Audio streaming service Spotify has opened a listening lounge at its London headquarters, featuring a bespoke speaker system and a material palette chosen to enhance the room's acoustic properties.

The Spotify Listening Lounge is a purpose-built acoustic space designed to provide an immersive setting for users to experience the company's lossless audio offering.

The facility was designed in collaboration with local studio Cake Architecture and features a bespoke sound system developed by London-based loudspeaker design studio Friendly Pressure.

Spotify claimed that the listening room aims to celebrate listening as a communal, intentional experience, with access granted to artists' top fans and Spotify Premium users.

"The Listening Lounge is where technology, craftsmanship and culture align," said the company's head of marketing for the UK and Ireland Billie Baier.

"By bringing lossless audio into a purpose-built environment, we're demonstrating the full potential of streaming and fostering a deeper connection between fans and the music they love."

The project follows a trend for listening bars and other audio-centred spaces, such as a pink monochrome bar in Sydney and a hi-fi bar in London designed to provide a range of acoustic experiences.

Guests are welcomed into a reception area featuring warm lighting, slate floors and steel details that help to create a threshold between the bustling urban setting and the intimate lounge space.

The main listening room utilises a palette of brown hues and tactile surfaces that recede into the background to focus attention on the raised, backlit sound system.

The room is simply furnished with plump, upholstered pieces from furniture brand Afra and designer Tobia Scarpa's Soriana collection.

"Collaborating with Spotify and Friendly Pressure allowed us to treat the room itself as an instrument," said Cake creative director Hugh Scott Moncrieff.

"Every surface pattern and material choice was a functional decision to eliminate interference, ensuring that the craftsmanship of the speakers is matched by the precision of the architecture surrounding them."

New York-based acoustician Ethan Bourdeau helped to refine the space's acoustic design, with each wall featuring a calibrated surface pattern that disperses frequencies evenly around the room.

The audio system used in the lounge was created by Shivas Howard-Brown of Friendly Pressure and features custom-made cabinets along with a frosted glass version of the brand's signature waveguide horn.

"Growing up in and around recording studios exposed me to a whole heritage of craft," Howard-Brown said.

"Sound systems built in sheds, speakers designed for carnival stacks – these have always had the same ambition as anything you'd find in a high-end listening room. This new space is my attempt to make that argument."

The speaker system references a golden era of British audio engineering, utilising components including Alnico magnet drivers that would have featured in the famous Abbey Road recording studio throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

The Spotify Listening Lounge launched with an event hosted by UK artists Joy Crookes, Nao and Yazmin Lacey and will host year-round programming for music fans.

In 2021, Spotify began redesigning its offices to give them a more homely feel, with a focus on improving acoustics and introducing softer, cosier spaces.

Cake Architecture's previous work includes the design of a wellness facility featuring a sauna for 65 people and a late-night restaurant designed to evoke the moody atmosphere of an Edward Hopper painting.

The photography is courtesy of Spotify.

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A sinuous curtain rail and bright-yellow carpeted islands help to define areas for testing products within this mattress store in Madrid, Spain, designed by local studio JotaJota+.

JotaJota+ directors Jorge Gabaldón and Javier Onrubia designed the 285-square-metre space for Colchón Exprés, which operates several stores selling mattresses from a variety of leading brands.

The interior of this store on Madrid's Calle Ribera de Curtidores is organised as a sequence of distinct environments that can be screened off so customers can try products as if in the privacy of their own home.

"Rather than a continuous retail floor, the space unfolds as a series of settings, allowing visitors to engage with the products in conditions closer to everyday life," the studio explained.

Customers enter through a bold yellow portal that lends the store a striking presence on the street. The company's signature colour is used as a recurring element that brings a sense of consistency to the interior.

Wood panelling extends around the store's perimeter, forming a uniform backdrop for headboards and signage relating to the different brands.

Mattresses are displayed on circular carpets placed on top of neutral, large-format porcelain tiles.

The yellow islands were designed to create intimate and clearly define spaces for the individual products.

Suspended tracks support sheer curtains that can be used to partition off areas around the beds, with rails at different heights creating a layered interplay of light, texture and views.

"Movement is neither prescribed nor entirely open; it unfolds through soft transitions and partial concealments, allowing each visitor to construct their own path," the architects added.

Utilities including lighting tracks and cables are left exposed but blend in with the white-painted ceilings, while the meandering yellow curtain track leads the eye through the space.

Alongside the spotlights from Barcelona-based Luz Negra, large suspended paper shades from Danish brand Hay and smaller wall-mounted lamps provide a more domestic feel.

The project aims to encourage individual exploration by offering a variety of routes through the showroom, with the curtains creating moments of privacy so customers can test the comfort of the mattresses.

"The space operates less as a showroom than as a framework for testing how intimacy and atmosphere can reshape the relationship between product and user," said JotaJota+.

Other recent shop designs include a New Delhi sneaker store with a shoe-shaped sculpture dangling over its entrance and a Stockholm outlet for Swedish-Danish fragrance brand En Doft.

The photography is by Hiperfocal.

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A monumental stone table forms the centrepiece of this jewellery store in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, which Parinamah Architects designed as a meditative space informed by religious rituals and symbology.

Parinamah Architects, which is based in the nearby city of Kochi, designed a space that aims to reflect Sabari Gold & Diamonds's brand philosophy, while focusing on craftsmanship.

"The brief was simple yet profound," said Parinamah Architects principal architects Cyriac Panamkuzha and Thomas K Mathew.

"[Sabari Gold & Diamonds] founders Susmitha and Prashant envisioned an intimate, themed environment where one client could be attended to at a time – with complete focus, comfort and unhurried presence."

Parinamah Architects incorporated references to Indian symbology, religion and traditions throughout the space, which displays just 15 pieces at any one time to highlight the exceptional details of the work.

Visitors enter the store through double doors intended to evoke temple gates found in the city of Tanjore. The weathered-steel doors are etched with motifs chosen to reflect the themes of devotion and time.

Coins from the client's personal collection form a relief pattern on the door that is based on traditional kolam art and aims to embed their own personal legacy at the first touchpoint of the store.

A short hallway leads through an arched opening into the central display area, where a circular floor plan recalls the sacred circumambulatory path surrounding the main shrine in Indian temples.

"The flow supports our everyday operations, while the ambience invites clients to slow down and connect with our handcrafted gold," said the clients.

The intimate salon is centred around a monumental table made from a single stone that anchors the space while providing a surface for presenting jewels.

The room features curved walls and built-in benches, all finished consistently with a lime render in order to create a cohesive environment where nothing distracts from the objects on display.

Arched niches in the walls add a sense of rhythm to the journey around the space, which is made to feel more magical by integrated lighting that automatically illuminates the niches as visitors approach.

Custom-made light fixtures crafted using a miniature bronze cymbal called an elathalam reference the rhythm of south Indian culture and provide a soft, focused glow around the room.

A corridor outside the main space features a weathered-steel panel depicting the wedding of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, while a gilded panel in the nearby lounge illustrates the seven books of the Ramayana.

Throughout the project, curved surfaces, seamless floors and a pared-back material palette embellished with subtle gold details help to create an atmosphere that encourages visitors to take their time exploring the pieces.

"The store is like a quiet sanctum," the architects added, "meant not to impress instantly but to be observed slowly."

"You come here to pause, to meditate, to move at a gentler pace, and to recognise, in silence, the piece that belongs to you," they continued.

Elsewhere in India, architecture practice The Melange Studio has suspended a giant shoe from the facade of a sneaker store in New Delhi, while technology brand Nothing has opened a store in Bengaluru that takes its cues from factory assembly lines and workshop spaces.

The photography is by Avesh Gaur.

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French architecture studio Exercice has installed four unconventional table tennis tables at a school in Ingré, France, to encourage children to make up their own rules and strategies.

Named Ping Pong Park, the equipment is an extension of Exercice's research into play as a means for social connection, which has resulted in a series of playgrounds with objects that can be used in different ways.

"These are not conventional sports installations, but social sculptures: accessible, participatory and constantly evolving through collective appropriation," the studio pointed out.

Individual examples of the ping pong tables have featured in some of these previous projects, while the complete range of indoor and outdoor versions available to purchase from French brand Nedj.

The tables are designed as a sculptural objects with distinctive aesthetic identities that allow them to stand alone as autonomous artworks. When in use, the pieces transform into social spaces where the need to define rules encourages dialogue, negotiation and shared decision making.

"Their participatory nature ensures constant renewal: players change, customs emerge, rules persist, transform and are transmitted from one generation of users to another," added Exercice.

The Ingré high school project was conceived as a sculptural and social landmark within the playground that the designers claimed encourages a "less competitive, more collaborative approach to sport."

The four tables were made from materials including galvanised steel and high-pressure laminate that can withstand regular use, and were designed to provide new play experiences based on a universally understood format.

The futuristic-looking Rebound table features raised sides that expand the playing surface vertically, requiring players to anticipate how the ball will rebound when crossing the net.

The organically shaped Golf table narrows towards the centre, with the resulting form encouraging longer shots.

Hitting the ball into the holes on either side can be considered a winning point or a foul, depending on the rules the players choose to play by.

The simple Rotating table is designed for tournante – a common multi-player variant of table tennis where players take turns running around the table to play the next shot.

The round form allows for safe and easy circulation, encouraging continuous movement and collective play for up to six or seven players.

The triolectical theories developed by Danish artist Asger Jorn as an alternative to two-sided "us versus them" confrontations informed the three-part arrangement of the Trio table.

The design invites players to form temporary alliances and continuously adapt to achieve victory against stronger players through strategy, negotiation and teamwork.

Exercice explained that children bring "imagination, experimentation and creativity" to the way the equipment is used, which transforms the players into co-creators of unique games and experiences.

"Through Ping Pong Park, we continue our exploration of play as a universal language," the studio added, "capable of connecting individuals, generating social bonds and transforming public space into a living, shared environment where art is not only observed – but lived."

Other unusual table tennis projects featured on Dezeen include an outdoor table made from monolithic concrete slabs and an all-silver installation created to coincide with the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The photography is courtesy of Exercice.

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Children can dive into an enormous ball pit or dance beneath a shiny UFO at this play space created by fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck for the C-mine creative hub in Genk, Belgium.

The semi-permanent playground installation was developed by Van Beirendonck in response to a commission from C-mine, which contains a range of cultural facilities on the site of the former Winterslag coal mine.

As part of its programme dedicated to supporting art and play, the organisation asked the former head of the Antwerp Fashion Academy to create an engaging and immersive environment for children.

"We wanted to collaborate with an artist who has a very distinct identity and a clear personal signature," said Laurens Mariën, the curator of PLAY at C-mine. "Although Walter is primarily known as a fashion designer, we found it exciting to invite him to step outside his comfort zone and create something spatial: a work that is both an artwork and a playground."

The Welcome Little Stranger installation is informed by the idea of extraterrestrial life and explores themes including belonging, beauty and freedom, while providing a humorous and fantastical setting for adventurous play.

"I wanted to design an environment that encourages children to use their own imagination, without screens or digital distractions," said Van Beirendonck.

"Welcome Little Stranger is about wonder, the joy of discovery and playing together – without limits."

The design process began with a series of participatory workshops led by social designer Emma Ribbens, during which children from around Genk provided their perspectives on play and the installation's galactic theme.

Based on the outcomes from this research phase, Van Beirendonck set about creating a series of elements that encourage a return to analogue forms of play such as drawing, dressing up, reading and dancing.

The playground includes a reading island with specially designed seating, as well as an orange drawing island with integrated tablets and a dressing up area featuring three distorting mirrors.

The play islands are arranged around a life-size silver UFO featuring integrated LED lighting and a domed capsule containing a pair of friendly aliens.

An area beneath the spacecraft functions as a disco that periodically plays music by Hantrax – an artist who has provided the soundtracks for many of Van Beirendonck's fashion shows.

The islands are surrounded by an enormous ball pit filled with 140,000 white balls that give the impression of floating in the clouds.

"Children are free to move through the space and often invent their own ways of playing beyond the different islands," Mariën told Dezeen.

"It's wonderful to see how each child discovers the playground in their own unique way."

Every element of the playscape was custom made by Belgian production firm Fisheye, which used augmented reality to help visualise how the final outcome would look in the space.

The project's title refers to the tradition of embroidering a cushion for a newborn baby, but also alludes the idea of welcoming strangers, which could mean extraterrestrial beings or fellow human beings.

"In Walter's world, everyone is welcome, regardless of gender, background or identity," Mariën explained. "It was therefore important for him to create a space where children could experience that same sense of openness and welcome."

The installation is intended to remain in place for several years, with its lifespan ultimately determined by how well it withstands the intensity of children playing with it.

Other recent playground designs include a children's exhibition space in Quito and a Toronto cafe with a dedicated play area.

The photography is courtesy of Walter Van Beirendonck.

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A multipurpose forum featuring tiered seating elements forms the centrepiece of this office designed by architecture studio Snøhetta for a finance consultancy in Taichung, Taiwan.

Snøhetta was awarded the project by Good Finance following an invited competition that called for a radical departure from the more structured, task-oriented offices typical in the finance sector.

The studio responded with a proposal that transforms the 800-square-metre space on the 32nd floor of The Landmark skyscraper into a flexible, people-centred workspace.

"Good Finance envisioned an office interior that represented their company values for its new branch office in Taichung," Snøhetta told Dezeen.

"We created a space that is not the typical, conventional office common in the industry. Instead, it is an open, inclusive environment that prioritises dialogue, sharing and collaboration."

A linear corridor leads from the office's entrance to a forum-like space at the centre of the office, which provides a multifunctional area for daily breakout sessions or for hosting events.

The forum features custom-designed wooden seating elements that vary in height to facilitate different forms of social interactions and ways of sitting.

One side of the space functions primarily as a stage with a large LED screen in the background, while the other side contains loosely organised auditorium-style seating.

"From the beginning, we imagined the forum as a playground," the studio explained.

"An urban square, a pause, a comfortable and familiar freshness. A space for quiet time alone, for small discussions or for a 50-person lecture."

Existing structural elements defined the edges of the forum, with a pair of angled trusses framing the entrance to this dynamic and adaptable arena.

The rest of the office's programme transitions from public to private as it extends outwards from the central space, while a circular walkway promotes chance encounters and conversations between colleagues.

The first ring contains an informal working and seating zone lined with custom bookshelves, along with workstations arranged in a semi-circular configuration.

The second ring contains a bar and cafeteria that is flanked by semi-private meeting areas furnished with sofas and armchairs to give them a lounge-like feel.

Fully enclosed meeting rooms located in the four corners of the perimeter are lined with fluted glass partitions that diffuse daylight, allowing it to penetrate as far as the forum.

The material palette shifts from warm timber tones at the centre to cooler metallic and glass finishes that bring a contemporary feel to the work areas.

Sleek, reflective elements such as the reception desk, bar counter and bookshelves are contrasted by the inclusion of internal planting and upholstered seating.

According to the studio, the project represents an alternative to typical office fit-outs that balances transparency and openness with the discretion and professionalism required in the finance sector.

"The Good Finance workspace is designed with people at its heart, and not specifically as a finance office," the studio added. "It is more than an office; it is a space for its employees, its guests, its visitors, its neighbours – it is a space for dreamers."

Recent projects by Snøhetta include a theatre with an undulating glass facade in Australia and a metro station in Saudi Arabia topped with a curving, mirrored canopy.

The photography is courtesy of Snøhetta.

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Danish mycelium company Rebound has partnered with architecture studio Det Levende Hus to create a sustainable interior door with a core made from cultivated fungi.

Rebound, which is developing a range of products using fungal mycelium, collaborated with Det Levende Hus to create what it claimed is "the world's first mass-produced interior door made from mycelium."

The door, which is currently in the prototype phase, is part of a collection of bio-based interior and sliding doors designed for modern living spaces.

The product will be used for the first time at Kaerhytten, a low-impact housing project designed by architect Jens Martin Suzuki-Højrup's studio in Ramloese, Denmark, which is scheduled for completion in 2026.

Rebound co-founder Jon Strunge explained that mycelium offers a sustainable alternative to the use of slow-growing hardwoods in high-volume architectural products such as internal doors.

"We wanted to demonstrate how regenerative, high-performance mycelium-based materials open opportunities for new, innovative and scalable building components," he said.

The door was made by cultivating the fast-growing root structure of fungi in a mould to create a rigid, lightweight panel with natural sound-absorbing qualities.

This mycelium core is enclosed within a timber frame constructed using reclaimed and surplus wood, including offcuts provided by Danish flooring manufacturer Dinesen.

Suzuki-Højrup told Dezeen that the team chose to focus on an often overlooked element within interior spaces that has the potential to be tailored to different contexts.

"Since we pass through doors every day without really noticing them, we saw an opportunity to transform this everyday experience into something more engaging," he added.

Adaptability to suit different architectural settings was a key criteria for the product and is made possible by altering the colour or surface texture during the growing process.

The prototype door presents a smooth, silky surface texture, but the material can take on other natural tones and can also be covered with a layer of clay to provide an alternative finish.

The door that will be used at the Kaerhytten housing project was designed to comply with current building standards for private homes, in particular with regard to fire and moisture resistance.

An additional bio-based layer incorporated during the growing process helps to stiffen the door and improve fire resistance. This bio-welding method adds reinforcement without the need for glue or additional manufacturing stages.

Regarding the product's scalability, Suzuki-Højrup explained that the growing process developed by Rebound takes approximately two weeks and will allow the doors to be industrially produced.

"Once the door panel is grown and the internal structure has been bio-welded inside it, no additional finishing is required," said Suzuki-Højrup.

The prototype features a door handle designed by architect Bjarne Hammer for Danish hardware brand Randi. The Moom handle was made from recycled seashells, which creates a smooth yet tactile surface.

The project team claimed that they set out to challenge conventional material hierarchies in architecture by demonstrating how bio-based materials can provide elevated performance alongside enhanced aesthetic and sensory properties.

"It's about more than sustainability," added Suzuki-Højrup. "It's about how natural materials can transform our experience of space; visually, acoustically, even emotionally, when they're considered from the outset."

Alongside the door, Rebound and Det Levende Hus are developing a range of mycelium-based products for the mass market, including acoustic wall panels and ceilings.

Mycelium is increasingly being used in architectural applications, such as insulation panels featured in an experimental timber pavilion created by materials company Myceen and the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Giant acoustic panels grown from hemp and mycelium featured in a dance music tent at the Glastonbury festival, while the material was also used to clad a pavilion presented at the Chelsea Flower Show.

The photography is by Rebound.

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Designer Christoffer Söderqvist has launched a furniture brand focused on using technology to facilitate scalable artisanal production, which debuted at the recent Stockholm Design Days event.

Exakt MFG is an evolution of Söderqvist's carpentry business, which manufactures kitchens, shop fittings and furniture at its own factory in the southern Swedish town of Skurup.

With more than three decades of experience creating pieces for other companies, Söderqvist decided to develop his own collection and approached Helsingborg-based design firm Superlab to help create the first products.

The brand, which showed at an exhibition called The Listening Lounge during Stockholm Design Days, aims to produce high-quality furniture that it will sell directly to consumers to keep prices below those of its competitors.

During the event, Söderqvist told Dezeen that his core idea is to create a vertically integrated company with minimal reliance on external suppliers in order to reduce costs and enable a more sustainable, circular approach.

"This vertical integration approach works in the fashion industry and I think that's the way to go with furniture production today," he pointed out.

"We're going to open our own showrooms and sell direct to customers online – like Tesla does, but without Elon Musk."

Exakt MFG's debut collection includes pieces designed by Söderqvist, such as the cheekily titled Assprint stool, along with a sofa and shelving unit developed in collaboration with Superlab.

Söderqvist has known Superlab CEO Niklas Madsen for more than 20 years and felt his brand would benefit from his friend's expertise in helping large manufacturers react to global trends.

"Christopher approached us with the challenge of wanting to create well-made, traditional furniture with a modern touch," Madsen explained.

"What was interesting for us was to try to identify the sweet spot between utilising the factory's machinery and traditional craftsmanship to create products that fill a gap in the market."

The sofa Superlab designed features a painted-wood base and structure that is produced entirely in the Exakt factory, before being shipped to a specialist company in Älmhult to be upholstered using a recycled polyester fabric.

The Echo modular shelving system can be configured in various ways to create a repeating geometric grid. The product is made from particle board and Nordic pine veneer that adds a striking natural surface finish.

Söderqvist also designed a chest of drawers that is crafted from solid oak with traditional dovetail joints, as well as a sideboard and speakers intended to function as a matching set for use alongside premium Hifi equipment.

At Stockholm Design Days, the pieces were used to create a space informed by Japanese listening lounges in the library of the Swedish design association, Svensk Form.

A statement accompanying the exhibition described the brand's approach as "artisanry at scale, enabled by cutting-edge technology," while Söderqvist explained that, for him, "artisanry is about skill, care and responsibility."

"It is a way of working that has gradually shaped how I want to design and take responsibility for what I put into the world. Exakt MFG grew out of that process," he added.

Stockholm Design Days was one of many events that aimed to replace the cancelled Stockholm Design Week, along with Stockholm Creative edition and others.

The photography is courtesy of Christoffer Söderqvist.

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Red Bull's GamePop magazine has developed a "first-of-its-kind" cover with a built-in display and controllers, allowing readers to play a game of Tetris on its paper surface.

The GamePop GP-1 Playable Magazine System was developed as a limited edition dust cover for the latest edition of the magazine, which focuses on the culture of video games.

Energy drinks brand Red Bull teamed up with engineer and designer Kevin Bates to design the interface, based around the iconic 1980s game.

The paper cover integrates a custom matrix of 180 two-millimetre RGB LEDs, soldered onto a flexible circuit board with a thickness of just a tenth of a millimetre.

The circuit board is sandwiched between layers of paper, creating a bendable cover that measures roughly five millimetres at its thickest point, where the rechargeable coin-cell batteries are housed.

The game is controlled using seven touch sensors that are etched into the circuit board to replace physical buttons, and the falling tetrominoes appear as small cells of light that shine through the paper.

The game is accompanied by sound effects and a snippet of the iconic theme tune played through a piezo speaker – a low-cost speaker that uses a piezoelectric material like a tiny ceramic disk instead of a traditional magnet and coil.

The batteries and a narrow, rigid circuit board housing a microcontroller are positioned along the magazine's spine.

A deconstructed USB-C connector hidden in a small paper pocket along the bottom edge allows the batteries to be charged, with playtime extending to roughly two hours per charge.

The system was officially licensed by the Tetris Company and was developed by Bates, who is known as the creator of a credit card-sized games console called Arduboy.

The playable publication, which Red Bull described as a "first-of-its-kind magazine-cover game system" is limited to 150 numbered editions.

In 2025, Red Bull launched a Tetris competition that culminated in a live final with the game being played using 4,000 drones flying around within the Dubai Frame building.

The company, which is known for its associations with sports, music and video games, previously turned a Brazilian skyscraper into the world's largest skate ramp and outfitted an East German radio centre to function as a music academy.

All imagery courtesy of Red Bull.

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Industrial design studio Caliper has developed a drafting table for American artist Daniel Arsham, featuring a backlit surface and magnifying lamp to support the creation of his small-scale charcoal and graphite drawings.

New York-based Arsham, who is known for his work exploring the concept of fictional archaeology, commissioned Caliper to design and manufacture the table using the studio's signature bead-blasted, anodised aluminium.

The Madrid-based studio founded by Quinner Baird previously worked with Arsham on projects including a limited edition poker set and the artist's clothing brand Hidden NY.

"Daniel's team gave us an outline of the required specifications," Baird told Dezeen. "And we drew from the material language that we had worked on together in previous collaborations, developing a form that aligned both with him as an artist and us as a studio."

The table was manufactured by Caliper from CNC-machined aluminium and features a large backlit drawing surface with an adjustable magnifying lamp to support detailed work.

The designers developed a tabletop tilt function and height-adjustment system to ensure the drawing surface can be used comfortably in both seated and standing positions.

"The development of the tilt and height adjustment were both technically challenging," Baird said.

"Implementing these two types of adjustments while maintaining an incredibly stable drawing surface meant over-engineering the gearing systems to some degree, while maintaining a visual aesthetic with the rest of the table."

In addition to the key functionality, the table includes storage compartments that provide straightforward access to paper, charcoal and other tools, as well as surface-mounted charging ports and controls for the light sources.

According to Baird, Arsham has enjoyed using the drafting table and has already ordered a second version, which will allow Caliper to make improvements to its original design.

"Projects like this are effectively prototypes," he added. "So having the opportunity to rework some of the smaller details, streamlining the manufacturing and assembly process is a great way to further improve and refine a special piece of furniture."

Multidisciplinary artist Arsham is best known for creating eroded casts of modern artefacts and pop culture icons.

He previously collaborated with Japanese design studio Nendo on an exhibition of partially destroyed styrofoam objects and with bathroom and kitchen brand Kohler on a layered, portal-like installation for the 2022 Milan design week.

Arsham is also the co-founder of collaborative architecture practice Snarkitecture, which develops experimental projects such as a flagship store for Pharrell Williams' clothing brand and a store for streetwear brand Kith featuring a chandelier made from Nike sneakers.

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Architecture office Nikjoo and interior design studio Fare Inc have transformed a former department store in south London into a cocktail bar and events space featuring nods to the venue's heyday.

Located within a heritage-listed building that was constructed in 1897 as the Jones and Higgins department store, the Peckham Palais nightclub was revamped after being vacant for nearly 15 years.

Working for Nightlife specialist Night Group, architecture studio Nikjoo was responsible for adapting the derelict building into a multi-room cultural destination that reached modern acoustic and fire safety requirements.

Fare Inc oversaw the interior design, layouts, finishes and furnishings, which aim to retain a sense of the building's evolution while evoking the period when the original Palais nightclub was established in 1980.

"Our approach was not to erase what had come before, but to work with it, to preserve the details people feel connected to and allow the building's history to remain visible," said Fare Inc founder Annie Harrison.

"We wanted Palais to feel like it had always been here; layered, atmospheric and alive again."

Customers enter the building through a lobby and box office on the ground floor, where peeling plaster and chipped paint enhance the sense of faded glamour. The main venue is in the basement.

In contrast to the lobby's rough-and-ready aesthetic, the first-floor Ballroom bar displays a more refined sense of style informed by 1980s interiors.

"We explored a tonal yet layered design to ensure there was a polished look to the rooms," Harrison told Dezeen. "[The materials] "seem to have always been there, which makes them feel discovered rather than added."

The 270-capacity cocktail bar features deep-raspberry coloured walls, along with banquettes upholstered in leather and PVC that contribute to the warm and playful atmosphere.

Harrison introduced a statement bar with a backlit linen gantry and a stepped timber element at the top that recalls the original coving.

Integrated lighting softens the overall look and introduces an unexpected texture to the bar.

In order to maintain a connection with the past, the designers preserved the original windows, with their graffiti still intact, and maintained the original diagonal pattern of the flooring, adding slate tiles between some of the planks to create a patched-up feel.

The room's red hue changes as natural light entering through dual-aspect windows shifts during the day.

Different tones used for the walls, upholstery and tiled surfaces accentuate this dynamic effect.

"The tiles reflect the red brand signage, LEDs and natural light from the large windows," said Harrison, "ensuring surfaces reflect the low, soft lighting throughout the room and instil that after-hours, nightclub feel to the room."

The bar's counter and kick plates are made from aged zinc that will patina quickly and enhance the space's authentic, timeless feel.

The venue also features a 470-capacity nightclub located in the basement, where a bespoke five-way Funktion-One sound system will be utilised by local and international DJs.

Fare Inc was founded by Harrison in 2019 and works on projects in the hospitality and residential design sectors. The studio collaborates with specialist craftspeople to create elegant and tactile interiors with a unique sense of style.

London-based practice Nikjoo is led by Alex Nikjoo. The studio regularly works with old buildings, including its renovation of a derelict post-war home with added rear and attic extensions, and the transformation of a former chapel into an artists house and studio.

The photography is by Milo Hutchings.

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Local studio Schemata Architects has renovated a store in Tokyo for perfumery brand Le Labo, featuring shelves and furniture made from the same wood used to cast the textured concrete walls.

The store in Tokyo's Daikanyama neighbourhood was Le Labo's first location outside of the US, but after 18 years in operation it required a thorough redesign.

Schemata Architects, which previously transformed a traditional wooden townhouse in Kyoto into a store for the brand, was tasked with developing a design that would complement the urban streetscape.

The store's interior layout was altered to highlight the craft of perfume making, with a fragrance lab moved from the rear to the front so it becomes visible from the street.

Perfumers at work can be seen through the windows that line the entire elevation, providing an intriguing welcome as customers approach the store.

Based on the client's suggestion, a palette combining industrial and natural materials was chosen to echo the building's reinforced concrete structure, while introducing warmth and character to the space.

"Le Labo proposed wood and concrete as materials," the architects explained, "suggesting that the city's defining characteristic lies in the blending of opposing forces: intense energy and profound tranquillity."

The building is constructed using two types of reinforced concrete, with the external architectural surfaces displaying a smooth finish, while the more robust structural elements were intended to be hidden behind other materials.

Schemata Architects appreciated the textural detail left behind by the wooden formwork and chose to replicate this surface finish throughout the store.

New interventions were created using formwork made from red cedar treated with uzukuri – a traditional woodworking technique that involves rubbing away softer early wood to allow the hard grain to stand out.

"By pouring concrete into formwork that emphasised the wood grain's uneven texture, we produced precast panels where the grain was transferred onto the surface, which we then employed as walls," the architects pointed out.

Following the construction of the shop's walls, the wooden formwork was repurposed as display shelving and other furniture items that help to create a sense of cohesion between the surfaces.

"We designed this relationship between formwork wood and concrete – elements reflecting Tokyo – to form a contrast through the grain texture," the project team added.

Elsewhere, the existing ceiling was stripped back to reveal original lighting recesses, along with formwork marks and duct grooves created when the surfaces were originally cast.

Incorporating these traces of the space's construction creates a sense of consistency with the new interventions and responds to Le Labo's call for a design that highlights the process of making.

Schemata Architects was founded by Jo Nagasaka in 1998 and is based in Tokyo's Kitasando district. The multidisciplinary studio works domestically and globally on projects that draw inspiration from everyday objects and existing environments.

Previous projects by Schemata Architects include the conversion of a former ironworks into a cafe and brewery featuring transparent polycarbonate walls and a gallery that contrasts white exhibition spaces with rugged concrete and brick surfaces.

The photography is courtesy of Le Labo.

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Belgian designer Linde Hermans has developed a collection of furniture that evokes traditional wooden brushes, propped up by thousands of bristles that function as an alternative to wheels or gliders.

The Bristle collection comprises several objects that aim to balance function and form, including seating, side tables and coffee tables.

Hermans constructed the pieces using black-stained oak and various natural fibres. The fibres evoke the bristles of a brush, especially when the pieces are moved around, which creates the impression of sweeping.

The designer used natural materials such as reed or the tough fibres of palm leaves for the bristles. She created the pattern for positioning the fibres, drilled holes and inserted them by hand in her studio.

Each bunch of fibres is secured by hammering in a small wedge made of beech wood, introducing a subtle finishing element that speaks to the heritage of craftsmanship involved in making brushes.

The collection aims to celebrate humble objects that many people use daily without paying them much attention.

Hermans, who has previously created works that reinterpret existing brushes, told Dezeen she was intrigued by the history of these objects and the craft involved in making them.

"The brush evokes movement and action, symbolises cleaning, and sweeps away the old to make way for the new," she said. "Through a repetitive process, it becomes clear that beauty emerges from time, patience and care."

"A brush always suggests movement," added the designer. "That sense of motion allowed me to transform it into a mobile interior object."

A pair of limited-edition pieces utilises an alternative to the vegetal fibres in the form of reclaimed baleen – a material taken from the plates of baleen whales, which was once used in traditional brush making.

"I came across this old stock, the fibres already split and cut to size for brush making," explained Hermans.

"The material is dark, almost black, yet interspersed with lighter strands, creating a subtle and beautiful variation in tone at the base of the object."

With the baleen pieces, Hermans hopes to highlight the history and impact of whaling.

A portion of the proceeds from their sale will be donated to Sea Shepherd, a charity dedicated to protecting and preserving the oceans and marine life.

Hermans obtained a master's degree in product design in 1997.

Since then, she has carved out a niche reinterpreting familiar objects in playful ways to create new meanings and encourage the viewer to reflect on how we perceive the everyday.

Previously, Norwegian designer Poppy Lawman created steam-bent tabletop crumb brushes to encourage a slower, more conscious way of living, while Oornament Studio produced a set of porcelain artists' paintbrushes that are both functional design objects and decorative sculptures in their own right.

The photography is by Renaat Nijs.

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Bespoke furniture and details, including a colourful swan mosaic, help to evoke the atmosphere of a 1960s pavilion that previously occupied the site of this cafe in Almaty, Kazakhstan, designed by local firm AT Interiors.

The project to revive the Aqqu Central Cafe in Manshuk Mametova Park was initiated following a presidential directive aimed at restoring Almaty's historical identity by recreating some of its 1960s modernist buildings.

The original cafe was a popular meeting place for locals, who associated it with a pair of swans that lived in the adjacent ponds and gave the site its name, since aqqu means white swan in Kazakh.

AT Interiors aimed to translate the spirit of the original open-air kiosk, which was destroyed by fire in 1995, into a year-round restaurant that retains the atmosphere of its predecessor.

"Given the project's deep social significance, we felt a profound responsibility to honour the collective memory of Almaty," architects Alyona Krasatulina and Vladislav Churikov told Dezeen.

"To achieve this, we conducted extensive archival research, seeking to strike a delicate balance between nostalgic continuity and the standards of modern global design."

To replicate the 1960s pavilion's lightness and connection to the surrounding park, AT Interiors created a lightweight steel-and-glass structure with fully glazed facades that wrap around the perimeter.

The building follows a similar triangular footprint to its predecessor. But instead of the original constructivist geometry and sharp lines, the architects opted for a softer, more contoured shape.

The 650-square-metre ground floor is designed to be as open as possible to maintain views in all directions. The kitchen is accommodated within a large basement to minimise the need for internal walls or partitions in the dining space.

The project's conceptual starting point is a vibrant swan mosaic by local artist Anastasia Zharko, which features a palette of blue, yellow, red and burgundy that is carried through the interior.

The architects used the city's vintage photographs to inform the decor, which includes elements sourced from local flea markets and brands known for their replicas of classic modernist designs.

The material palette predominantly comprises natural oak veneer and handcrafted ceramic panels by local studio Faski. The geometric panels used for the reception desk and bar were informed by the concrete balconies of Almaty's Soviet-era housing blocks.

AT Interiors opted for iconic lighting design such as Verner Panton's Flowerpot pendant lamps and the P376 pendants by Kastholm & Fabricius to lend the space an authentic 1960s feel.

Churikov designed key components, including armchairs, coffee tables, metal blinds and shelving, which are complemented by furniture from local brands such as Jana Cara and Qaragash Furniture.

"Aqqu Central Cafe confirms the success of architecture rooted in respect for history," the studio said.

"The project demonstrates how lost heritage can be recovered through a painstaking search of archival data by uniting global design trends with the unique cultural code of old Almaty."

Other projects recently completed in Almaty include Asif Khan's transformation of a Soviet-era cinema into a cultural centre, as well as a cafe and wine bar featuring bespoke stained-glass windows.

The photography is courtesy of AT Interiors.

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Studio Lionel Jadot has transformed a former military barracks in Ghent, Belgium, into a hotel featuring peeling plaster on the walls and furniture made from reclaimed materials.

The Ghent hotel is the latest destination from the Jam Hotels brand, which prioritises sustainability through the use of salvaged objects and local production.

Having previously worked on projects for Jam in Brussels and Lisbon, Studio Lionel Jadot was tasked with converting the building in Ghent's Arts Quarter into a 108-room hotel.

The hotel, which was originally the gatehouse of the early 20th-century Leopold Barracks, forms part of a complex of buildings arranged around a parade ground.

Brussels-based architecture firm B2Ai oversaw the restoration of the building's structure, which retains its thick walls, romantically-styled battlements, corner towers and embrasures.

Lionel Jadot's studio applied its Realistic Circle system to the project, which involves reusing found materials and collaborating with local artisans to craft contextually specific solutions.

More than 40 designers, makers and artists based within a 50-kilometre radius of the hotel were involved in shaping the interiors.

According to partner and designer Louise Michiels, the main objective was to create an evolving space with the feel of an artist's workshop.

"The Leopold Barracks already carries a long timeline, and we wanted to respect that," she told Dezeen. "The idea was to add new functions while making as few changes as possible."

"Instead of covering or correcting the space, we let the existing layers remain. The passage of time was already written in the walls, so our role was to work with that story rather than erase it."

The initial stage of the project involved stripping away additions such as false ceilings and cladding materials that had been added when the building was converted for use as a military office.

The demolition process revealed the building's original structure, along with layers of paint, plaster and brick that were retained to highlight the passage of time.

Materials salvaged during this phase were reused throughout the project, with old roof timber repurposed as flooring and cladding for the hotel's bar.

"The building itself became a gisement de matériaux délaissé, a deposit of abandoned materials ready to be reactivated rather than replaced," Jadot said.

"This approach is integral to the Realistic Circle and keeps the project grounded in what already exists instead of forcing a new identity on it," he added.

Among the local designers and makers who contributed pieces for the interior is Duplex Studio, which created simple wooden furniture used throughout the guest rooms and public areas.

Based on the idea of a constantly evolving atelier, OpenStructures developed a modular, reconfigurable system for the guest beds that allows them to be disassembled and reused in alternative ways in the future.

Local designer Pierre Emmanuel Vandeputte developed furniture using reclaimed boards sourced from an old school in Ghent, while industrial shelving sourced through salvage specialist Rotor Deconstruction was repurposed throughout the hotel.

The redesigned interior aims to create what the architects described as a "porous" feel, with a new thoroughfare that passes through the building providing access to communal spaces.

The entrance leads into a reception space featuring a counter made from old storage racks that is lined with Duplex Studio stools and illuminated by lamps from designer Cristina Gusano.

The shelving contains objects sourced from local artists' workshops, including leftover materials, stone fragments and fabric remnants, which were chosen to reinforce the space's communal energy.

Other key spaces in the hotel include the Kaiju restaurant, which features furniture by Gilbard Collective and mycelium lampshades by Permafunghi.

According to the designer, the process of working collaboratively with local creatives in a workshop-like format produced an eclectic outcome.

"Real collaboration creates a kind of snowball effect where each meeting leads to the next and every contribution influences the rest," Jadot said.

The interior architect set up his eponymous studio on the heels of founding Zaventem Ateliers, a workspace based in a repurposed paper factory near Brussels that is home to 26 independent ateliers.

Jadot's multidisciplinary work focuses on reimagining spaces and objects by using what already exists. He previously coordinated a team of 52 designers and makers to transform a 1960s office block in Brussels into a hotel.

The photography is by Stan Huaux.

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South African designer Peet Pienaar has created a bold, contextually led visual identity for BLE$$, a payment network that aims to make it easier for the country's rural population to transact digitally.

BLE$$ was established by a team of fintech professionals as an alternative to traditional bank accounts, which, for many underserved South Africans, do not offer a practical or efficient service.

Low-income workers spend up to 35 per cent of their monthly salary travelling to the nearest bank to withdraw their earnings – a task that is made more difficult due to the lack of paved roads and affordable mass transportation.

BLE$$ was set up to eliminate this so-called "distance tax" by providing access to cheaper staple foods, and expanding into local cash access and everyday payments through trusted shops and field agents.

The network functions as a mobile wallet that is connected to users' bank accounts and operates in conjunction with convenient locations where they can access simple financial services.

Field agents – sometimes referred to as human ATMs – carry handheld devices that allow clients to make deposits and withdrawals free of charge and without needing the internet or a smartphone.

The agents can be trusted members of the community or operators of local shops, known as spazas, which also offer customers essentials like maize meal at a discounted price.

Maize meal is a staple food accounting for around five per cent of an average monthly wage in many South African communities. BLE$$ is able to bulk buy, package and sell the maize directly to families at a discounted rate by condensing the supply chain.

Customers who use BLE$$ to purchase maize are more likely to pay for other goods digitally, and therefore continue to benefit from improved financial inclusion.

BLE$$ launched its pilot project in South Africa's Limpopo province, which is home to 10 per cent of the nation's population and is the largest recipient of social security grants in the country.

The design of the brand's visual identity aims to help establish trust among the local community, as people in this region relate most strongly to things they can see and touch, according to Pienaar.

The BLE$$ team brought Pienaar on board as creative director and tasked him with developing a contextually appropriate identity that engenders trust in the network's users.

"I wanted to create an identity that feels like it belongs to the community it serves," Pienaar told Dezeen, adding that his colourful design intentionally departs from the clean-lined, minimalist branding historically favoured by South African banks.

"While that aesthetic signals institutional power in Europe or the US, here it can often signal exclusion or distance," he said of the typically Western-centric corporate branding.

For BLE$$, Pienaar drew inspiration from the way in which South Africans playfully adapt and repurpose global brand symbols, using the Nike swoosh or Apple's logo to decorate their cars, shops and market stalls.

"Outsiders unfamiliar with this context might dismiss this as imitation, but in reality it's the birth of a dynamic dialogue where these symbols take on new, resonant significances and meanings," he said.

"By applying this energy, BLE$$ feels less like a corporate institution and more like a part of the daily fabric of life."

The identity, with its bold font, simple symbols and vibrant palette of magenta, green and gold, was designed to sit comfortably alongside familiar visuals found throughout the local community.

Pienaar also referenced indigenous patterns and motifs that have emerged and evolved over centuries of trade between India and the north and eastern provinces of South Africa.

The branding has been applied to shop walls as a tool to help build recognition and identify the spaza shops as hubs for rural residents.

The brand's name references the South African slang word 'Blesser', which refers to someone providing financial support, goodwill or care to another.

Pienaar is a renowned visual designer and creative director with a background in contemporary art and over two decades of experience working for brands including MTV, Comme des Garcons, Camper and the New York Times.

He co-founded the Mami Wata surfing label and is known for his work exploring African identity and folklore. He also designed and edited a book that celebrates the visual culture of African sports and its global influence through the lens of design.

The images are courtesy of BLE$$.

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Interior designer Rachael Gowdridge has transformed a 19th-century building in Berlin into The Dean hotel, combining historic features with bespoke details and vintage objects to lend the spaces an eclectic feel.

Gowdridge used the existing features of the former residential building in Berlin's Charlottenburg district as the foundation for her layered design, which introduces surprising materials and bold pops of colour to add character to the spaces.

"This hotel isn't about a single statement," said Gowdridge. "It's about contrast, restraint and moments that make you pause."

"We wanted to avoid the generic hotel feel and instead create spaces that pose questions – places that reveal themselves slowly and reward attention."

The property is the German debut for lifestyle hotel brand The Dean, with interiors that balance raw materiality and original surfaces against clean-lined contemporary interventions such as expressive joinery and sharply defined thresholds.

Many of the design decisions were made on site as existing layers of the building were stripped back, allowing the architecture to guide the choice of materials and finishes.

"The scale of The Dean gave us freedom," Gowdridge said. "Freedom to test, to respond instinctively, and to let the building lead."

The hotel's colour palette draws from the surrounding architecture, combining bold, saturated tones with softer neutral hues to create a warm and inviting atmosphere.

At the entrance, a deep-red colour-drenched vestibule introduces this chromatic approach, which also extends to the guestrooms, where bold entrances mark the transition from public to private spaces.

The public spaces are designed as places where guests can linger, with a bakery, restaurant and lounge forming a vibrant social hub that is accessible from early morning to late evening.

An intimate library located off the lobby features a vintage Italian sofa alongside bespoke shelving built with striking wood veneer that displays eclectic design titles sourced from a local bookshop.

The 81 guest rooms respond to the narrow proportions and unconventional layouts of the existing architecture with a combination of contrasting details and unexpected materials.

Wood-floored vestibules lead into carpeted spaces lined with original wall panelling, repainted in a soft mauve hue. Layered textiles create a sense of warmth and intimacy, while bespoke furniture, including simple plywood desks, adds functionality.

The rooms feature crafted details such as veneered bedside lamps and Bauhaus-informed headboards, while bespoke ceiling lights made from latex offer a playful nod to Berlin's infamous nightlife.

Independent curator Thom Oosterhof was invited to select the artworks displayed throughout the hotel, which were sourced from local galleries and emerging artists based in Germany.

"At its core, The Dean Berlin celebrates contrast – between history and modernity, rebellion and elegance, roughness and craft," said Gowdridge, who founded her studio in 2021 after spending almost a decade at firms including Martin Brudnizki Design Studio and Ennismore.

"Every surface and object is designed to hold tension: the past meeting the present, the refined meeting the raw," she added.

The Dean's Berlin outpost joins its existing hotels in Dublin, Cork and Galway, with new locations in Munich and Miami currently under development.

Berlin is home to a number of hotels with interesting and eclectic interiors, including The Hoxton Charlottenburg, which references the city's brutalist and art nouveau architecture, as well as the quirky Hotel Bikini Berlin designed by Studio Aisslinger.

The photography is by Dean Hearne.

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A raspberry-red spiral staircase connects communal areas at this office development in London, designed by local studio SODA to reference the art deco style of the building it occupies.

SODA was commissioned by developer Great Portland Estates (GPE) to transform the ground and lower-ground floors of its latest workspace in Fitzrovia, called Nineteen Wells Street.

The workspace is set within a heritage-listed art deco building constructed in 1929 by wallpaper and fabric design company Sanderson to house its design studio, offices and showroom.

The building retained its striking facade but had been completely stripped back internally, so SODA designed a series of spaces that reintroduce references to this art deco heritage.

"Throughout the project, we worked hand-in-hand with GPE to embrace the defining spirit of art deco, which includes strong lines, bold gestures and expressive forms, while ensuring the overall language remains timeless," said SODA lead architect Mel Athanasiou.

The client's brief called for a welcoming, timeless and considered space with unexpected moments, prompting a proposal that blends residential and hospitality influences to create a relaxed atmosphere with the required robustness.

A pared-back palette of warm, neutral materials provides a simple backdrop for more expressive elements featuring saturated colours and sculptural, custom-made details that evoke aspects of art deco.

"Hand-crafted joinery and bespoke detailing root the design firmly in the tradition of London craftsmanship," Athanasiou pointed out.

"The result is a workplace deeply connected to its context: past and present, building and neighbourhood, elegance and ease. A landmark reborn with a contemporary edge, yet unmistakably Fitzrovian."

The building's large, street-facing windows reveal glimpses of a workspace on one side of the ground floor and a shared lounge and reception area on the other, which is enveloped on two sides by a monumental bookcase.

The bookcase extends across both levels, creating a sense of visual cohesion in partnership with the red staircase that spirals down to the lower ground floor.

The staircase's punchy red hue recurs across other metalwork elements and in the kitchen areas, providing a consistent element that ties the scheme together.

The lower ground level has a darker, moodier atmosphere, with a palette centred around a deep green hue that helps to create a more intimate feel in spaces such as a snug intended for focused collaboration.

A large existing column clad with red tiles anchors a bar counter with a large stone worktop. Next to this kitchen space is a shared boardroom that receives natural light from one of several newly introduced light wells.

SODA worked with manufacturer Floor Story to create custom rugs for the boardroom and the ground-floor social space. Their geometric patterns combine art deco forms with nods to the interior scheme's colour palette and other details.

SODA was founded in 2012 by Laura Sanjuan and Russell Potter.

The practice previously converted a 1970s office block into a residential building with co-living style amenities, and used a colour palette informed by spices for the interior of a cafe that specialises in serving chai tea.

The photography is by David Wilman.

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Clashing styles and a focus on local craftsmanship define the eclectic interiors of this lakeside hotel and members' club in East Sussex, England, designed by House of Dré as a counterpoint to the building's restrained Georgian architecture.

Crafted at Powdermills is the first project completed as part of a new venture from entrepreneur Chris King, known for co-founding the design-led Birch hotel.

King invited London studio House of Dré to oversee the interiors of the 51-room hotel, which is set within the walls of a heritage-listed Georgian mansion that was once the headquarters of a gunpowder mill.

The building had been gradually extended over several decades, creating a series of disjointed spaces with varying styles, which the designers leaned into by emphasising the sense of contrast.

"History is everywhere here, which freed us to take a bold, playful approach," Christodoulou told Dezeen, adding that the interiors "deliberately mix eras and styles".

"Every space holds something old, something new, something crafted and something blue, layered and eclectic without ever feeling austere."

Rather than applying a uniform aesthetic throughout the hotel, Christodoulou said he chose to "work with the building rather than against it", using what already existed and approaching each space individually.

Many of the original features were preserved, including the single-plate glass windows, marble fireplaces and antique floors. These are combined with modern elements to create a layered design that focuses on atmosphere rather than historical recreation.

"We deliberately avoided the pastiche of restoring every space to an authentic, museum-like state," Christodoulou said.

"I love Georgian design, but it does have a reputation for being very restrained and controlled. Our aim was always to soften the formality, avoiding anything that felt too stuffy or austere."

A key element of House of Drè's modern approach to the interiors was the use of a bold palette and a technique of "double drenching" spaces, covering every available surface in shades of the same colour.

Christodoulou chose a range of earthy tones that complement the original architectural features and reference traditional Georgian decor, contributing to a familiar, timeless aesthetic.

The layered approach to the decor begins with architectural finishes such as handmade tiles that provide a backdrop for locally crafted furniture, ceramics and wall hangings.

"It is both romantic and practical for us to work with local crafts makers," Christodoulou explained, since part of the hotel's offering is a range of classes and workshops led by artisans from the surrounding areas.

"With that in mind, we wanted to establish as many connections between the hotel and local craftspeople as possible in order to create a symbiotic relationship between the two groups," he added.

The guest rooms were developed in collaboration with British furniture maker Sebastian Cox, who worked exclusively with British timber to create pieces that celebrate the wood's natural figuring.

Details such as room number signs and table lamps were crafted using clay from nearby woodlands by local ceramicist Holly Dawes, who now has her workshop on site.

Basket maker Emma Purcell created a host station for the restaurant, featuring a woven structure made from locally sourced willow that drapes over a wooden frame crafted by Atlas Joinery.

In addition to the restaurant, the hotel has its own pub, which House of Drè designed as a space that is "humble, handmade and layered with history".

Drawing inspiration from the site's industrial past, the room features bespoke ceramic tiles, a zinc bar top with visible weld marks, and a rustic colour palette informed by traditional workers' pubs.

King has pitched Crafted at Powdermills as the first in a new series of hotels, where guests and local members can experience nature, food, wellbeing and craft.

"Over the coming years, Crafted will grow into a network of life-friendly hotels and clubs across the UK and beyond," he said.

"Each one unique to its setting, but all sharing the same spirit: nature-first, creatively charged and thoughtfully designed for balancing modern lives."

King's since-defunct first venture, Birch, previously saw the entrepreneur convert mansions in Hertfordshire and Croydon into hybrid hotels and members' clubs.

The photography is by Milo Hutchings, Owen Vidler and Euan Baker.

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Ukrainian designer Anastasiia Tempynska has completed a lifestyle store in Kyiv where modern materials, including mirrors and tiled surfaces, were used to complement the building's original ornate interior.

The showroom for Ukrainian brand Gunia Project occupies the ground floor of a late 19th-century building located on a historic street near Kyiv's Golden Gate.

Tempynska's studio Temp Project oversaw the conversion of the space, which once housed the Embassy of the Republic of Panama, into a showroom for presenting Gunia Project's clothing, jewellery, accessories and homeware.

The project presented several significant challenges, including a lack of natural light and the landlord's requirement to preserve existing features such as wooden doors, panelled walls, mahogany cabinets and decorative ceilings.

"The question was whether we could fully realise our vision – create a cohesive, functional space while working within such strict boundaries," said Tempynska.

The designer's proposal delivered a series of curated spaces aimed at reflecting the brand's approach to reinterpreting traditional Ukrainian crafts through a contemporary lens.

"The new Gunia Project residence is a space designed to remain relevant for years to come," Tempynska explained.

"It feels more like a concept store or a gallery than a traditional showroom – an elegant, welcoming environment that invites interaction."

The project combines ornate details such as the coffered ceilings and decorative wall panels with minimalist, modern interventions that don't distract from the brand's products.

The store's layout echoes the composition of the collection, with spaces dedicated to different wares.

The entrance leads into a reception area featuring a small lounge and checkout, with a children's corner tucked away at the back.

To the right of the reception is a room filled with ceramics, while on the other side is the jewellery space featuring glass displays, emerald-hued cabinets and irregularly shaped mirrors suspended from the ceiling.

The central clothing area is defined by a circular lighting fixture suspended above a matching carpet and modular bench. A hidden doorway integrated into the cabinets at the rear of this space leads to a private fitting room.

The store's colour palette of greens, blues, pale pinks and beige tones is intended to evoke nature and the pastoral motifs that are a core part of Gunia's brand identity.

Tiles used throughout the showroom introduce a tactile, handcrafted feel to some of the walls and a table used for displaying accessories in the clothing area.

Mirrored surfaces in each space perform functional roles while also creating what the designer described as a series of "Instagram zones" where customers can snap selfies for social media.

The carefully preserved cabinets were modernised by replacing the existing shelves with slender metal structures featuring integrated lighting and glass back panels.

Bespoke wooden furniture designed to reference traditional Ukrainian woodworking is complemented by modern pieces from brands Noom, Woo and Cegla Studio.

The showroom is the latest retail project completed by Tempynska, who has also designed a brutalist-inspired eroticwear showroom and a futuristic laser clinic featuring fleshy materials.

The photography is by Yevhenii Avramenko.

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Architect Serena Mignatti has renovated a historic apartment in Rome for musician Thom Yorke and actress Dajana Roncione, utilising a palette of tactile materials to create an aesthetic informed by the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi.

Mignatti worked closely with the Radiohead star and his Italian wife to renovate the interior of the 350-square-metre penthouse, using a variety of salvaged elements and textured finishes that complement the original features.

She told Dezeen that her objective was to create "a quiet balance between the timeworn beauty of the past and the clarity of the present – where every material carries a story and each space feels harmonious, vibrant and timeless."

The apartment spans two floors of a typical 19th-century building in the city centre and was previously home to the Italian novelist and short story writer Italo Calvino and his family.

The residence's history as a place of creativity and writing, together with the couple's own artistic sensibilities, helped to define a project focused on generating a unique and meaningful atmosphere.

"We shared a clear vision," Mignatti said, "to create a space that was special, personal and private – a place for the care of the soul, which is, in essence, what 'home' really means."

The original apartment building had evolved over time, informing an approach aimed at combining existing details such as the wooden ceiling beams and parquet flooring with contemporary interventions.

Mignatti utilised a palette of natural materials, including lime-based paints in warm tones, to evoke the neighbourhood's architecture and provide a neutral backdrop for a range of reused and repurposed elements.

"When it came to the furnishings, materials and colour palette, my aim was to remain deeply in tune with the surroundings – with Rome itself," she suggested.

"I wanted the colours of the city, the tones glimpsed from the windows, to guide our choices. I gravitated towards soft, natural hues – nothing overpowering – colours that could quietly engage with the light, with the textures of the surfaces, and with the spirit of the place."

The house's many salvaged features include all of the doors, the wooden tables and benches, the stone sinks, the niches in the vaulted ceiling and a spiral staircase leading to one of several private terraces.

New interventions were created bespoke for the space by a team of local artisans and joiners, while the upholstered furniture was sourced from Belgian antiques dealer and gallerist Axel Vervoordt, who is also known for his wabi-sabi style.

As part of the renovation, the existing utilities were brought up to contemporary standards, with solutions including underfloor heating and air conditioning discreetly integrated to create a more comfortable environment.

The project exemplifies Mignatti's approach, which involves layering antiques and salvaged objects or materials on top of the existing built fabric.

"The idea of salvaging – not just the materials, but also the gestures, the energy behind them – has always fascinated me," she pointed out.

"I often think of the Tuscan tradition, or the Japanese one, with their philosophy of wabi-sabi, which embraces imperfection and the quiet beauty of ageing things."

Mignatti studied at the Iuav University of Venice and worked for several international architecture practices before founding her studio, which adopts a circular and regenerative approach to its projects in the residential, hospitality and cultural sectors.

Dezeen's lookbook highlighting eight interiors informed by the wabi-sabi philosophy includes a Hong Kong residence featuring a palette of naturally flawed materials and a Barcelona apartment informed by its existing rough-textured beams.

The photography is by Dario Burruto.

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During Stockholm Design Days, furniture brand Lammhults Design Group opened a showroom created by Note Design Studio to provide a neutral backdrop for presenting its range of contract furniture.

The company, which includes the Lammhults, Abstracta, Fora Form and Ragnars brands, wanted to develop a space to highlight its more unified offering while strengthening each brand's unique identity.

The showroom was designed by Note, whose co-founder Cristiano Pigazzini is now responsible for the group's creative direction in his role as creative advisor.

The project involved stripping back the unit located at Norrlandsgatan 20 in central Stockholm to reveal its raw structure before implementing a design that supports displays of products from the various brands.

"The ask from Lammhults Design Group was to create a space to house and represent all brands under one roof," explained Johannes Karlström, interior architect and founding partner at Note.

"This is also a natural extension of the strategic ambition to use the synergy of the group's brands to create a renewed and stronger presence in the industry."

The interior comprises a series of contextual environments, designed to showcase products alongside each other so that customers can engage with them and try them out.

Note utilised simple and affordable materials, including rattan carpets, through-coloured Valchromat panels and a matching brown eco-friendly floor tile to create a neutral scheme that allows the products to stand out.

The pared-back aesthetic is supported by a neutral colour palette chosen to complement the different furniture and create a sense of cohesion throughout the showroom's spaces.

"We leaned into a soft white palette with a contrasting dark red-brown, combined with a warmer deep burgundy accent to bring some dynamism and warmth to the space," Karlström told Dezeen.

"There are slight variations in how the palette is applied to the different rooms, creating flow and natural shifts in tempo."

The space currently contains some of Lammhults' key pieces, including the Geofanti sofa by designer Anya Sebton and a configuration of the modular Bao sofa system designed for the brand by Note.

Some of the environments also feature acoustic wall panels and lamps from Abstracta, with tables and cabinets from Ragnars and Fora Form furniture, including a yellow and chrome edition of the Bud meeting room chair.

Illumination is provided by rows of suspended LED light tubes that are dimmable and offer precise colour adjustment, allowing the atmosphere in the space to be altered to suit the time of day or occasion.

Lammhults Design Group is one of Scandinavia's leading producers of furniture for office interiors and the showroom was designed as a symbol of its more integrated and customer-focused approach.

"The space will become a hub for customer dialogue, creative collaborations and inspiration, while also strengthening the interplay between design, business and customer needs," said Susanna Hilleskog, CEO of Lammhults Design Group.

The company's new strategic direction is based on the concept "Scandinavian Design. Multiplied" and will see each brand continue to evolve its individual strengths while offering customers a holistic solution for contract projects.

Note previously designed a showroom in Copenhagen for Lammhults Design Group, which utilised the rough and rustic qualities of its setting in a historic former naval base.

The Stockholm-based studio, founded in 2008, works across architecture, interiors and product design, applying an adaptive, innovative mindset to projects ranging from a restaurant with quirky blue-and-white tiled walls to a Japanese-inspired wine bar that doubles as an office.

The photography is courtesy of Lammhults.

Stockholm Design Days took place from 3 to 5 Feb in locations across the city. For more installations, talks and fairs in architecture and design, visit Dezeen Events Guide.  

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South African architect Sumayya Vally has designed a site-specific installation for the inaugural Art Basel Qatar fair in Doha, with moveable components that pay homage to lost communal spaces across the Islamic world.

The installation, titled In the Assembly of Lovers, was informed by traditional social spaces, including the majlis or "sitting places" common in Muslim countries.

Occupying a site outside Doha's M7 creative hub, the installation is described as a kind of modular forum, referencing a variety of these gathering spaces that have been destroyed or damaged over time.

Among them are the courtyards of Córdoba, Spain, the gardens of Gaza and communal spaces in Qatar's Msheireb district, alongside references to stoop gathering traditions in South Africa.

Archaeological traces in the form of engraved floor plans and layouts evoke the presence of these sites, while furniture objects made from plywood and micro cement resemble parts of the ruined buildings.

Vally's Johannesburg-based studio Counterspace designed the sculptural furniture to be moved around during the course of the three-day fair, allowing the space to be reconfigured to facilitate activities ranging from talks and discussions to poetry readings.

"In the Assembly of Lovers is rooted in a longing for collective spaces that have been lost," Vally said.

"By assembling fragments from places across the Muslim world, the installation gestures toward a shared architectural memory – one that insists on gathering as an act of love, hope and resistance."

Accompanying the architectural installation is an eight-channel sound work intended to immerse the visitor in a multi-sensory experience.

"Becoming a majlis of infinite gathering, we imagine public space in the ritual sense," Vally said. "A monument as a verb – fluid, temporal and alive, a site that grows through collective presence."

Counterspace applied a similar concept to its design of the 2021 Serpentine Pavilion, which consisted of abstracted elements referencing spaces used by London's migrant communities.

In a series of videos produced by Dezeen that year, Vally explained how Counterspace was born out of a desire to create experimental projects that challenge architectural conventions.

Her previous work includes a design for a wellness centre for refugees in Kenya, as well as a sculptural pedestrian bridge in Belgium informed by a kind of African dugout canoe.

In the Assembly of Lovers was installed as part of Art Basel Qatar, which was held at M7 and the Doha Design District in downtown Msheireb.

The photography is courtesy of Art Basel Qatar.

Art Basel Qatar took place from 5 to 7 February 2026 in various locations across Doha. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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As part of Stockholm Design Days, Swedish designer Malte Lundberg is exhibiting an ergonomic desk chair made entirely from wood, all the way down to the giant spiralling screw used to adjust the seat height.

Lundberg developed the Silas chair in collaboration with Swedish furniture brand Stolab as part of his studies at Stockholm's Beckmans College of Design.

Whereas most adjustable task chairs use metal and plastic for their various mechanical components, the designer set out to demonstrate that even these functions can be achieved using wood.

"I wanted to make an office chair for the home," he told Dezeen. "Because I see a trend where people don't want to have really technical office chairs in a domestic context."

"I tried to make an all-wooden project and also integrate sculptural forms into what is typically quite a strict, technical category."

The entire chair is made from birch wood, chosen for its light colour, which lends the piece a clean and simple aesthetic.

To provide comfort without the need for upholstery, Lundberg used Stolab's CNC mill to create ergonomic yet sculptural forms for the back and seat.

"The backrest, for example, is designed with a curved shape so it presses on the muscles rather than the backbone," he explained.

The giant screw mechanism used to adjust the seat height turned out to be the most challenging part to realise in timber.

Due to prohibitive tooling costs, Lundberg ended up lathe-turning the bolt to millimeter precision, which he said proved "insanely hard", while the corresponding nut in the base of the chair was 3D-printed from plastic as a proof of concept.

If production was scaled up and Stolab invested in special parts, Lundberg says both the nut and bolt could both be made using existing CNC milling technology.

The same is true for the chair's hand-carved slotted stem, featuring notches and a simple peg fixing that can be used to alter the height of the organically shaped backrest.

The versatile chair can be used at a desk, in a studio or at a dining table as an alternative to more utilitarian options designed primarily for office environments.

Lundberg said he hopes the chair will spark joy and curiosity, "almost like a small character that keeps you company throughout the day".

Silas is currently on show as part of Process, Material, Craft – an exhibition of student work from Stockholm's three major design schools during Stockholm Design Days.

The impromptu festival was conceived to fill the hole left by the Stockholm Furniture Fair and its associated design week, which were cancelled this year.

Other highlights from this year's unofficial event include lamps made from unwanted glassware, an exhibition of Josef Frank cabinets and a showcase of emerging Swedish designers.

The photography is by Madeleine Sjöberg.

Process, Material, Craft is on show from 3 to 7 February 2026 at MDT Moderna Dansteatern as part of Stockholm Design Days. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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New York designer Joe Doucet used materials that will improve with age when creating a table and bench for Bulgarian brand Oublier, which he says will never need to be thrown away.

With the Columns collection, Doucet aims to challenge contemporary definitions of sustainable design by proposing that durability is more important than what a product is made from or whether it can be recycled.

"Sustainability is often discussed in terms of new materials, but the most sustainable chair is not one made from mushrooms or cork, it is a Louis XIV chair that has been cared for over generations," he said.

"That idea is rarely explored, and this project was an opportunity to address it directly," added Doucet, whose practice typically explores the intersection of design, innovation and sustainability.

The cylindrical Column I table combines a solid oak base with a glass top. A shallow bowl for storing everyday objects is carved into the surface, adding an extra layer of functionality that Doucet said helps to "subtly distinguish the piece without ornament".

The Column II bench features two sturdy oak legs that support a seat upholstered in natural leather. The seat uses horsehair padding because, unlike the manmade foams found in similar products, it will not break down or permanently compress.

"Horsehair has been used for centuries because it lasts," said Doucet. "It maintains resilience, breathes naturally and aligns with the broader goal of creating objects that do not require replacement."

All of the materials were chosen for their "longevity, repairability and ability to gain character over time", the designer added.

The Columns collection is the first to be released as part of an ongoing collaboration bringing together Doucet's innovation-led approach to sustainability, which has seen the designer create modular wind turbines and colour-changing paint, with Oublier's focus on permanence and craft.

"It is an old-world approach to making that I had not directly engaged with before, and that felt meaningful," Doucet told Dezeen.

The simple forms of the Columns collection reflect his desire to create timeless pieces that look good in any context and can be passed down over many generations.

"The forms are rooted in solidity rather than style," he said. "I wanted to avoid referencing a specific design era."

"The goal was to create objects that feel universal and difficult to place in time, reinforcing the idea that they are meant to endure rather than belong to a moment."

The pieces are produced in small batches by skilled craftspeople using processes that prioritise endurance and repairability over efficiency, the designer claimed.

As a result, the pieces retail for slightly higher prices, which are available on request. But Doucet argues this is justified because they reflect the "reality of months of handcraft and an object designed to last a thousand years", which he says will never need to be thrown away.

"While the initial cost is high, over time these become some of the least expensive objects one can own, much like a well-made pair of shoes that lasts a lifetime compared to cheaper ones that must be replaced repeatedly."

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Maison&Objet's Designer of the Year Harry Nuriev applied his signature silvering effect to antique furniture presented as part of a futuristic installation at the design fair.

Nuriev, the founder of creative practice Crosby Studios, developed the installation for the recent edition of the biannual Maison&Objet trade fair, which took place from 15-19 January at Paris' Nord Villepinte exhibition centre.

The Designer of the Year showcase provided an opportunity for the Paris and New York-based designer to present his Transformism manifesto, which involves adapting existing objects to give them a new purpose or meaning.

"Transformism is the act of turning something into something else — not by erasing its origin, but by amplifying its essence," he explained in a text presented within the exhibition space.

"It is about giving a second life to objects that have lost their place. It is about creating meaning from what others overlook. It is about questioning what beauty means today – and discovering it in what has been ignored, rejected or forgotten."

The installation responded to the event's theme of Past Reveals Future by presenting historic objects in a futuristic space where everything was rendered in metallic finishes.

In a film produced prior to the event, Nuriev said he wanted visitors to "completely disengage with all the labels of what's old and what's new and just receive every object as something that has no past and future."

The exhibition comprised a salon-like arrangement of Napoleonic-style furniture and objects, which the designer covered with metallic fabric to create crinkled reflective surfaces.

The vitrine-like space featured a glossy floor and walls, with an overhead lighting grid contributing to the minimal brutalist aesthetic.

Along the back wall, Nuriev presented a collection of miscellaneous found objects, all sprayed silver to create a uniform aesthetic.

The presentation echoed his previous Lèche-Vitrines installation, created to highlight how overproduction renders objects obsolete while also providing opportunities for them to take on new uses and values.

The exhibition, originally developed for Galerie Sultana, evolved into a vitrine presented at the Louvre Museum in Paris, where objects inspired by the museum's collection were painted silver and displayed alongside found items.

The Maison&Objet installation aimed to immerse visitors in silence and simplicity, providing a counterpoint to the data-driven churn of modern life and the idealised beauty that dominates the media.

Nuriev founded Crosby Studios in 2014 as a multidisciplinary practice that creates objects and spaces for brands including Balenciaga, Nike, Baccarat and Art Basel.

The studio's previous projects include a transparent vinyl sofa filled with discarded clothing from French fashion brand Balenciaga, and an interior for a New York restaurant informed by the work of director David Lynch.

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Ukrainian designer Victoria Yakusha has launched a studio and gallery space in Miami, featuring clay-covered walls and an "island" made from real plants that creates a naturalistic backdrop for her designs.

Victoria Yakusha Space functions as a studio, gallery and showcase for Yakusha's "live minimalism" approach, which combines minimalist aesthetics with natural materials and Ukrainian cultural roots.

Yakusha, who is originally from Ukraine and now based in Brussels, is known for her sculptural furniture and objects made from natural materials such as clay, wood, willow and flax.

Having previously established galleries in Antwerp and Kyiv to display the objects created under her Faina brand, she decided to set up her first US location in Miami.

"I truly love New York, and I hesitated for a long time between New York and Miami," she told Dezeen. "But Miami was less represented within our company's projects and products, which made it the right choice."

Although Miami's vibrant culture and bold style clash with her own more pared-back sensibility, Yakusha said she was inspired by the city's lightness and sense of hope when creating the interior.

"It's a challenge for me, because the city's atmosphere and spirit are very different from what I'm used to in Europe or in New York, but that contrast is precisely what makes it interesting," she explained.

"I simply can't imagine creating a dark or overly complex, multi-layered interior in Miami," Yakusha added. "Instead, I wanted a space that makes you feel at ease, where the world feels a little brighter."

The interior explores the idea of contrast by seeking to balance past and future, as well as feminine and masculine elements, and materials such as antique wood and modern metal.

Natural textures, including stone and clay, combine with polished metal surfaces, while the exposed technical services below the ceiling contrast with a natural "living island" in the centre of the floor.

"The world is made of these contrasts and what truly interests me is when you manage to combine them so seamlessly that you don't even notice the tension at first glance – everything simply feels whole," said Yakusha.

The main material used throughout the space is a clay finish made from imported Ukrainian clay, which Yakusha also uses to create many of her sculptures.

The clay surfaces are intended to bring a tactile, grounded feel to the space, connecting it back to the designer's Ukrainian roots.

"Clay has the energy of the earth – it's a living material," Yakusha suggested. "It gives a sense of strength and connection, something you feel but can't describe in words."

The clay applied to the gallery's walls provides an organic, textural element that contrasts with the slick, modern aesthetic of a stainless-steel display cabinet positioned along the back wall.

This ancient and familiar material is given a fresh, modern feel through the choice of a calming hue, which Yakusha emphasised by matching it with the microcement floor and painted ceiling.

The clay surfaces provide a refined backdrop for the planted "island" at the centre, which was designed to lend a mythical feel to the space.

The island's circular form, which is echoed elsewhere by a large mirror and a dining table, represents a key aspect of Yakusha's philosophy – the idea of continuity and the unbroken movement of time.

The space is also home to sculptures from Yakusha's Land of Light series. Crafted from ztista – a material she developed that combines natural ingredients to create a dough-like organic surface – the pieces reference Ukrainian folklore and ancient craftsmanship.

"Here, they almost feel as if they're living in a magical forest," Yakusha added. "They carry a Ukrainian spirit, yet they bring joy, radiate hope and somehow feel perfectly at home in Miami."

Yakusha founded her eponymous design studio in 2005 and was initially based in Kyiv, where she designed a monochrome workspace that was shortlisted at Dezeen Awards 2019.

In 2014, Yakusha set up Faina with the aim of creating collectible design objects based on Ukrainian craft traditions. Her design for the Antwerp gallery features earthy tones informed by soil and moss.

The photography is by Gabriel Volpi.

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Objects and installations that demonstrate the scope and diversity of west African design are on display as part of an exhibition curated by Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte for the Palais de Lomé arts centre in Lomé, Togo.

Design in West Africa: Unity in Multiplicity features a lineup of 22 artists and designers, whose work spans different styles and mediums from sculptural furniture to textiles, ceramics and conceptual installations.

Curator Bellavance-Lecompte, known for founding collectible design fair Nomad, and Palais de Lomé director Sonia Lawson set out to establish a new initiative that celebrates the region's creative diversity while also highlighting shared traditions and values.

"The exhibition affirms the role of design as a language of resistance, memory and vision, revealing the enduring ability of artists from the continent to build bridges between ancestral heritage and contemporary forms," the duo said.

The designers and artists showcased come from Mali, Togo, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast, with notable names including Ivorian architect and former Dezeen Awards judge Issa Diabaté, as well as Rym Beydoun, founder of textile brand Super Yaya.

The show's key themes include storytelling through craftsmanship and the harmonious coexistence of different perspectives and cultures, as well as exploring ideas around Africa's future.

Several of the works were informed by geographically specific cultural references, among them a series of low seats by Togolese artist Kossi Assou that evoke the Sahel region's tradition of communal dining.

The exhibition also highlights aspects of shared history, including links to slavery. A large table by Togolese artist Steven Kwami Dodji Agbétoglo features eight unique legs, each representing a different community of former slaves united through shared experiences.

A variety of traditional and contemporary cultural influences are represented by the works on show.

Clay sculptures by Ghanaian artist Kobina Adusah, for example, draw inspiration from Akan mythology, while designer Hamed Ouattara's upcycled pieces reflect the evolving sociopolitical climate in Burkina Faso.

Nifemi Marcus-Bello, whose previous work includes a bamboo pavilion for a Lagos skateboarding company, is showing his cast-aluminium furniture, which pays homage to the vernacular fabrication of second-hand car parts in Lagos.

Through the broad scope of pieces on display, the exhibition team hopes to celebrate "the diversity of materials and creative processes, as well as the richness of cultural references, countries of origin and backgrounds of the artists and designers".

Other designers represented in the exhibition include Senegalese woodworker Balla Niang,  Mali's Aboubakar Fofana and Cheick Diallo; Togo's Amivi Homawoo, Afi Elikplim Akogonya, Estelle Yomeda, Tete Azonkpo, Affiavi and Gona; and Ghana's Michael Tetteh, Paa Joe and Serge Clottey.

Some of the artists featured in the exhibition also contributed to a showcase of chairs from across Africa that was presented as part of the inaugural Design Week South Africa in 2024.

Design in West Africa runs until 15 March 2026 at the Palais de Lomé. The art centre opened in 2020 with a retrospective exhibition of work by industrial designer Kossi Aguessy, who is also represented in the current exhibition.

The building, located in the Togolese capital Lomé, was constructed at the start of the 20th century by colonial German settlers and was comprehensively renovated in 2019 to create an institution dedicated to contemporary art, heritage and biodiversity.

The photography is by Matthieu Salvaing.

Design in West Africa takes place until 15 March at Palais de Lomé in Lomé, Togo. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the event, plus other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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Art nouveau details and a Milanese-style parquet floor combine with traditional Asian motifs at the Season patisserie in Taipei, designed by local practice Ecru Studio.

The bakery, run by chef Season Hung, is located on the ground floor of a utilitarian 1970s apartment building in the Da'an district of the Taiwanese capital.

Ecru Studio founders Jin Chen and Randy Tu drew inspiration from the neighbourhood's cosmopolitan context when coming up with a design that blends European influences and a "distinctly local Taiwanese spirit".

"Ultimately, the space is a convergence of East and West, old and new, told through fabric, light and layered storytelling," Chen explained.

The Season's interior layout comprises four distinct yet connected zones: a pastry showcase, a retail area for gifting confectionery, a salon-style lounge and a nine-seat island bar where plated desserts are served.

Based on Hung's choice of blue as the primary colour for Season's brand identity, the designers specified different shades of blue to create a calming atmosphere in the pastry and retail zones.

The salon and dining rooms feature a deeper colour palette of red velvet, golden yellow and ochre hues that help to create a more intimate and relaxed feel.

"By combining dusty rose, warm ivory, moss green and muted gold with the richer, moodier salon hues, we created a layered visual experience that unfolds gradually – like a memory or a quiet performance," said Tu.

"The colours invite guests to slow down, linger and fully immerse themselves in the space."

The salon and bar areas were informed by the moody interiors of 18th-century Parisian salons and feature references to art deco, art nouveau and rococo styles.

A decorative parquet floor was inspired by a Milanese design from the 1940s, while material choices, including lime wash and lacquered surfaces, add textural depth and reflections.

"Every material was chosen not only for its aesthetic resonance, but also for how it would age, interact with light and support the slow, sensory rhythm we envisioned for the space," said Chen.

European references are complemented by subtle local motifs, as seen in a hand-painted mural and twin Pierre Chareau-style armchairs upholstered in vintage fabric.

"We worked with local artist Genggeng to create a hand-painted mural inspired by an ancient Shang Dynasty motif, and incorporated patterned textiles featuring symbolic Asian iconography – mystical signs and totems unique to regional visual traditions," Chen said.

"We also referenced antique trim catalogues, vintage dessert packaging and old textile shops to develop the material and colour language."

Carefully chosen vintage pieces that contribute to the sense of layered curation include Italian 1960s lamps and shell-shaped art deco sconces in the pastry area, as well as the 19th-century Paul Hankar chandelier in the gift zone.

The studio designed several bespoke pieces for the project, including hexagonal tables topped with pink marble and a multi-sided sofa upholstered with Pierre Frey fabric.

The salon area and dessert space feature custom-made seating upholstered with some of Ecru Studio's own fabric designs.

"For Season, we approached the design as a kind of sensory theatre: a place not just to consume, but to feel," the duo said.

Ecru Studio was established in 2018 and focuses on developing projects with a distinctive decorative style that combines a contemporary outlook with references to the past.

Other Taipei interiors that have recently been featured on Dezeen include a cavernous meditation space and Keiji Ashizawa-designed fine-dining restaurant Logy.

The photography is by Dean Hearne.

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At the CES tech fair in Las Vegas, US manufacturer Seattle Ultrasonics is presenting its ultrasonic C-200 knife, which vibrates over 30,000 times per second to create cleaner, smoother cuts.

These high-frequency vibrations, which can't be seen, heard or felt, reduce friction and, according to Seattle Ultrasonics, allow the eight-inch knife to behave "sharper than it physically is"

Founder Scott Heimendinger spent six years creating the C-200 knife, which is based on ultrasonic technologies he witnessed being used in industrial cutting machines.

"I asked myself, 'could I fit that technology into a chef's knife?'," Heimendinger said. "After years of research, development and more than a few setbacks, the answer is yes."

The ultrasonic knife vibrates more than 30,000 times per second

An orange button on the knife's handle activates piezoelectric ceramic crystals mounted to the blade, which expand and contract at a microscopic level to produce shock waves that cause the metal to vibrate more than 30,000 times per second.

This helps reduce friction from the blade so that cuts require up to 50 per cent less force, according to Heimendinger, who previously worked as director of applied research at the Modernist Cuisine culinary laboratory.

The ultrasonic resonance of the blade also creates a "non-stick" effect that prevents soft and sticky foods from clinging to the surface and makes the knife easier to clean.

C-200 is designed to perform well even without the ultrasonic function, thanks to a blade made from triple-ply Japanese steel.

A removable battery pack concealed in the handle allows for cordless operation and charging using a USB-C cable.

An optional wireless charging tile made from solid hardwood offers invisible charging with magnetic attachment, so the knife and charger can be mounted on a wall.

The C-200 knife is available for pre-order from the manufacturer, with expected delivery in January 2026.

Other highlights from this year's CES include a biodegradable paper battery, headphones that twist to turn into a speaker and smart Lego bricks.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is on in Las Vegas, USA from 6 to 9 January 2026. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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At this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, technology brand TDM is presenting a "first-of-its-kind" audio device that transforms from a pair of headphones into a Bluetooth speaker with a simple twist.

TDM, which is an acronym for Tomorrow Doesn't Matter, describes the Neo headphones as the "first and only" headphones that twist to change function.

The two-in-one audio system is built around four independently tuned 40-millimetre drivers, with two inward-facing headphone drivers and two outward-facing speaker drivers.

In headphone mode, the device is set up to deliver a clean, balanced sound. In speaker mode, a pair of integrated amplifiers helps to boost the volume.

TDM's patent-pending twist mechanism aligns the two headphones and wraps the headband around them to form a stand for the compact speaker.

The brand's debut product aims to allow music lovers to instantly share what they are listening to with friends as soon as they enter a social setting.

"We live in a world that forces us to plan ahead, and people often feel stuck behind a screen," said TDM cofounder David Brailsford.

"With Neo, we want to empower people to live for the now, giving traditional headphone users the freedom to take what they're listening to and share it through speakers at any given moment."

The device can be controlled using four simple buttons, but can also be set up so that the twist action automatically switches from the headphone to speaker drivers, pauses audio or powers the device on or off.

Neo's battery lasts for 200 hours in headphone mode and 10 hours in speaker mode, according to TDM. USB-C fast charging provides eight hours of playback from a five-minute recharge and a full charge in three hours.

The product also features a built-in microphone for hands-free calls and voice chats, as well as a 3.5-millimetre auxiliary output.

Electronics brand Samsung also presented an innovative speaker at this year's CES, featuring a minimalist, sculptural form that was designed by Erwan Bouroullec to blend in with any domestic decor.

Other highlights from this year's CES include Punkt's privacy-focused smartphone, smart Lego bricks and LG's humanoid robot CLOiD, which promises to do your household chores.

The Consumer Electronics Show 2026 takes place in Las Vegas, USA from 6 to 9 January 2026. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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Hand-carved reliefs and marquetry details elevate the custom joinery inside this equestrian academy in Abu Dhabi, where French-Lebanese duo David/Nicolas has designed a library and saddle workshop.

Set across 65,000 square metres on Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi Royal Equestrian Arts (ADREA) is billed as the world's first school of classical horsemanship outside of Europe, complete with 60 stables, a veterinary clinic and a climate-controlled arena.

David/Nicolas was tasked with designing two separate spaces for the school – a saddle workshop and an equestrian library holding more than 14,000 books and manuscripts.

ADREA's curriculum blends the European haute école tradition with the Arabic knightly discipline of furusiyya, which dates back to the Middle Ages and emphasises principles of horsemanship, chivalry and the mutual dependence between man and horse.

This rich Islamic equestrian tradition and its associated craftsmanship drove David/Nicolas's interior scheme, combining heritage elements with a contemporary architectural language.

"What inspired us most about Furusiyya was its technical and aesthetic dimension," the duo told Dezeen. "The armour, horse equipment and construction details revealed a strong geometric language where function and beauty coexist."

"These geometries directly informed the patterns and compositions developed for the marquetry, translating technical rigour into crafted architectural surfaces."

The library is organised around a central reading room framed in custom shelving, where deep-red carpet and ambient lighting create a quiet, intimate atmosphere.

Decorative marquetry crafted from oak and mahogany was used to embellish the shelves with striking geometric patterns.

They mirror motifs found in Middle Eastern and Emirati architecture, and utilised the skills of craftsmen the studio had previously worked with on projects such as its refurbishment of a 1920s apartment in Milan.

"The process combined machine precision with extensive handwork, with all marquetry assembled by hand," David/Nicolas said. "Engraved areas were introduced to create relief, contrast and a greater sense of depth across the surfaces."

The reading room is surrounded by curved steel bookshelves that form a continuous circulation route around the space to encourage "movement, interaction and exchange".

The saddle workshop is also arranged as a room within a room, with storage organised around a central space dedicated to teaching artisanal saddle-making skills.

Here, storage was "conceived as something to be exhibited rather than hidden", the designers explained, with saddles, tools and leather elements displayed on both sides.

A modular system of moveable pegs allows for flexible reorganisation of the displays, while carved details echo the decorative surfaces of the library, creating a sense of cohesion between the two areas.

The workshop space is floored with red vinyl and a practical, hard-wearing sisal carpet. Illuminated ceiling panels generate even lighting throughout the space to assist with the intricate craftsmanship.

"Across both spaces, proportion, materiality, and craftsmanship guide the experience, offering a contemporary interpretation of Emirati equestrian heritage that is rooted, precise, and forward-looking," David/Nicolas said.

Raffoul and Moussallem, who both come from Beirut, met while studying architecture at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts in 2006 and founded their studio together in 2011.

Previous projects from the duo include a limited-edition furniture collection inspired by the night sky, crafted from travertine stone and palm wood.

The photography is by Ziga Mihelcic.

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A cork-clad DJ booth forms the centrepiece of this coffee shop in Hamburg, which its owner Vincent von Thien has designed to evoke the relaxing atmosphere of Japan's jazz cafes.

Von Thien established Trader HiFi in Hamburg's Ottensen district as a cafe for audiophiles that serves coffee during the day and hosts curated listening sessions in the evenings.

The 70-square-metre unit, which previously housed a functionally designed but lacklustre commercial coffee shop, was renovated to create an open-plan layout arranged around the sound system and a central bar.

Existing partition walls were removed, and von Thien designed a wood-framed glazed shopfront that can be opened in the summer months to fully connect the interior with a pavement seating area.

Inspiration for the project came from Japan's postwar listening cafes, known as jazu kissa, where customers would listen to imported jazz records played on high-quality sound systems.

"I wanted to create a place where music could be experienced consciously, a space that celebrates sound with the same care we bring to coffee," said von Thien.

Von Thien explained that, during his visits to listening bars in Japan, he appreciated the way the interiors were designed to ensure the music is respected and becomes the focus of the experience.

"Trader HiFi is a place people come to not just to drink coffee or matcha, but to spend time with sound," he told Dezeen. "It's about presence, focus and creating a shared experience around music."

"Every decision was made in relation to how sound moves through the room and how people inhabit it, without making the space feel overly controlled."

He added that, while his own design doesn't directly imitate the jazu kissa style, he drew inspiration from the low seating, simple materials and high-quality acoustics of these spaces.

"We wanted the space to feel calm, warm and slightly introspective – a grounding environment," he claimed.

"The palette is muted, the materials are honest, and nothing is overly decorative," he added. "Ideally, the room feels timeless: a place that doesn't demand attention but rewards you the longer you stay."

The layout is organised as two distinct spaces, with a hi-fi area at the front and a more intimate nook towards the rear where guests can sit and chat quietly while watching drinks being prepared.

The hi-fi space features low-slung seating, tables and pouffes arranged around the DJ booth. The console is clad in dark, burned cork that was also applied to the ceiling to improve the room's acoustics.

Prominent behind the console are a pair of giant speakers from Berlin-based audio specialist Have A Nice Day, which form part of a sound system made bespoke for the venue.

"The sound system integrates into the space in a way that feels architectural rather than technical," said von Thien.

At the centre of the cafe is a concrete bar that was cast in situ as one uninterrupted piece, creating a monolithic element that anchors the space.

The concrete's raw and imperfect surfaces introduce an organic, porous texture that contrasts with the cool, reflective gleam of the integrated Modbar coffee-making equipment.

Von Thien chose the cafe's wooden furniture, courtesy of Portuguese studio Further THER, for its "strong sense of craftsmanship", with the low design of their Rite chair, in particular, reminding him of Japanese woodworking.

Other details that contribute to the space's quiet and considered atmosphere include heavy curtains that help to soften the sound and light, as well as warm, low-level lighting from Vitra's Akari range.

The walls are minimally decorated with mycelium-based acoustic tiles from Hamburg start-up MycoLutions, as well as an artwork by Paul Schrader that was chosen to complement the material palette.

Listening bars and cafes are experiencing a resurgence in popularity around the world, with other recent examples including a sake bar on the ground floor of London's OWO hotel and an all-pink bar in Sydney with shelves housing 15,000 records.

The photography is by Clemens Poloczek.

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A team of students from the Eindhoven University of Technology has built a prototype electric car with a built-in toolbox and components that can be easily repaired or replaced without specialist knowledge.

The university's TU/ecomotive group, which focuses on developing concepts for future sustainable vehicles, describes its ARIA concept as "a modular electric city car that you can repair yourself".

ARIA, which stands for Anyone Repairs It Anywhere, is constructed using standardised components including a battery, body panels and internal electronic elements that can be easily removed and replaced if a fault occurs.

With assistance from an instruction manual and a diagnostics app that provides detailed information about the car's status, users should be able to carry out their own maintenance using only the tools in the car's built-in toolbox, the TU/ecomotive team claimed.

The project demonstrates how an alternative design approach could enable car owners to undertake minor fixes without relying on the manufacturer or a network of suppliers and specialised technicians.

The aim was to challenge current manufacturing practices, which make electric vehicles difficult to repair, as parts can be hard to obtain and batteries are often integrated into the chassis.

"We want to show the automotive industry that sustainable and practical design really is achievable," said TU/ecomotive team leader Taco Olmer. "If we can build this within a year, there are opportunities for the industry."

Legislation adopted by the European Union in 2024 already requires manufacturers to provide tools, parts and repair information for many electronic products. But electric cars have so far been left out of the scheme.

The designers hope that the project will encourage policymakers to improve Right to Repair directives, while providing a case study for automotive manufacturers to follow when designing future EVs.

"With ARIA, we show what is possible and hope to encourage the EU to apply those rules to passenger cars as well," Olmer explained.

One of ARIA's key innovations is the inclusion of a battery pack comprising six smaller 12-kilogram batteries that can be detached and replaced by hand.

The vehicle's exterior consists of quick-release body panels that offer instant access to components behind and can also be replaced if they get damaged.

The car's design displays a simple, compact body shape with eye-catching scissor doors that open upwards. It weighs a total of 650 kilograms and has a theoretical commercial range of up to 220 kilometres, according to TU/ecomotive.

The team from TU Eindhoven collaborated on the ARIA electric vehicle with students from the Fontys University of Applied Sciences and vocational education provider Summa.

Over the past decade, TU/ecomotive has developed 10 different vehicles aimed at showcasing opportunities within the field of sustainable mobility.

The team of just 30 students demonstrates how unconventional methods can achieve innovations that could be adopted on a larger scale by mainstream automotive manufacturers.

Other innovative electric vehicles that have recently been featured on Dezeen include a customisable low-cost electric truck and futuristic alternatives to the rickshaws used across India.

The photograph is by Sarp Gürel.

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Local architecture studio Pend has renovated a traditional semi-detached property in Edinburgh, Scotland, combining two existing flats to create a family home with living spaces housed in a brick-clad extension.

Catalog House was designed by Pend for the owners of local design store Catalog Interiors, who required a larger space in which to raise their young daughter.

The family had been living on the ground floor of a subdivided Victorian property and originally approached Pend to design a rear addition that would replace several poorly built existing extensions.

When the upstairs neighbour decided to sell, the owners bought the flat so they could reunite the two properties, creating room for an additional bedroom while retaining more of the garden space.

Pend was tasked with creating a cohesive scheme that creates a dialogue between the original house and the new 35-square-metre extension.

The project involved removing partitions installed when the building was subdivided and reorganising the two floors to create a series of spaces suited to modern family life.

Working closely with the clients, whose personal style leans towards Scandinavian modernism, the studio sought to retain as many of the original features as possible while giving the interior a clean, contemporary aesthetic.

"When the property was subdivided, the original proportions were lost and details such as the cornicing and staircase were ripped apart to allow for the altered layout," Pend associate Ben MacFarlane told Dezeen.

"We were left with a mismatch of the existing Victorian ornament and completely bare rooms, which made for an interesting challenge trying to balance that history with our own minimalist intervention," he added.

The reorganised layout positions all the living and social spaces on the ground floor, with the more private areas such as the bedrooms and bathroom upstairs.

The clients enjoy entertaining and were therefore keen for the kitchen to be located near the entrance, so it becomes a hub for socialising with more intimate, family-oriented spaces towards the rear.

With its east-facing bay window, the kitchen receives morning light and was the one room that retained its original proportions and features. The architects restored details such as the cornicing while introducing modern cabinetry that clearly distinguishes the new interventions.

Expanded openings provide a view from the entrance all the way through the dining room towards the rear extension and the garden beyond.

The extension contains a lounge space that opens onto a west-facing terrace, with its glazed patio doors and roof light helping to make the most of the afternoon sun.

"By shifting the way the ground floor is orientated, we were able to organise the spaces so they follow the sun and complement how the family uses them throughout the day," MacFarlane pointed out.

"They love coming downstairs in the morning and sitting at the table in the bay window with a coffee, then moving into the lounge in the evening to soak up the golden hour sunlight."

The materiality of the extension provides a contemporary counterpoint to the more traditional details found in the existing house, with exposed oak beams and bespoke joinery bringing warmth to the otherwise minimal palette.

Secret doors incorporated into the wooden panelling provide access to a utility space and a compact office, both of which are illuminated by carefully positioned skylights. Another skylight in the lounge ensures the central dining space also receives plenty of natural light.

A TV snug located off the lounge provides a private retreat within the mostly open-plan layout. This calming space is decorated in a deep-green hue, with soft furnishings and a heavy curtain forming a threshold with the main living space.

Externally, the architects opted for a light-coloured brick that complements but doesn't mimic the buff sandstone of the original facade.

The extension's rounded wall was informed by an interior wall in the original hallway and creates a softer transition between the patio and the side access. Internally, this curve helps to animate the small study area.

The clients lived on-site throughout the project, so they could help manage the build and keep an eye on some of the detailing as it developed.

"Their design background meant that they were coming up with ideas and they were very hands-on," MacFarlane said.

"That level of attention to detail meant that the finishing of this project is of the highest standard and the outcome is exactly what they wanted."

Architect Jamie Anderson founded Pend in 2021 after working for leading practices across the UK and Middle East.

The studio focuses on developing timeless residential projects informed by their context and the client's lifestyle, such as a fluted stone-clad extension to a Georgian farmhouse in East Lothian.

Also in Edinburgh, Costa Rican artist Juli Bolaños-Durman recently renovated her own flat, which she designed in collaboration with Architecture Office.

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Bilbao architecture office Tabula Studio has designed its own workspace and showroom in the Basque city, featuring an eclectic mix of colours and surface finishes that represent the practice's playful approach.

Tabula Studio completely refurbished a former consultancy office to create an open-plan space that showcases various surface materials and interior products by local brands, for which the studio serves as a distributor.

The office is situated on the first floor of a traditional building in the heart of Bilbao's Ensanche district, close to the Isozaki Towers and the Jardines de Albia.

Tabula Studio founder Nerea Apraiz was attracted to the building's high ceilings, French windows and a bay window that provides a strong visual connection with the surrounding urban context.

Her main aim was to create a functional space that reflects the studio's eclectic approach and love of colour, as well as fulfilling the functions of both a workspace and display area.

"We wanted a place that would also act as a showroom, a 'step inside and see' kind of space, full of textures, finishes and unexpected solutions," Apraiz told Dezeen.

"We feel comfortable with eclecticism, because we do not believe in labels and because each project is a unique creative challenge," she added. "That same diversity, that freedom of expression, had to be reflected in our workspace."

The office was previously divided into a waiting room, two large workspaces and two toilets. The new layout accommodates five workstations and a meeting room that is separated from the main space by a glazed partition.

The main office space features a cement floor in a bold red shade that creates a continuous surface everywhere except in the entrance hall and the kitchen, where the studio used a stained oak board from Berry Alloc.

According to Apraiz, the vermillion hue represents "pure energy – a vibrant, warm colour that activates the space and fills it with vitality".

The red flooring extends into the meeting room located at one end of the office, where a table with an irregular triangle shape from Italian manufacturer Miniforms was chosen to optimise the geometry of the space.

One of the walls in the meeting room features a custom-made drawing by Apraiz that was milled into the five-metre-long panelling and is illuminated by an LED strip concealed in a curved coving.

A kitchen incorporated into the office functions as a showcase for several brands the studio works with, including Logos Kitchens and Pando appliances.

Here, a large, three-metre-long island topped with a worktop from Spanish brand Cosentino is framed by two pillars clad in corrugated galvanised metal.

One of the pillars conceals an existing structural column, while the other is described by Apraiz as a "trompe l'oeil", serving no function but to add a sense of symmetry and playful irony.

"The column's metallic finish, with its reflections and industrial texture, brings strength and dynamism to the whole," she said.

"We like the space to have a sense of humour, too, because we believe humour is as valuable an ingredient as technique or creativity in any architectural project."

The office's two toilets were redesigned to showcase various surface materials and fittings that Tabula Studio offers its clients, providing an opportunity for visitors to experience these products firsthand.

The bathrooms are concealed behind a glazed-tile wall that incorporates hidden doors. Apraiz described the deep-green hue of the tiles as one of the studio's signature colours.

"Green has been very present throughout our journey, and it is also deeply rooted in this land,” she said.

"Euskadi [the Basque Country] is mountains, enveloping nature, even if in Bilbao we sometimes lose sight of it. For us, it was essential to introduce it as a chromatic symbol."

The entrance hall leading to the studio space is also clad in full-height lacquered green panels that conceal key utilities. A partition wall framing the entrance is covered with a leaf-patterned textile from Arte International that adds a further natural detail.

Apraiz told Dezeen that the office functions as a joyful and comfortable workspace, while also immersing visitors in a sensory environment that allows them to explore a range of finishes, textures and colours.

"The space gives us freedom, it pushes us to create, and we believe our clients can feel that energy too," she claimed. "It is a living place, where architecture is experienced, not just conceived."

Tabula Studio works predominantly on renovation projects in Bilbao, combining a focus on functionality and aesthetics with material analysis and a knowledge of local suppliers and artisans.

Other vibrant interiors in the city that have been featured on Dezeen include a pink-heavy apartment renovation by architecture studio Azab and Masquespacio's colour-block student housing.

The photography is by Erlantz Biderbost.

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Architecture studio Atelier Štěpán has modernised a landmark building in the historic centre of Jihlava in the Czech Republic, using silver tones and stainless steel to reference the town's history of minting currency.

Silver House is a renovated Renaissance-style burgher house – the kind of home typically owned by the medieval middle class – located on Jihlava's central Masaryk Square.

The project by Atelier Štěpán set out to give the previously unused building a new public purpose, giving each of the four floors a distinct function.

The basement now houses an exhibit of archaeological artefacts discovered on the site, while the entrance level accommodates a tourist information centre and a teahouse.

Upper floors contain a 50-seat concert venue and two smaller salons with frescoed walls, along with facilities for local businesses and cultural organisations. There is also a small apartment on the second floor facing the square.

The name, Silver House, references the town's 13th-century minting legacy, which informed the use of silver tones complemented by shades of grey throughout the building.

"Silver stands out against this grey base as a unifying accent connecting old and new architecture," said the studio. "Stainless steel elements highlight new interventions, while tin-coated artisan features nod to traditional craftsmanship."

Examples of these metallic details include a pearlescent finish in the concert space, as well as a curved-steel kitchen and stylised historical features such as the panelled doors.

A staircase leading to the attic was clad in metal panels that emphasise its self-supporting structure, with treads visible from above and below.

The building's original roof truss, dating from 1893, was structurally flawed and the floor beneath required significant renovation, so the studio decided to introduce a new roof truss and raise the roof height slightly.

The updated roof preserves the original shape but sits just above the historic masonry, creating a ribbon window that, along with discreet skylights incorporated into the standing-seam metal roof, fills the attic space with natural light.

A lift was installed at the centre of the building to ensure all of the floors are accessible. The walls of the lift shaft were left untreated to provide a historical cross-section of the building's construction.

"The Silver House is like a historical sandwich," explained architect Marek Štěpán.

"Every floor is from a different era. You begin with Gothic in the basement and end in the 21st century in the attic. You can experience all of this concentrated in a single elevator ride."

Highlights include the second-floor apartment with its unusual bathroom, featuring a silver mosaic floor and functional areas enclosed in a glass box in the centre of the space to preserve the room's restored historical murals.

The studio also added a blackened concrete and stainless mesh annexe to the rear of the building that replaces the former courtyard wing.

This volume contains service spaces alongside a winter garden for the teahouse and a staircase where the old and new buildings meet.

The project features a material palette that references traditional construction methods, including lime-washed plaster surfaces, wooden windows and roof trusses, along with flooring in stone, wood and terrazzo.

Atelier Štěpán was founded by Vanda and Marek Štěpán in 1997. The studio's architecture and design projects combine contemporary principles with influences from the history of the Moravian region.

Previous projects by the firm include a cylindrical white church informed by Romanesque rotundas and another circular church building in Brno that is topped with a panoramic, rainbow-hued window.

The photography is by Filip Slapal.

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Brightly coloured furniture and quirky finishes add character to the otherwise minimal interior of this historic townhouse in Athens, Greece, which has been modernised by architecture studio Local Local.

Architect Sofia Xanthakou's Athens-based practice was asked to oversee the renovation of the neoclassical home, which was built in the 19th century on a narrow alleyway in the city's Plaka neighbourhood.

The contextually sensitive renovation evokes Plaka's eclectic architecture, which mixes neoclassical and Ottoman-era buildings with Byzantine and Roman influences.

The city's conservation laws restricted any structural interventions to the listed building, so Xanthakou used locally inspired materials and patterns to improve the home's liveability.

"With a layered heritage and proximity to the Acropolis, we worked to reconnect the home to its context through a lighter, more open interior expression," she explained.

While respecting the building's historic character, Xanthakou also introduced what she describes as "contemporary and playful gestures that invite light, warmth and everyday family life back into the home".

The architects began by stripping away the glossy marble and heavy wood finishes added during renovations by previous owners in the 1990s.

The refurbished interior features an almost entirely white, monochromatic palette, aimed at maximising the available natural light in spaces with thick stone walls and limited window openings.

Wherever possible, Local Local looked to preserve historic features such as the wrought-iron railings on the facades, as well as wooden panelled doors with marble jambs that were repainted to create a more cohesive aesthetic.

Flooring throughout adds character to the spaces, with a bold red terrazzo bringing warmth and contrast to the ground-floor living room, family room and office.

The kitchen and bathrooms feature a lighter, soft-grey terrazzo that reflects light in these compact spaces, while the flooring in the upstairs bedrooms was replaced with light-grey oak that adds a more contemporary feel.

The house's front door opens into a hallway where the existing dark wooden staircase was painted to create a lighter, more modern expression that complements the grey flooring used elsewhere.

An opening to the right of the entrance leads into the main living area, organised around a fireplace that was reconstructed using green marble from the island of Tinos.

At one end of the living space, steps lead from the dining area up to a kitchen that was given a modern makeover with colourful furniture and bespoke joinery.

Local Local installed cornicing and added curtains to the glass-fronted cupboards, as well as a custom-designed green dining table and their own bold red dining chairs.

The architects worked with local artisans to craft several bespoke items for the project, including bookshelves, radiator covers, skirting boards and joinery elements that reference classical forms, while performing functions required for modern living.

The house also includes a tranquil stone-paved courtyard that was restored by pruning overgrown trees and repairing the existing walls.

Rooftop terraces on the other side of the house offer a view across the rooftops towards the Acropolis.

Xanthakou founded her practice after completing her undergraduate degree at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture and a master's in Design Studies at Harvard University.

The studio adopts a contextually sensitive approach to designing and transforming buildings, actively reinterpreting a site's nuances in order to create experiences that feel rooted in the surroundings.

Athens hosts a rich variety of dwellings, from a one-bedroom apartment by Point Supreme set within a former semi-basement storage space to a poured concrete house by Kallos Turin.

The photography is by Lorenzo Zandri.

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Australian interiors firm BAR Studio has combined lush landscaped terraces and locally sourced materials in Tokyo's Fairmont hotel to forge a connection to its waterfront location.

Fairmont Tokyo occupies the upper eight floors of the 43-storey Blue Front Shibaura South tower by Japanese firm Maki and Associates, offering views across Tokyo Bay on one side and Tokyo Tower on the other.

BAR Studio's design for its public spaces and 217 guest rooms was influenced by this unique location, combining sleek, urban materials with planting and hand-crafted details that bring in elements of nature despite the lofty skyscraper setting.

"We sought to create a link between Tokyo's contrasts of traditional and contemporary, the calm of the bay and the city's energy, and modern culture and the intrinsic connection with nature that has a long heritage in Japan," BAR Studio design director Lucas Chirnside told Dezeen.

"Our design language throughout focuses on encapsulating an essence of place, honouring traditional Japanese craft techniques and materialities in our design decisions, and subtly referencing traditional spatial concepts," he added.

Guests are welcomed via Fairmont Tokyo's lobby on the 35th floor, which provides expansive views of the bay through its double-height windows and opens onto a terrace garden.

Materials featured in the lobby reference the presence of light and water that defines Shibaura. A custom glass panel behind the reception desk produces glimmering reflections, while the desk's base incorporates translucent glass bricks.

"Our design aims to blur the boundaries between inside and out," Chirnside said.

"We were inspired by the idea of the 'engawa' in Japanese architecture, which is a connecting space between indoors and out, fostering interaction with nature and the environment."

The guest rooms, which occupy floors 36 to 42, are designed to create a sense of serenity and feature a minimalist palette including natural Japanese ash wood, white quartzite stone and brass.

Muted colours foreground details, including joinery, textiles and art, that reinterpret Japanese craft techniques like kintsugi – the art of repairing pottery with precious metal powder.

The rooms are decorated with textured wall coverings informed by traditional weaving techniques and custom carpets with linear patterns based on Zen gardens.

The building's highest floor is home to a trio of hospitality spaces offering views over the city and Tokyo Tower – standing bar Yoi-to-Yoi, listening bar Off the Record and restaurant Driftwood, serving Japanese adaptations of Western cuisine.

These are arranged around a central cocktail bar crowned with a custom-designed, rippled glass chandelier.

BAR Studio's lighting scheme was designed to complement Fairmont Tokyo's indoor-outdoor theme and can be adapted to suit the shifting ambience of the public zones throughout the day and night.

"At night, the atmosphere is intimate and engaging," Chirnside said.

"When designing these spaces, we drew on our love of Tokyo's unique nightlife and dining culture, which showcases a passion for refined ingredients and a deep understanding of the value of personal connections."

Also located on the top floor is a wedding chapel with wooden floors and a restrained palette based on the concept of a finely crafted Japanese timber pavilion.

A large skylight creates a focal point for the space, which also includes garden terraces on either side and a cloud-like suspended sculpture by Japanese artist Ishin Tanaka above the altar.

For Fairmont Tokyo's other public spaces, BAR Studio curated contemporary artworks that emphasise the connection to the natural environment and local culture, including botanical paper installations by Wanda Barcelona.

The 35th floor terrace features a sculpture by Vidé Création that takes inspiration from the link between the earth and sky, while Berlin-based artist Tomislav Topić's suspended installation in the lobby lounge references Japanese washi paper.

The project is the latest addition to BAR Studio's portfolio of hospitality projects, which the firm oversees from its offices in Melbourne and Madrid.

Among them is the Capella hotel in Sydney's heritage-listed Department of Education building.

The photography is by Peter Bennetts.

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Swedish designer Gustaf Westman has launched a playful modular shelving system comprising colourful components that can connect in various configurations.

Westman said that the Puzzle Shelf was informed by his passion for different kinds of puzzles and evolved out of an investigation into interlocking forms.

"I love to work with functions and this object investigates a module-based shelf where you can add levels," the designer told Dezeen.

"I think the playfulness and colours combined with a different specific function really embodies my design approach."

The shelving system consists of horizontal components that can stack on top of one another and connect with smaller pieces to form bookshelves as well as coffee tables, side tables or desks.

The modules resemble the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and were designed to interlock on the top, bottom and both sides, allowing users to experiment with different configurations to fit their own space.

"There was a lot of modelling and testing behind the forms," Westman explained. "The most complicated part was to make a shape that would connect on all sides."

The pieces were manufactured in London by a 3D-printing specialist who was able to achieve precise, smooth surfaces. The forms were then lacquered with a spray coating to create a ceramic-like finish that accentuates the rounded edges.

Westman is known for his use of bold colours and the Puzzle Shelf is produced in blue, green, pink and red shades that provide fun and harmonious options for personalising the design.

"I'm very spontaneous when it comes to colours," he pointed out. "This process involved a lot of testing and I usually go for the gut feeling."

The product was first exhibited last year alongside a selection of the designer's colourful objects and furniture as part of a three-day pop-up event in New York City.

At the time, Westman told Dezeen he was exploring the use of finishing techniques that would allow the 3D-printed shelf to resemble his ceramic and metal objects.

"I have an obsession with trying to test all different materials and trying to make them look the same," he said. "Even if I work with wood or ceramics or glass, I want to keep the same finish, so [3D printing] is the next step."

The Puzzle Shelf is made to order and can be purchased directly from Westman's studio, with prices available on request.

Westman founded his Stockholm-based office in 2020 after completing his studies in architecture at Gothenburg's Chalmers University of Technology.

His whimsical objects represent quirky takes on familiar typologies, featuring chunky forms rendered in his signature glossy finishes.

He has previously collaborated with IKEA on a collection of colourful tableware and with Mercedes-Benz on an all-pink concept car and picnic set, as well as designing products such as a handbag-style baguette holder.

The photography is courtesy of Gustaf Westman.

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Father-and-son duo Alberto and Francesco Meda have designed a trio of pendant lights for Italian brand Foscarini, moulded from a novel material containing powdered lava stone.

The Alicudi, Filicudi and Panarea lamps are named after Italy's volcanic Aeolian islands and utilise a patented mouldable material that combines ground volcanic rock with a non-disclosed binder.

While preserving the look of natural lava, with its porous, cratered surfaces, the resulting composite is 30 per cent lighter and lends itself to softer, more organic forms created using moulds rather than chisels or CNC machines.

This is evidenced in the lampshades designed by Alberto and Francesco Meda, with gently curved silhouettes that would be difficult to achieve using conventional masonry techniques.

"We chose primordial forms that are surprising when you discover that the material with which they are made is something totally new," said Francesco Meda.

"The geometric lines would not be too invasive, ready for combinations in series while conserving a coherent variety."

The composite material was developed by Ranieri, a company based at the foot of Mount Vesuvius in Naples, which specialises in working with volcanic stone.

Normally, Ranieri creates surfacing and furniture using volcanic stone quarried from the mountain and processed using computer-controlled machines, which precisely cut the stone but produce a large quantity of surplus chips.

To make use of these offcuts, the company developed a composite material, made by breaking down the stone into a powder with variable grain sizes, which is then mixed with an undisclosed binder.

Unlike lava panels, which require at least 15 to 20 millimetres of thickness to avoid cracking, the poured lava can achieve the same impact resistance with a thickness of just eight to 10 millimetres, according to Ranieri.

Foscarini tasked the Medas with creating a series of lighting based around the unique properties of this "poured lava", namely its ability to create different geometric shapes and its irregular surface, which can be enhanced by varying the grain size and reducing the amount of binder used.

The resulting "lava lamps" appear completely black from the outside, emphasising their sculptural forms and drawing attention to their unusual textures.

Despite being produced in an industrial mould, the final finish of each piece is unique, as bumps and holes appear on the surface depending on the heat and the angle at which the material is poured.

"The poetry of the design does not lie so much in the light as in the sculptural, decorative effect of the material and its textures," Alberto Meda said.

"The lamps come to life in different ways, depending on the light around them, revealing new shadings and details in the dialogue with the surrounding space."

Alberto Meda is a designer and engineer who held positions at Kartell, Brevetti Gaggia and Alfa Romeo in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as working for brands including Alessi, Luceplan and Vitra.

His son Francesco worked in the studios of Sebastian Bergne and Ross Lovegrove before founding his own practice, with clients including Alias Ferragamo and MDF Italia.

Foscarini is known for its innovative approach to materials in lighting design. The company has previously developed other products made from poured materials, including the concrete Aplomb pendants designed by Lucidi and Pevere.

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Designer Matteo Frontini has updated the classic Moka coffee pot, adding a helical spiral base informed by jet engines that he says cuts the time needed to brew coffee in half.

The Turbo Moka seeks to transform the daily ritual of making coffee by refining the iconic coffee pot invented in 1933 by Alfonso Bialetti and Luigi De Ponti.

Frontini developed the first prototype in 2024 with the intention of reinterpreting the familiar coffee maker through a contemporary lens.

Turbo Moka's helical spiral design has 93 per cent more surface area and therefore allows for twice the contact time with the flame compared to a conventional Moka pot.

Consequently, the designer suggested it is capable of brewing coffee in half the time, using 30 per cent less energy or gas consumption.

"We didn't want a revolution, but an evolution," said Frontini. "With Turbo Moka we aim to celebrate an almost century-old tradition, reinterpreting it through a multidisciplinary approach that combines good design, physics and environmental awareness."

Turbo Moka's spiral-shaped water chamber was informed by aircraft turbines and engineered according to the principles of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics.

While the boiler section differs from a traditional Moka pot due to its innovative fluid form, the main body and the internal funnel and filter retain the original's familiar design.

The product is entirely made in Italy using a traditional lost-wax casting process in which molten aluminium is poured into an individual wax mould.

Turbo Moka launched during this year's Salone del Mobile design fair and is currently available in a three-cup version, with one- and six-cup versions set to be released in the near future.

The original moka pot features an octagonal chamber in which water is heated, producing steam pressure that forces the hot water upwards through ground coffee to create a stronger brew than traditional drip methods.

Italian design brand Alessi, whose president Alberto Alessi is Alfonso Bialetti's grandson, has produced several alternative versions of the Moka pot, including an iconic rocket-shaped design by Richard Sapper.

Architect David Chipperfield's stovetop espresso maker for Alessi features a flat lid and minimalist handle, while Memphis Group founding member Michele De Lucchi created a version with a curvaceous silhouette.

The photography is courtesy of Matteo Frontini.

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Formica, leatherette and dark-wood furniture lend a retro feel to the interior of this east London eatery, which local studio House of Dré designed to evoke classic Italian trattorias.

Tom's Pasta is located within Hackney Downs Studios – a creative hub and community space where Andreas Christodoulou, founder of House of Dré, also has his studio.

Chef Tom Haydon asked Christodoulou to design a new dining room, bar and kitchen in a space adjacent to the existing restaurant, in order to increase the total number of covers and provide additional cooking space.

The room needed to retain the welcoming feel of the original restaurant while displaying a cohesive design language that elevates the brand and reflects its Italian-inspired menu.

"We wanted to level up Tom's Pasta from a local start-up to a stylish restaurant," Christodoulou told Dezeen.

"With that growth, we wanted to make sure the brand kept its playful east London appeal and stayed true to the approachable vibe that makes Tom's so loved."

Haydon's brief called for a contemporary take on the traditional Italian trattoria that needed to incorporate elements including a backlit kitchen pass, plenty of storage, cosy dining booths and a showcase of local art.

Rather than directly referencing Italy, House of Dré drew inspiration from the traditional east London eateries established by Italian migrants in the middle of the 20th century.

A palette of simple, familiar materials, including stainless steel, linoleum leatherette seats and formica tabletops, nods to the heritage of these Italian establishments.

The focal point of the space is the bar, which functions as both a kitchen pass and an additional seating area for guests. Its walnut-wood surfaces bring a sense of warmth and tactility that is complemented by a streamlined stainless-steel top.

Christodoulou explained that his favourite detail within the space is a decorative gold fringe that adds a glamorous touch to the modernist kitchen counter.

"I run my hand across it every time I walk past," he said. "It's a playful moment that says everything about Tom's Pasta. Even as the space grows up, it still doesn’t take itself too seriously."

Bespoke banquettes installed along the walls combine with loose seating that allows for a variety of configurations. The dining tables were custom-made to match the interior palette, while the rest of the furniture was carefully sourced from vintage suppliers.

The room's colour palette references the restaurant's menu, with a tiramisu cream hue set against a buttery yellow that evokes Haydon's homemade pasta.

The warm tones are separated into two blocks to break down the high ceiling, with the upper section providing a backdrop for a rotating showcase of work by artists from Hackney Downs Studios.

A simple lighting scheme provides ample light for the kitchen area, while creating a warm and intimate environment for diners. Bespoke scalloped wall lights illuminate the artworks and small table lamps provide additional illumination.

The interior aims to retain the unpretentious, family-oriented feel that Tom's Pasta is known for, as well as accentuating the connection with the local neighbourhood.

"This project is about collaboration and has community at its core," Christodoulou pointed out.

"A local restaurateur, a local designer and a space that celebrates local artists. It is not about luxury – it is about creating something playful, familiar and deeply reflective of this part of London."

Christodoulou founded House of Dré in 2020 and has since completed a range of projects spanning interior design, sculpture, furniture and industrial design.

His approach focuses on capturing the spirit of a place and elevating the users' experience through the considered application of art, design and craftsmanship.

Other recent restaurant designs in London include the colour-drenched Cicchetti in Piccadilly and a Chinese eatery in Shoreditch "straight out of Hong Kong's neon nights".

The photography is by Milo Hutchings.

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Local practice Bétyle Studio has transformed a former agricultural building in Marseille, France, into a compact home featuring rooms separated by glass blocks that allow light to filter through.

The client asked designers Carla Romano and Nicolas Cazenave de la Roche to create an interior that could function both as her daily workspace and a private retreat for hosting friends and family.

The agricultural outbuilding, constructed in 1820, is attached to a farmhouse and was originally built from limestone rubble with a traditional timber frame. The total floor area of the living spaces is just 45 square metres.

The owner was attracted by the building's historic character, including its thick, windowless walls that could not be altered without compromising its structural integrity.

"The entire approach consisted of imagining a solution that could bring clarity and fluidity while respecting the agricultural spirit of the building," Cazenave de la Roche told Dezeen.

Bétyle proposed adding an internal wood and glass framework that is set back from the masonry ceiling and walls.

The hollow volume functions as a partition, storage area and light filter that facilitates free circulation around the space and allows natural light to permeate throughout.

"The main constraint was the light, as creating new openings would have weakened the walls," Cazenave de la Roche added.

"We therefore had to reconfigure the interior volumes without touching the existing envelope, and imagine a way to diffuse light throughout the space."

The internal volume defines the office, bedroom and corridor spaces while also incorporating key functional elements, including storage, a dressing room and a desk space.

Sandblasted glass bricks positioned along the edges of the central structure ensure privacy while allowing daylight to pass through and creating a lantern-like effect at night.

The internal structure's walls are made from okoumé wood stained a deep-red shade to complement a ceramic stoneware floor that evokes the patina of traditional Marseille terracotta tiles.

To create a sense of cohesion throughout the project, Bétyle commissioned bespoke furniture, cabinetry, architectural hardware and lighting pieces, including a pendant lamp designed specifically for the office.

"The project relies on a network of craftspeople whose savoir-faire gives depth and authenticity to the final result," said the designers, who collaborated with a team of carpenters, metalworkers and other artisans.

Some of the interior elements recall the building's original agricultural use but have been reinterpreted to fit their new purpose. The stainless-steel bathroom vanity evokes feeding troughs, while farm hooks fixed to the wooden panels now function as hangers.

The handmade wooden bed base features an intricate star-shaped inlay pattern that references the studio's name. The baetyl is a sacred stone, believed to be part of a meteorite, that is regarded in some cultures as a symbol of stability and permanence.

"It adds a touch of refinement and anchors the night area within a narrative, somewhere between craftsmanship, symbolism and the studio's architectural identity," added Cazenave de la Roche.

The Figuier residence is Bétyle's first interior project and its fully bespoke design reflects the studio's approach to creating contemporary spaces that display a deep respect for their historical context.

Other projects in Marseille include a bao restaurant by Neri & Hu and an apartment within architect Le Corbusier's iconic Cité Radieuse housing block.

The photography is by Mathilde Hiley.

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Mirrored surfaces create the illusion of additional space inside this renovated terraced house in Sydney, Australia, which local studio Alcami Architecture designed around a completely openable courtyard.

Terrace House Mirage is a renovation of a Victorian terraced house in the suburb of Chippendale, which was defined by a typically narrow footprint and a lack of natural light.

Architect Victor Alcami told Dezeen that his studio set out to "dissolve these spatial limitations and extend the perception of space beyond the party walls."

The project's most significant intervention is the central courtyard, which expands the home's usable area while optimising natural light and ventilation.

The courtyard is flanked by a bespoke bi-fold and sliding panel system that helps to transform the ground floor into a fully connected open-air space.

A chamfered ceiling surrounding the courtyard references American artist James Turrell's Skyspaces while also framing views of a neighbouring tree.

Mirrors along the tops of the walls create the illusion of an infinitely extending floating ceiling, informed by the American Bar in Vienna designed by Adolf Loos in 1907.

"The design challenges conventional notions of space and seamlessly blends indoor and outdoor areas, adapting this terrace to the Australian outdoor way of living with design solutions that are replicable in every single terrace house in Australia," Alcami claimed.

From the entrance, a pebble-lined path extends along the entire length of the house, with a mirrored wall creating the illusion of more space.

The path leads past the central courtyard to a living area featuring a cantilevered bench that appears to float in front of a glass wall looking out onto another courtyard garden.

Throughout the project, the architects incorporated elements that reflect the owner's cultural background, which fuses Spanish and Arabic traditions.

The use of metal chains, roller blinds and textural surfaces references Mediterranean architecture, while the incorporation of horseshoe-shaped arches evokes the famous Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba.

According to Alcami, this approach allows the standard terraced typology to form the basis for a home that reflects the owner's individuality and preferences.

"This project aligns with Gaston Bachelard's phenomenology of space, emphasising memory and lived experience in architecture," he suggested.

"The presence of vernacular materials serves as a bridge between the owner's childhood memories and their present-day home, creating a deeply personal environment rather than a generic terrace renovation."

One of the client's requests was to incorporate their favourite colour – orange – which is used as a bold accent against an overall natural and neutral material palette.

Orange tones are used for furniture and architectural elements such as the kitchen units and fridge, which are concealed behind bamboo roller blinds.

A central island featuring a backlit, translucent-orange onyx stone base serves as a focal point in this space. The island includes an invisible induction hob and also functions as a table, allowing the kitchen and dining areas to merge as one.

The most striking use of orange colour is reserved for the bathroom, which was designed as an immersive environment featuring an orange acrylic bathtub and freestanding washbasin, along with walls covered in orange mosaic tiles.

The house's private areas are located upstairs, where the main bedroom benefits from a balcony as well as borrowing light from a skylight above the adjacent corridor.

The remainder of the compact first floor is dedicated to a study or guest room that can be closed off using a bi-fold partition when privacy is required.

A row of orange cupboards extends along the entire length of the plan, emphasising the volume of the space and unifying the different zones.

Alcami claimed that the project's approach to spatial reconfiguration and its fantastical design details represent an alternative take on a familiar typology that could be adapted to suit many similar homes in Australia.

"This transformation challenges the conventional terrace house renovation, which typically involves moving the bathroom and adding a living area at the rear," said the architect.

"Instead, this project fully dissolves the terrace into the garden; an architectural statement about maximising light, air and openness within extreme spatial constraints."

Other recent Sydney homes featured on Dezeen include a house designed as a "kit of parts" and an Arts and Crafts-home with contemporary details.

The photography is by David Wheeler.

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French artist Alexandre Henry has created a series of sculptures based on furniture and objects salvaged from war-torn areas of Ukraine that he repaired using metal from Russian missiles.

Henry's project, titled Light Into Darkness, was developed over the course of two years during which the artist travelled to Ukraine with the non-profit organisation Dutch Civilian Action.

DCA delivers aid to civilians near the front line of the Ukraine war and Henry, who studied photography in Paris and Berlin, was invited in 2023 to document their actions for communication purposes.

"When the full-scale invasion began, I questioned the role of art in a conflict like this and the impact it can have," Henry explained.

"I also remembered the documentation that was produced after the second world war and the importance of those archives for our collective memory."

Having visited areas devastated by the war, including Izium, Kharkiv and Kherson, Henry settled in Kyiv for three months where he had access to a studio to develop sculptures informed by his experiences.

The artist, who has returned to Ukraine twice since his original visit, told Dezeen that he was struck by the resilience of the people he met, who chose to remain in their homes and to carry on with their lives despite the close proximity of the conflict.

"There is an obvious fragility in these people, linked to the trauma they've endured, but also an extraordinary dignity and determination," Henry pointed out.

"This has deeply influenced my work and the way I wanted to represent them through my sculptures."

During his visits to villages in eastern Ukraine that were mostly destroyed by shelling, Henry felt a connection between his portraits of local people and the physical relics created by the destruction.

"The objects I found there had become silent witnesses of what happened," he said.

"For me, these artefacts take on the aspect of a portrait that bears witness to the visible or silent scars of civilians enduring the war."

Henry collected around a dozen broken and incomplete objects that were damaged by explosions and left behind on the battlefield. Some were given to him by the people he met, who shared their stories of the war.

The artist also collected Russian missile and shell casings that had been demilitarised, which he melted down with the help of Ukrainian foundries to create prostheses used to replace the missing parts.

"The same metal that was used to destroy these objects would now be used to rebuild them, as a metaphor for the Ukrainian families who are rebuilding themselves out of the war," he said.

The project's outcomes were first presented during Dutch Design Week 2025 and included two wooden dining chairs that were repaired using pieces made from cast aluminium.

Another sculpture featured a door displaying the marks of explosions from Russian missiles that was propped up by a pair of brass feet made from recast shell casings.

Henry also repaired two window frames that formed part of an installation called Walls Remember, alongside portraits of Ukrainian civilians printed on fragments of walls salvaged from rubble.

Since the Dutch Design Week exhibition, Henry claimed he has received requests from several institutions interested in displaying his art.

He is planning on returning to Ukraine to create new work in collaboration with people who have suffered physical injuries, as a way of expanding the concept of prostheses.

"The project stands as a broader reflection on memory, resilience and reconstruction," he added.

"Humanity is present through the object: each restored piece is a trace, a wound, and a symbol of collective endurance. Here, art does not claim to explain the war, but to offer resonance – allowing those who encounter it to feel its impact."

In 2023, Ukrainian studio YOD Group salvaged ammunition shells used by anti-aircraft tanks to defend Kyiv from drones and turned them into Downed Drone, a series of limited-edition lamps.

A year later, Dezeen spoke to architecture and design studios in Ukraine that are adapting to support the ongoing war effort while also ensuring they stay in business.

The photography is courtesy of Alexandre Henry.

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Spanish studio Lucas y Hernández-Gil has completed a cosmetics store in Madrid featuring exposed wooden pillars and a material palette intended to evoke the calming atmosphere of an ancient Roman sweating room.

Laconicum, a beauty product retailer, approached Lucas y Hernández-Gil to design its first permanent physical store on Madrid's Piamonte street.

The company had been impressed by the studio's playful renovation of a rural guesthouse and set a brief calling for a space that offers its customers a unique and memorable experience.

Laconicum's name references a dry sauna-like space found in ancient Roman bathhouses, which informed an interior design focused on the idea of beauty as a kind of elemental ritual.

"The project approaches care as a civilising gesture, as a form of culture that has its roots in the classical world," the studio told Dezeen. "We wanted to evoke this concept but bring it into our language and use of colour."

The unit was previously occupied by a flooring showroom and was initially stripped back to its bare shell, revealing original details, including pine pillars that were then incorporated into the scheme.

"The pillars help to structure the space and create a dialogue with the materials used in the rest of the elements," the studio added.

"The premises are narrow and elongated, and these columns establish a sequence of two spaces and function as a large door."

The interior includes several references to the Roman laconica, including large light fixtures that recall the circular openings in the ceilings of these round rooms.

Limewash paint in a deep laurel-green hue helps to create a serene environment, while the wall-mounted displays are laid out in a regular rhythm that brings a sense of order to the space.

The bespoke metal and wood display units evoke the minimalist works of American artist Donald Judd and provide space for presenting perfumes and cosmetics, with built-in mirrors adding a practical detail.

At the centre of the room, custom-made tables with pink Estremoz marble tops and metal frames introduce organic shapes that contrast with the more structured shelving.

The 30-square-metre retail space features a micro cement floor and additional storage made from wire mesh. A service counter in one corner is furnished with a bright-orange armchair developed by Lucas y Hernández-Gil's sister studio Kresta Design.

Cristina Domínguez Lucas and Fernando Hernández-Gil founded their multidisciplinary practice in 2007.

The studio's previous projects include a kitsch renovation of a 1970s bungalow in Madrid and a bar in Seville featuring neon lighting and a sunset colour scheme.

The photography is by José Hevia.

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The walls of this extension to a post-war terraced house in north London were made from interlocking clay blocks that local firm THISS Studio left exposed to create a warm and textural finish.

THISS Studio was asked to design a rear extension for the house, located near Butterfield Green in Stoke Newington, and to reconfigure the ground floor to improve its connection with the garden.

The clients' request for a sustainable solution led the architects to explore alternatives to conventional construction methods.

Project architect Dan Hope's research prompted the decision to use Porotherm blocks as the main building material.

The extruded clay blocks feature interlocking profiles that create structural walls when stacked. They are more typically used in large-scale commercial developments as a direct replacement for concrete blocks.

In the Butterfield project, the exposed blocks complement the brickwork of the 1970s building and introduce an attractive textural element to the new dining area.

"The Porotherm blocks, made from natural clay, have a warm, earthy tone that we wanted to celebrate within the interior," THISS Studio cofounder Sash Scott told Dezeen.

"Their inherent texture and material honesty became a key influence on the space's visual character."

The multi-cellular blocks provide several environmental benefits that help fulfil the project's brief, including excellent thermal performance that removes the need for additional insulation.

The clay material has a low level of embodied carbon and is recyclable at the end of its life. The construction method also does not require vertical mortar, which helped to reduce the project's overall material usage.

The extension's simple, robust form echoes the character of the postwar terrace, with bespoke tiles cut from the Porotherm blocks adding a decorative detail to the otherwise minimal garden-facing elevation.

"We aimed to complement the architectural language of the estate while maintaining an economy of materials and construction methods, allowing us to achieve a high-quality finish that reflects a sustainable, materially conscious approach to building," said Scott.

The internal material palette was chosen to complement the clay blocks, with affordable, readily available materials used for the flooring, joinery and exposed structural elements.

A deep red marmoleum floor provides a warm background for the space, which is unified by the consistent use of natural pine finishes across the internal window frames, joinery and custom-built roof trusses.

The extension features plenty of glazing that allows natural light to penetrate deep into the plan, while also creating a sense of connection between the living spaces and the garden.

"Butterfield is a valuable case study for us in exploring how to build smarter and more sustainably by adapting materials and technologies typically used in other building typologies," Scott added.

"The extension not only provided much-needed space but also resulted in a home that feels warm and materially sensitive – complementing the existing structure while supporting a healthy, engaged way of living with the materials that shape it."

THISS Studio is a team of architects led by Scott and his fellow co-founder, Tamsin Hanke. The practice aims to challenge conventions of buildings, objects and landscapes throughout work that combines curiosity with technical capability.

The studio's previous projects include an office interior designed using reclaimed materials and another extension with a curved aluminium roof that resembles a fried egg.

The photography is by Henry Woide.

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Salvaged and upcycled materials add character to Costa Rican artist Juli Bolaños-Durman's renovated Edinburgh flat, which she designed in collaboration with Architecture Office.

Bolaños-Durman, who is known for her work in glass and her use of waste materials, prioritised sustainability and comfort when devising a brief for La Casita, which she says translates as "the wee house".

The artist partnered with Alexander Mackison of local studio Architecture Office to design the interior of the compact flat, which was long-listed for Dezeen Awards 2025 in the sustainable interior category.

She told Dezeen that the project provided an opportunity to work closely with local fabricators who helped transform reused, reclaimed and offcut materials into bespoke architectural elements.

"Our main objective at the start of the project was to create a cosy home that also reflects my personal ethos of celebrating the beauty in imperfection," explained Bolaños-Durman.

"While I typically work with found glass, designing this flat allowed me to apply a similar approach on a larger scale using a broader range of materials."

Located on the first floor of a Victorian tenement in the Leith neighbourhood, the flat had not been renovated in decades and was stripped back to the bare walls before being comprehensively restored.

Mackison helped devise a series of architectural interventions that make the most of the available space and transform overlooked or imperfect materials into carefully crafted objects.

"The fabric and furniture that form the project are a direct response to the materials at hand, shaped through close collaboration with fabricators and suppliers in a material-first approach," he said.

Mackison designed a bespoke kitchen that was crafted by woodworking specialists Silvan Studio using surplus materials from previous projects.

A combination of oak, cherry, Douglas fir and ash wood was used for the cupboard doors to highlight the tonal and textural variation between the different species.

The internal carcasses are made from a dyed fibreboard material called Valchromat that was left over from one of Silvan's commercial projects.

The colourful interiors contrast with the kitchen's natural wood fronts, providing a fun detail that Bolaños-Durman described as "a bit of Latin-infused sass."

Throughout the home, existing pine floorboards that had been hidden beneath carpeting were lightly sanded to retain their uneven texture and provide a counterpoint to the oversized, gloss-painted skirting boards.

The rooms are mostly painted in muted tones that provide a neutral background for Bolaños-Durman's collection of colourful artworks, including many of her own creations.

The rooms were decorated using Little Greene's Re:mix paint collection, which reformulates leftover, unwanted paints into an upcycled product with a matte finish.

A vibrant yellow hue chosen for the hallway provides a bold contrast and a warm welcome to the flat, while also evoking the Cortez Amarillo tree that flowers in the artist's hometown.

The discovery of an old fireplace in the living room informed the creation of a monolithic mantel made from three stone slabs salvaged from local mason AB Mearns.

The stone's raw edges were left exposed to celebrate its natural state, while one of the supporting slabs was rotated to add a contrasting element.

In the bathroom, British-sourced stone supplied as offcuts by Britannicus Stone forms the ledges and backsplash. The different stones create a patchwork of colours and were organised based on the available slab dimensions.

Overall, the project embodies an approach to sustainability that promotes resourcefulness, reuse and an intelligent approach to elevating overlooked and discarded materials.

"La Casita is the result of an open yet intimate dialogue of reuse," Bolaños-Durman concluded. "It reflects a shared spirit, where waste is given a second life and the chance to become beautiful again."

Bolaños-Durman grew up in Costa Rica and studied in several countries before moving to Scotland in 2010 to complete a masters degree at Edinburgh College of Art.

Her mixed-media works made from repurposed found objects have been widely exhibited, including as part of a presentation of unconventional Christmas installations held at Harewood House in England.

Other recent Edinburgh projects include a listed home with a "modernist extension" and a renovated industrial-style gallery.

The photography is by Richard Gaston.

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Furniture made from melted aluminium and compressed wool features in this fine-dining restaurant in Budapest, Hungary, which architecture firm URBA designed to highlight sustainability and local identity.

URBA collaborated with artists Esteban de la Torre and Judit Eszter Kárpáti of art studio Ejtech and the owners of Onyx to develop an interior for the restaurant that merges art, science and sustainable gastronomy.

The project, which has made the shortlist for Dezeen Awards 2025 in the restaurant interior category, aims to complement the immersive hospitality concept by utilising motion, lighting and audio to create a multi-sensory experience.

Onyx Æther offers an 11-course menu that explores centuries of innovation, from the first established restaurant to the industrial revolution and a speculative future where humans have colonised the planet Mars.

The restaurant's owners wanted to create a dynamic, evolving space that acknowledges the past and celebrates the local culture and context, while supporting an experimental approach to hospitality.

"A timeless, multi-layered environment, poetically weaves together universal themes around transience and impermanence," explained URBA.

"As the evening unfolds, the space morphs seamlessly, guiding guests on an immersive journey from plate to palate, engaging their senses and intuition in a continuous flow of experience."

The interior's raw, preserved walls aim to honour the building's history and provide a backdrop for a sunken communal table where guests are guided through the meal.

The central table is complemented by a large-scale textile installation developed by Ejtech. The draped fabric is animated by a series of motors, allowing the room's spatial configuration to be adjusted throughout the evening.

Onyx Æther's strong focus on sustainability is reflected in the interior's use of locally sourced, repurposed or waste materials, including surplus wool felt that was salvaged from a local mill.

The dense, machine-pressed wool is combined with a natural resin and layered to form a sofa system intended to evoke the stratification of the Earth's crust over many millennia.

Other furniture items, including the irregularly shaped tables and partition screens, were made using melted-down aluminium construction waste that was cast without moulds to eliminate the need for industrial production processes.

"The organically textured blocks shimmer with imperfections, proudly showcasing their reclaimed origins and embodying a sense of movement and adaptability," the designers explained.

The project focused on minimising waste during construction and reducing the overall carbon footprint by utilising local materials.

The decision to preserve the walls and ceilings in their original state negated any unnecessary building work, while the inclusion of locally sourced pebbles eliminated the emissions associated with long-haul transport.

"From the rolling gravel reminiscent of the Danube's banks to the deliberate use of Hungarian materials and techniques, the design roots itself in local identity while embracing a global vision of sustainability," URBA pointed out.

"It invites guests not just to dine but to engage deeply with the space, making each visit personal, inventive and profoundly meaningful."

URBA is an architecture and interior design studio with offices in Budapest and Vienna. It was shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2022 in the emerging interior design studio category for its work across the residential, hospitality and service industries.

The photography is courtesy of URBA.

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