nigel Tresise. “The Cat A work we

oversaw on the project included a complete overhaul of the building’s electrical systems, including underfloor power and data, as well as new lighting and mechanical ventilation, a new roof covering and a cleaned-up external façade.”

Space-planning formed a major element of the redesign, ensuring future in-built flexibility not only for potential growth, but to incorporate archive storage space, as the traditionally paper-heavy company continues its migration towards reduced use of paper. The new space-plan for the 12,500 sq ft building includes a new front-ofhouse and reception area, five small meeting rooms, four individual offices for partners, a tea-point, post-room and several areas of open desking on the ground floor. The first floor, meanwhile, incorporates a large kitchen/break-out space, the main boardroom, a training room and furniture store, further partner offices and a large expanse of openplan desking, including desks for future expansion.

“Our main challenge when it came to the design scheme was that the building is fairly long and narrow,”

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE COMMERCIAL INTERIORS

said Tresise. “Our scheme was all about countering that impression as far as possible by adding a variety of sightlines, whilst also working with some of the existing divisions of space, plus other new interventions.

We removed a number of preexisting divisions, especially in the ground floor area between the existing stair and lobby, to create a cohesive and connected arrival area.

The idea was that whether you’re arriving for a meeting, a training day or your ordinary workday, the journey to your destination would be simple and self-evident.”

The design brief from Foxley Kingham was to balance the company’s discreet, understated, confidential and to some degree segmented way of working with a new contemporary, pared-back and elegant materiality. This resulted in exposed services and untreated concrete columns, as well as back-painted glass and slick and angular black aluminium frameworks. A calming

overall colour palette was employed for the scheme, with a neutral base of blacks, whites and greys, together with putty and olive green highlights.

The furniture is a mix of new and vintage, with all new items supplied by Broadbase, including items by Hitch Mylius, Ocee, Vitra, Muuto, Orangebox and Naughtone.

Flooring is a mix of timber-effect vinyl and dark grey carpeting, with more patterned feature carpets used for the meeting and board rooms, sourced variously from Interface, Shaw Carpets and Forbo. The lighting scheme includes feature pendants and LED linear strips, which add to and accentuate the scheme’s clean lines.

Wallcoverings follow a geometric theme for the most part, featuring the W1-W5 papers from Tektura, with some additional nature-inspired papers used in the meeting spaces, featuring birds, flowers and trees

by Tektura Digital and Cole & Son, which help to bring the outside in.

Planting is integrated throughout.

Align / aligngb.com

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“Space-planning formed a major element of the redesign, ensuring future in-built flexibility”

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE INTERVIEW – TONY TRIFILETTI

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rchitect Tony Trifiletti is no stranger to big projects, having worked on some of the world’s tallest buildings. After graduating from Kent University 20 years ago, he joined the London offices of Skidmore Owings & Merrill before being appointed to the firm’s Chicago office to work on the design and construction documentation for London’s Broadgate Tower & 201 Bishopsgate (awarded Best Tall Building Europe 2009).

He returned as resident site architect for the project throughout its construction to completion and tenant occupancy.

Trifiletti spent six years with supertall building expert Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in Chicago, including a three-year stint in Dubai as its Middle Eastern representative for projects including the Masdar Headquarters building in Abu Dhabi, The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia (the world’s first kilometre-high building) and the Burj Khalifa Gatehouses in Dubai.

He then joined Adamson Associates International where he held the position of resident architect for The Shard in London, providing technical support and guidance to construction and facilities management teams as well as architectural services for associated design enhancement projects.

DESIGNER: What made you want to become an architect and was it your first choice of career?

Tony Trifiletti: From memory, I was aged eight when I discovered my passion for drawing buildings.

Growing up, I always held a fascination for various things in built form around me, even a simple shadow or beam of sunlight cast by the form of a building. I felt destined to pursue this as a career, even despite learning of the lengthy education route to becoming a qualified architect.

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Coleman Anderson Architects Associate Director Tony Trifiletti

High Ideals

Architect Tony Trifiletti on a childhood fascination with skyscrapers that has led to an illustrious and wide-ranging international career

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This project by Coleman Anderson Architects features an elegant extension clad in Shuo Sugi Ban timber

DESIGNER: During your time working as resident architect for London’s Broadgate Tower & 201 Bishopsgate, what were the main challenges, how did you overcome them, and how did you feel when it was awarded Best Tall Building Europe 2009?

Trifiletti: It had always been an ambition of mine to live and work abroad, which was part of the reason I joined the international firm, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in London after graduating in 2000.

Just a couple of years into my career, an opportunity came up for me to transfer to the Chicago offices to work on the design development and construction drawings for this project and, thereafter, return to London with the construction drawings in hand, ready to see the project through construction.

The construction phase presented a range of challenges – many were linked to the fact that the buildings were constructed on a raft and structural A Frame, above live train lines running to and from Liverpool Street Station. For example, antivibration details feature throughout the entire lower levels of the

buildings, to ensure that the smallest of vibrations from passing trains do not travel upwards into the building.

Challenges, as always on a highprofile, fast-paced construction project, required the ability to assess site issues and quite often develop solutions on the spot. Whether this is a simple sketch detail, or judgement of an as-built condition meeting SOM’s standards in terms of design intent and workmanship.

I was incredibly proud to have played a significant part in a building which was then recognised as Europe’s best tall building in 2009. I was then equally as thrilled during a trip to the cinema to watch James Bond Skyfall, to discover that Broadgate Tower featured in the film, even if it was representing a skyscraper in Shanghai!

DESIGNER: You’ve made quite a name for yourself as a result of the supertall buildings you have worked on. What is it that you enjoy most about working on this type of project and have you always held a fascination for skyscrapers?

Trifiletti: Working on a skyscraper always involves a hugely collaborative process, working with

experts in the field from all different backgrounds. It is this sense of team spirit, transferring of knowledge, ideas and solutions which makes the process so enjoyable. We would all share one goal to create a beautiful iconic building that would enrich people’s lives. Despite growing up in a small village in Surrey, I have always had a fascination for skyscrapers from an early age!

DESIGNER: The vision was to create an architecturally structural vertical city – as resident architect for post-completion works at The Shard, what did you learn most from holding this position?

Trifiletti: Ultimately, this position provided me with a great insight into the daily logistics of a mixeduse building. I worked very closely with the teams responsible for the daily running of The Shard, which required someone with knowledge of the technical documents describing the design and specifications.

I also regularly checked future tenant designs as more of the floors became occupied, to ensure technical compliance and to protect the identity of The Shard, so its external

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appearance and sense of transparency was consistent across each floor.

DESIGNER: What stage of the architectural process do you enjoy most, which type of project gives you the most job satisfaction and which single project are you most proud of?

Trifiletti: I particularly enjoy the technical detailing stage and I am meticulous about it. It is these critical details that need to be carefully considered and communicated to ensure that every project is executed to result in a finely crafted piece of architecture.

Whilst I am proud to have been part of the team on some of the world’s most recognisable buildings, the projects I’m most proud of now are much closer to home in Tunbridge Wells with Coleman Anderson Architects.

For example, we were approached to design a contemporary addition to a family home, which needed modernising to suit openplan family living and increase connectivity to the garden. The result was a clean, elegant extension clad in Shuo Sugi Ban timber

(charred timber cladding). Seeing the family enjoying their new space and seeing how the design has directly transformed their daily lives, is incredibly satisfying.

DESIGNER: In the post-Covid era, what do you think is the single biggest challenge for your industry?

Trifiletti: Not possibly the single biggest challenge, but a challenge that comes to mind – an increased level of innovation to address differing lifestyle patterns as a result of the pandemic. It is also likely that offsite construction methods, such as prefabricated units may increase in demand to reduce the amount of site labour.

DESIGNER: Before the pandemic, the main topic of discussion was sustainability – how ingrained is this in the mainstream architectural process and is there still a long way to go for the sector to fully embrace it?

Trifiletti: There are many architects that embrace sustainability but, truthfully, there is still a long way to go to drive this agenda into the mainstream architectural process.

Initiatives such as Architects Declare are set up to try and drive the sustainability agenda forward amongst architectural practices.

Architects need to be challenged to produce smart designs incorporating sustainable technologies and, above all, not be afraid to experiment.

DESIGNER: Looking back on a career spanning two decades, has it turned out how you envisaged as a student?

Trifiletti: When I started out helping my father to build our home extension aged 10, I did not envisage my career providing me with the opportunity to work on many of the world’s tallest buildings, including the world’s first kilometre-tall building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

As a student, I hadn’t envisaged that, just like an architect, there would be countless consultants who would join forces with me and share a common dream to make a building come alive. I even once had a meeting with a snow and ice specialist from Canada who developed tiny systems to avoid the build-up of snow and icicles on any ledges within the façade of a skyscraper!

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE DESIGNS OF THE YEAR

Left The Water Box Mobile Filtration System by Just Water and 501cThree Centre Stormzy’s stab-proof vest by Banksy Right The Station of Being by Rombout Frieling Lab and the Research Institute of Sweden

Making a Difference An exhibition at London’s Design Museum showcases game-changing creations from across the creative world

A

new exhibition at the Design Museum in London offers a chance to see a selection of nominees from the thirteenth edition of the Beazley Designs of the Year. The annual exhibition and awards features over 70 nominations across six categories: architecture; digital; fashion; graphics; product; and transport.

Nominated by a panel of distinguished international designers, curators, critics and the general public, the awards highlight some of the most impactful products and concepts from designers around the world.

Displayed through sketches, models, prototypes, videos and photography, visitors are guided through the nominations chronologically via a timeline offering a snapshot of the world through the lens of design.

Featuring leaps in scientific design with the first AI-designed living organism, the Xenobot, and the ‘Ooho’ plastic-free edible hydration capsules, the product category highlights leading designs to combat growing waste streams in homes and industries globally.

Nominations include a homecompostable bioplastic that can be safely consumed by wildlife;

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K-Briq by Habriela Medero and Samuel Chapman, made with 90% recycled material

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non-hazardous circuit chipboard that dissolves in hot water; the air pollution-reducing ‘Förändring’ homeware collection by IKEA; and Nike’s Zoom running trainer.

Architecture entries demonstrate how architects around the world have rapidly responded to complex social and environmental conditions. From an experimental low-income housing project in Mexico in line with the country’s nine climactic zones and the ‘ModSkool’ in India built to be easily dismantled following forced farmland evictions; to the Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan, China, which alerted the world to the imminent threat of COVID-19, constructed in only twelve days by 10,000 workers. The architecture category also features the set design for Oscar-winning South Korean film Parasite by Lee Ha Jun, where events unfold in two houses specially designed for the film.

Health and sanitisation are major themes in this year’s awards, as seen in the Water Box Mobile Filtration System supported by Jaden Smith, the world’s first reusable cotton swab, and a self-sanitising door handle.

From new forms of connection to bringing movement to a standstill, the transport section includes non-conventional innovations such as the brick arches developed by pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong to slow down police vehicles, a destination see-saw to promote connection between communities at the border between the US and Mexico known as the ‘Teeter-totter’ and a smart bus stop in Sweden, where the use of light and sound alerts travellers to the next bus.

Beazley Designs of the Year runs until 28 March at the Design Museum, London.

Above left Nike ZoomX Vaporfly NEXT% by Nike Sport Research Lab Above right Scrap Case by Nicole McLaughlin Left Self-sanitising Door Handle

by Sum Ming Wong and Kin Pong Li Below left Telfar Bag by Telfa Below Ok Glacier Memorial

The Design Museum / designmuseum.org 38

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2020

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE FLOORING

NATURAL HARMONY 40

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Providing the right flooring for a high-end shared workplace required a hard-wearing yet stylish wood option

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Havwoods has enhanced its commercial project portfolio with the completion of The Boutique Workplace’s Soho Office. Combining elegance with modern workspace design, 35 Soho Square required a wood flooring solution that would accentuate the colourful interior scheme, whilst creating a high-impact first impression.

Located in central London, the characterful building plays host to a stylish office, complete with floor length windows, high-ceilings and other period features. The design brief was to create a neutral scheme that would complement the eclectic furnishings, with Havwoods’ The Italian Collection chosen to provide the flooring foundation for the project.

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Selected for its natural beauty, the collection is inspired by the intricate floors of Italy and comprises narrower, thinner planks that allow for complex patterns and unique designs. This provided the designer with the freedom to experiment with the scale of the traditional square pattern parquet, with rich, warm tones of the Italian boards proving ideal for achieving the modern look desired by the client.

The end result is a striking and contemporary reception area, with eye-catching furnishings, playful neon lighting and beautiful parquet floor to add a luxury finishing touch to this boutique office space.

Havwoods / havwoods.com 44

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FINALIST 2020

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE RESIDENTIAL DESIGN

THE HIGH LIFE

Tying luxury living with sustainability, a new residential development designed by Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel aims to take things to the next level 60 46

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A

Photography: Studio Millspace

rchitecture and design firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel (ACPV) has completed the residential tower La Bella Vita in Taiwan. The 128m-high tower aims to integrate the character and identity of nearby Charlotte Park, and is located close to several department stores, civic buildings and cultural venues. The 33,000 sq m high-rise creates a new residential community in the commercial heart of the city, and aims to address the needs of street level areas with a series of retail spaces.

The tower is designed as a continuation of the surrounding public spaces. Through the artworks and the green landscape at the foot of the building, La Bella Vita’s ground floor as been designed to flow with the exterior areas. As ACPV’s design for the Treasure Garden residential tower in the same building block, La Bella Vita blends elements of an Italian approach with influences from the East.

The distinct identity of La Bella Vita is expressed by the composition of the building’s seemingly disjointed, yet complementary volumes. Four lower volumes of

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stacked balconies combine with the tallest 37-story amber volume that ties all building masses together.

“La Bella Vita creates a new quality of living in the city through a pragmatic and atemporal approach.

The use of cut stone and clean geometric shapes in the building’s interiors and exteriors creates a timeless quality,” said architect Patricia Viel, Co-founder of ACPV. With its core wrapped in a honeycomb-patterned window structure that breaks light and reflections, La Bella Vita bears a crystalline quality that sets it apart from neighbouring buildings. This tall central volume ties together the four residential volumes in a permeable structure that maps out an arrival sequence from the green landscape of the street level to the privacy of the 168 residential units.

Architect Antonio Citterio adds: “The design of La Bella Vita encourages practices of communal living by creating a series of liveable biospheres along the entire height of the tower. These three-story lobbies bring communities of residents together, creating multiple opportunities for exchange and encounter. The lower floors create a new infrastructure for co-living with the presence of shared areas such as the library, the gym, the pool, the dining and meeting rooms.”

The building’s architectural concept is mapped out by the clear separation between the shared and private areas of the residential tower.

Shared areas, vertical connections, technical and support spaces are located in the middle of the rectangular space enclosed by the four residential volumes, creating a central vertical core that emerges from the ground level and stretches to the tallest point of the building.

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Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel / citterio-viel.com

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE RESIDENTIAL DESIGN

FOCUS ON WELLBEING

Its architects say that La Bella Vita embeds a different approach to building design, putting the needs of the people who occupy it at the heart of the process. All elements were considered and curated with the wellbeing of residents in mind.

In the spirit of social sustainability, shared areas are conceived as a framework for interaction among residents and visitors. The tower features a vertical sequence of biospheres that gather around large indoor trees, fostering connections among groups of residents. The clear and long sightlines within the biospheres mirror the uninterrupted views of the surroundings from the large balconies of the residences.

“The vertical core of La Bella Vita is wrapped in an amber honeycomb structure that generates warm crystal reflections,” said Claudio Raviolo, partner at Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel. “This pattern lends a distinctly Milanese quality of fine living to the building.”

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DESIGNER MAGAZINE EXIT

EXIT

One last thing from this month’s magazine…

With wellness in the workplace as key today as it has ever been, one high-tech option looks to bring to bear the benefits of negative ions to help purify the air around us. The Bosse IONCloud generates pure air that has a direct positive effect on mental and physical well-being. The negative ions adhere to positively charged, harmful particles in the air to inactivate viruses, neutralise bacteria and render pollen, fungal spores, smoke particles and fine dust harmless.

The Bosse ION-Cloud draws inspiration from nature, where negative ions are responsible for the purity of the air and wellbeing which is why humans are drawn to the sea, mountains, waterfalls or countryside.

It can be configured in any pod or retrofitted, and in response to COVID-19, the product has undergone scientific studies into its effect on bacteria and viruses.

The tests were performed by Prof.

Dr. Uwe Truyen of Leipzig University who introduced viruses to the pod in aerosol form to make the testing as realistic as possible.

“The results of our test series were very impressive and have exceeded my expectations,” said Truyen. “It was possible to neutralise all viruses and bacteria and the quantity of pathogens in the test run was reduced by 95%.

The system is an effective tool to inactivate relevant viruses and bacteria in the indoor air.”

Welltek / welltek.co 50

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