Boujis goes conservation friendly

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea didn't care for the existing frontage at Boujis at all, so our initial proposal for a replacement of all the external materials but keeping the same proportions didn't fare too well. After consultation, the revised version as shown above, with neighbour-friendly proportions and all the glossy bits removed, has been submitted for planning approval. We still managed to fit the new frontage around the existing structure and ventilation installations but a proposed awning was ruled out by RBKC which we think is a pity.

The 'offending' existing frontage below

Its Christmas!

Icicles from our garden.

Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year

Earth to light

Here's a couple of images from a recent proposal for a temporary space to promote a well known luxury beverage. The 'field of barley' ceiling is made from rods of perspex coupled to a field of programmable LEDs which can also interact with the occupants. Video installations line the walls and the banquettes are cut into an abstracted landscape.

Lateralisms 2

Some snaps of the student work of unit 5 at the Nottingham end of year show here.

If you are interested in what the above has to do with the practice of architecture, link to our new Lateralisms site here where you can download PDF copies of both year books showing the work of the students and tutors.

Iteration

When developing a design, ideas are set up and then tested through drawing and modelling. In this instance, a new shopfront for an existing club, the constraints are the existing structure, existing entrance doors and immediate context. The design goes through a series of iterations, developing combinations of the simple design elements of articulated panels, trabeated form, club identity, hardwearing reflective surfaces and threshold, before arriving at the preferred proposal:

Which is then tested in context:

Next stop testing against planning law and budget.

Workplace design, our office refurbishment of TBG in May issue of On Office

We got "pretty seriously involved with laminated plywood" at our refurbishment of Kentish Town offices of TBG according to Elizabeth Chopin, editor of monthly workplace design magazine On Office.

The project's major achievement not only lies in stretching a tight budget, but also keeping our client, TBG London trading throughout the construction phases.

Good design with lots of money and time is easy, take away those factors and it gets more tricky.

Sketches from Bali

We're developing a project for a small new urban building in Sanur in Bali. It will create a new frontage to a busy mixed use street and a small public space in the form of an open courtyard around a large mature tree. It will house a mix of retail/office, bar/restaurant, gym and housing. The sketches are from a recent train journey where I was attempting to consolidate a number of the design intentions through quick vignettes of key moments in the building.

We're currently working up models and scale drawings.