Workplace Design

The office of architecture firm, BUJ.

The creative studio for Venture 3 - a global branding consultancy company.

I have been working on an office design this week and through my research, I came across these work spaces by London design agency, Brinkworth. Both workplaces are very clean, uncluttered and fresh. Nice.
Photographs via Brinkworth.

Eclectic and Vibrant Home from Inside Out Magazine

The cover photo of Inside Out's September/October magazine.

On the cover of Inside Out's September/October issue is the home of Lucy Fenton, the founder and owner of Fenton & Fenton, a unique homewares and lifestyle store in Melbourne, Australia. Located above the store, this vibrant and eclectic home combines personal belongings along with shop products.
Photographs by Felix Forest via Homelife.

Stylish Office

This is the stylish office belonging to Jim Rosenfield, a succesful large scale retail owner, located in Marin County, California. With a keen eye for design, Rosenfield has created a place that felt like home. "I love work," he says, "and I want the space to feel like home, since this is where I spend a lot of my time." It's also a showcase of sorts for his highly evolved aesthetic: "This is a place where people come to see the potential of the spaces."
I enjoy seeing examples of corporate environments that are 'relaxed' and softer around the edges - while still very professional and creating comfortable spaces for their employees.
Photographs by Mimi Giboin for Remodelista.

A Collection of Vintage and Classic Scandinavian Pieces

This is an impressive array of Scandinavian finds here in this guest cottage belonging to John Baker and Juli Daoust of Mjolk, Toronto. The 1940's cocktail cabinet is by architect Alvar Aalto and was an online find. It is made of mahogany with the signature Aalto bent birch legs. The trio of framed Swedish lithographs was found in a local Toronto market while the dining set is from Artek - a 1955 design by Ilmari Tapiovaara. Nice.
You can see more details of this guest cottage renovation here as well as the main cottage here.



Photographs via Remodelista.

BaseCamp Hotel, Lake Tahoe

BaseCamp hotel, South Lake Tahoe

Spotted on Remodelista, this is the stylish BaseCamp Hotel located at South Lake Tahoe, California. BaseCamp is a new boutique (and green) hotel - handy to all the great trails, lakes and mountains that Tahoe has to offer.

"In April of 2011, Basecamp Founder Christian Strobel lamented the fact that there are no high style but affordable hotels that embody the spirit of exploration. They wanted to build a hotel reflecting the ideals of a base camp, a place where people can come together to share stories and exchange tips before heading out on their adventure. With the help of designer Elaine Cotter, they turned their vision into a stylish reality". Looks good to me.

Photographs via BaseCamp

Recycling Coney Island Boardwalk

There was an article recently in the NY Times exploring the all the places that the reclaimed timber from Coney Island Boardwalk ended up. Some of the end results included the floor in a musuem, a public pool, a coffee bar and the Venice, California home (above) belonging to chef, Travis Lett. It's fascinating to hear about how this historical, well worn and endangered timber ended up all over the USA in its new uses - read it here.
Photograph by Laure Joliet via At Home At Home.

Aesop Store, Melbourne by kta

After a 5 year break, I am back tutoring at Victoria University's Architecture and Design School this semester - it's good to be back in the studio with the students.
I am very fortunate to be teaching alongside Melbourne architect, Kerstin Thompson (kta) and to be involved in a great project that deals with the the quirky area of Cuba Street, Wellington and thinking about heritage, earthquake strengthening and inner city housing for an expanding Wellington population.
The above project is the new Aesop flagship store on Collins Street, Melbourne, designed by kta. In response to the traditional streetscape and being in the same building as the oldest club in Australia, kta took the notion of a 'gentleman's private salon' to create the new Aesop store. Great details include the leather curtain, the 'gentleman's vanity' testing station, wall mounted cabinets and the use of sheet metal.
Photographs via kta.